The upcoming birthday list is full of youngsters … I’ll be 47 on Monday!
Oww!
I’m still a tender 32 but I’m already feeling old :
Cas
Jeeez… old people, do you remember punch cards? 
Kev
Yes. I even remember a computer that was programmed using a plug panel. It was used to produce the program list for Channel 7 (I think) in Perth. At the time I was an exchange visit, staying with the family of the man responsible for programming it. Long out of date at the time it was kept in use on the basis of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.
Actually, thats pretty cool.
Kev
[quote]The upcoming birthday list is full of youngsters … I’ll be 47 on Monday!
[/quote]
Yay, now I feel so young (33), thanks! ;D
Not only punch cards, but also paper tape. In the project for my honours degree, I used one of these:
http://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/retrocomputing/dec/gt40/
which used paper tape for loading programs. I even remember playing the lunar landing game (1979). The project was on the “Mathematical evaluation of facial expressions”, and paper later appeared in the British Journal of Psychiatry (1984).
Cool
You lot make me feel young. I only just remember cassette, then it was 5 1/4 floppy disks.
It’s good to feel young, the students at work were ignorant of ‘The Muppets’ and that made me feel old. But it’s good to feel young again at 27
Endolf
My dad remembers punch cards. ;D
I didn’t realize all so many of you were over 25 and 30. I’ll only be 19 this coming February o_O;;
Yay, now I feel so young (33), thanks! ;D
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Wow! I even younger. 29. I always wondered how old are you guys. So, we ± all about the same age. Only for Mark it’s pretty tight
Will turn 34 this sunday… I guess I also belong to the “punch card” category …
Lilian
Happy B-DAY!
I’ll be 21 on the 21st of November.
23 here. Heck, I’m so old, in my time we had much higher ping than today. I also remember the time we had to drag our laptops all the way to school through horrible weather.
I’m 35 and a proud ex sinclair zx spectrum programmer. Never saw any punch cards however.
Turned 45 in september.
In 1979 at Wentworth I had my first programming class, in Basic.
PDP 11 was the machine I think. I was an architecture (buildings) student and we were not allowed to use the monitors. Those were reserved for the CS students, they only had 4. So I had to input my code on those teletype machines on paper, they had about 6 of those. When nobody was around I used a monitor and played that StarTrek game.
My brother went to a community college a few years later and they were doing Cobol on punch cards, lucky guy.
42 and catching up Mark rapidly :o
I used punch cards and tape at University. Debugging meant submitting your card deck at the computer centre, then coming back the next day to see what was on the printout. If it was an error message, rinse & repeat.
Before that in the mid 1970’s whilst a teenager I saw a computer with a Drum memory. Betcha you don’t even know what I’m talking about ;D
Yes you’re right … that’s a different world to me. Sounds like a story from my parents
I’m 17…
I thought this was a much yonger crowd (well except for Jeff :P) nice to see a good mix of ‘old’ and ‘new’
I’m 34. I’ve never used punch cards or paper tape… though I hear that the paper tape is better 'cause when you drop it on the floor you don’t have to worry about putitng it in the right order when you pick it up
I first programmed on a Commodore PET back in the early 80’s (grade 5), cassette tape was the storage medium… it was slow. My first home computer was a Commodore 64, then I upgrade to Amiga, then eventually I got a job and they gave me a PC. I’ve never actually purchased an intel-based computer [turns head and spits], though I use them all the time.
It’s interesting to me that the input card originated with cards used to control weaving looms back in the 1800’s and lasted all the way to the 70’s most areas.
Growing old sucks >:(
:’(