RetroRetrospective

RetroRetrospective – Fun today with yesterday’s gear……..

About Me :)

Hi, I’m Michael, and I’m glad you found the time to drop by.

I’ve been playing and using computers ever since I first encountered them at University back in 1981, when in my Foundation Year was doing “An Introduction to FORTRAN Programming”.  From when I filled out that first (small) deck of Mark-Sense cards with the ubiquitous “2B” pencil I was hooked.

But then it got interesting . . . .

I discovered the Apple Lab.  Interesting device the Apple ][+ with its integrated keyboard and angled box, monitor sitting on the shelf above.  So unlike the teletype terminals I was going to be using after the FORTRAN course.  I was hooked before, but now, it was love at first byte.

Talked to some members of the nascent Computer Club, and they assured me that they could not only arrange time on the Apples for interested students who weren’t going to be using them for any course work, and of course they’d arrange introductory lessons on the Apples, and how to program them.  Well, they arranged time for myself and others outside of booked course times, but failed to come through on the “How and What to do”, so I headed for the library where I knew the manuals were, and checked out a full set of what came with each machine.

Next stop the magazine racks, where I read (and re-read) any magazine with BASIC listings, preferably Applesoft, and taught myself to program, and so, I embarked on an exciting IT career, that had next to nothing to do with my Environmental Studies degree.

Funnily enough I’ve spent most of my IT career involved with high-speed production laser printing, mostly with IBM’s AFPDS (Advanced Function Presentation Data Stream), but that’s another story.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers,

Michael

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