Sinclair-SpeccyDec 16, 2024

EDIT: I made a follow up poll as from someone’s suggestion to this one: https://oldbytes.space/@SinclairSpeccy/113705509782999197

How long have you been using computers for?

I remember back when I was a little kid my first actual experience on a computer was on the janky XP machine I still own.

I’d play flash games and all before getting my own laptop running Windows 7 that had to get reset constantly because I don’t think anyone in my family know how to use an antivirus…

EDIT: Okay it seems that most of fedi is old 😅

#Mastodon #Fediverse

5 years
0.4%
10 years
1.9%
15 years
3.6%
20 years
5.7%
25 years
12.7%
30 years
15.5%
Even longer
60.3%
Poll ended at .
Sinclair-Speccy (@[email protected])

So on my older poll about how long people were using computers for, most of them said “even longer” meaning the majority of people (60%) have over 30 years of computer experience, indicating a predominantly older, more experienced audience (https://oldbytes.space/@SinclairSpeccy/113662681677892696) It was suggested to me to do a follow up poll about the relation to age to computer experience, which is this post will be about I suppose. I’ll do another follow up poll besides this one at another date about what decade people used computers but… How old were you when you first started using a computer? #Mastodon #Fediverse [ ] Under 5 years old [ ] 5-10 years old [ ] 11-15 years old [ ] 16-20 years old [ ] 21-30 years old [ ] Over 30 years old

OldBytes Space - Mastodon
Show threadMatt McIrvin
@SinclairSpeccy My first experiences with computers were on my dad's engineering account at General Electric in the 1970s, over a dial-up terminal that used a thermal printer. So, getting close to 50 years ago.
Dec 16, 2024 at 1:44pmWeb
Show threadMatt McIrvinDec 16, 2024
@SinclairSpeccy At the time, I thought all dads brought home a portable terminal and would sometimes get online after dinner. I was living decades in the future and didn't realize it.
Show threadViennaMikeDec 16, 2024
@mattmcirvin @SinclairSpeccy My first use was on GE's time sharing service when I was in junior high school. A TTY with a paper tape reader / writer connected via dial-up by a modem.
Show threadAmanda BeeDec 17, 2024
@mattmcirvin @ViennaMike @SinclairSpeccy I took an Apple Logo class in middle school. Possibly several Logo classes? Turtles that follow instructions.
Show threadTom ChadwinDec 23, 2024
@amanda @mattmcirvin @ViennaMike @SinclairSpeccy "Couldn't complete instruction because the turtle has hit the fence"
Show threadMatt McIrvinDec 23, 2024

@tomchadwin @amanda @ViennaMike @SinclairSpeccy I never took a Logo class, but I've always loved turtle graphics as a recreational-mathematics interest and have been messing around with it in recent years:

https://mathstodon.xyz/@mattmcirvin/109560276225118739

https://mathstodon.xyz/@mattmcirvin/109851931460686089

Matt McIrvin (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image So, why is it that (as I mentioned earlier), when you draw a line that turns left at every nontrivial zero of the Riemann zeta function (it actually works for just about any turn angle), it coils up into these lovely whimsical curlicues resembling Euler spirals? I think I have a general understanding of it now.

Mathstodon
Show thread4everpushingaboulderDec 16, 2024
@mattmcirvin @SinclairSpeccy similar experience, terminal to the mainframe on my Dads account playing tic-tac-toe and hangman on a green screen.
Show threadMatt McIrvinDec 17, 2024

@boulder @SinclairSpeccy GE actually encouraged this kind of messing around and had a weekend workshop for family members where they taught BASIC programming.

Dad also brought home some manuals that were looseleaf binder copies of overhead transparencies from their internal programming classes, about using GCOS and FORTRAN.

I think they figured they were teaching their next generation of developers, which I'd say was farsighted but their mainframe time-sharing business didn't actually last that long, eaten by the rise of PCs which they had refused to adapt to (they actually had a thriving sidelight in the GEnie online service, but didn't pivot to that as the main service as they clearly should have).

Show thread4everpushingaboulderDec 17, 2024

@mattmcirvin @SinclairSpeccy Perhaps instilling curiosity in you (and me) was the point.

My Dad brought home Hollerith cards we used as grocery lists. He also saved old disc platters.

He also started me with a TI-99 and an epson dot matrix printer. I wrote grade and middle school papers on a word processor when my classmates used typewriters.

When my kids were young I made the conscious decision to expose them the same way. It was intentional inspiration.