# Tech is amazing most times



## Roadwarrior (May 1, 2018)

My tech update, I have bought 6 previous tablets during the last 12-16 months.  Gave them away to my g-kids (they are hard on them).  Last week Shopko had a sale on 7" tablets, in a weaker moment I bought one.  It's a Polaroid (never had much luck with that brand).  Android - Google's OS driven, long time user of Linux, I found that I was much more comfortable with the tablet since my experience through my smart phone.  Paid $39, listed on Amazon Prime for $49 so I feel I got a good deal.  

Loaded all my data & logins through the apps, updated storage to 40 GB, I had a spare mini SD card laying around.  I was in tech since '63 (1st generation computers) & am still amazed at what they will come up with next.  During my wintering in SW AZ I used my smart phone to pay all my home utilities, banked & paid my other bills accessing my data rather than use the RV park's wifi.  Now I am connected at the dining table (laptop), my easy chair (tablet) & on the road (smart phone).  Loaded prime on all three so I can waste my time watching videos almost anywhere I land.


----------



## Deucemoi (May 1, 2018)

roadwarrior wrote " I was in tech since '63 (1st generation computers)".
I don't know what computers you are referring to in '63. The eniac which is considered to be the first general purpose computer was built late 1940's for the army and the altair 8800 which many consider to be the first personal computer was built in 1974 and not available in stores.


----------



## Roadwarrior (May 2, 2018)

Deucemoi said:


> roadwarrior wrote " I was in tech since '63 (1st generation computers)".
> I don't know what computers you are referring to in '63. The eniac which is considered to be the first general purpose computer was built late 1940's for the army and the altair 8800 which many consider to be the first personal computer was built in 1974 and not available in stores.





> From Wikipedia - The IBM 1401 is a variable word length decimal computer that was announced by IBM on October 5, 1959. The first member of the highly successful IBM 1400 series, it was aimed at replacing unit record equipment for processing data stored on punched cards and at providing peripheral services for larger computers.[1] The 1401 is considered to be the Model-T Ford of the computer industry, because it was mass-produced and because of its sales volume. Over 12,000 units were produced and many were leased or resold after they were replaced with newer technology. The 1401 was withdrawn on February 8, 1971.




I started on a 1401 in Dec '63 then onto a 1410 in the summer of '64 both at Torrie Station @ the JSPC (Joint Services Processing Center), transferred to Darmstadt Germany to work at the NSA site located 12 miles outside the city, on their 1401 until 1967 at which time I transferred back to the US got out of the service went to work in Idaho on a 1430 until Jan '70 moved on through the 360's then 370's until '78 at which time I started working on later IBM, VAX, mainframes until the late 80's when we moved into the 90's then onto the server farm system consisting of MS, Vax, Unix, Linux.  We had over 1,000 servers located in our data center along with a sister site in Minn consisting of 500 servers.


----------



## Don M. (May 2, 2018)

Roadwarrior said:


> View attachment 51690
> 
> I started on a 1401 in Dec '63 then onto a 1410 in the summer of '64 both at Torrie Station @ the JSPC (Joint Services Processing Center), transferred to Darmstadt Germany to work at the NSA site located 12 miles outside the city, on their 1401 until 1967 at which time I transferred back to the US got out of the service went to work in Idaho on a 1430 until Jan '70 moved on through the 360's then 370's until '78 at which time I started working on later IBM, VAX, mainframes until the late 80's when we moved into the 90's then onto the server farm system consisting of MS, Vax, Unix, Linux.  We had over 1,000 servers located in our data center along with a sister site in Minn consisting of 500 servers.



Those pictures bring back some memories....I "fixed" all those types, plus hundreds more, over a 35 year career with IBM.  I saw everything from "punched cards" to system 390.  I used to be a pretty good "fixer", but things have changed so much since I retired in 2001, that I would be almost useless in today's data centers.,


----------



## Roadwarrior (May 2, 2018)

Thanks Don, I failed to mention the others I worked on i.e. 390, 3081s, 43XX,,,etc.  My first schooling was at Sheppard AFB ('63) on punch cards, 024, 026, sorters, 101 accounting machines, reproducers, intrepreters.  Learned to wire the boards on most, then had to forget everything I learned except the 024, 026 & sorters because most punch card equipment didn't exist in our production when getting to JSPC.  I run teletype equipment during my first few months there before moving up to the 1401/1410.  

When I was assigned to the UNIX/Linux team I had to forget most of MS & focus on support for our equipment.  To this day I've helped move a few (8) of my neighbors to Linux because I no longer do Windows (too darn frustrating!).  Everyone one who has tried Linux likes it & are now comfortable with it.  I'm still learning the Android OS on my smart phone & tablet.

Back when 'The Cloud' was being tossed around, I likened it to old technology that used to exist on our IBM (MVS) mainframes, VAX (VMS) called TSO (Time Sharing Option) among others.  We had thousands of dumb terminals located throughout our manufacturing plant hardwired to our system.  Engineers, secretaries,,,etc would do their work using the resources & packaged software on the mainframes.  

'THE CLOUD' uses the same concept but for a fee.  It's still all about money.  Large server farms, think Facebook, Amazon, MS,,,etc all use that same method.  Storage is a commodity and valuable, information is gleaned from those storage farms & used in advertising along with whatever they need information for.  Yes, it's 1984 & big brother is watching.


----------



## Don M. (May 2, 2018)

Roadwarrior said:


> Thanks Don, I failed to mention the others I worked on i.e. 390, 3081s, 43XX,,,etc.  My first schooling was at Sheppard AFB ('63) on punch cards, 024, 026, sorters, 101 accounting machines, reproducers, intrepreters.  Learned to wire the boards on most, then had to forget everything I learned except the 024, 026 & sorters because most punch card equipment didn't exist in our production when getting to JSPC.  I run teletype equipment during my first few months there before moving up to the 1401/1410.



 It sounds like you and I had similar careers.  I got a year of intensive electronics training in the USAF....F105 Radar, Sight systems, and Bombing computers....which was a great preparation for a career fixing DP equipment, and then mainframes and their associated IO devices.  I think my favorite machines were the high speed laser printers...3800's and InfoPrint 4000.  When I retired, I found a box of IBM cards that no one wanted, so I took them, and they make great note pads.  It was a Great career, and set us up for a nice retirement, but I sure wouldn't want to go back to those days of often stressful activity....at all hours of the day and night.


----------



## Roadwarrior (May 2, 2018)

Computers were such a new field in '63, we couldn't make it our 1st or 2nd choice when entering the AF.  I had to put it down as an alternate.  I guess the high scores I got on my AF entrance exam was the deciding factor.  Yes I remember the laser printers.  We only had them such a short time, the company went to stand alone printers when they converted over to desktops instead of dumb terminals.  We had to downsize our staff, no need for massive listings to handle.  

The time card system went automatic as did everything else so we cut our data entry section to 3 from 20, then 0.  Once when our secretary was compiling a roster she told me we had 81 employees in our group.  When I retired in 2009 we had 4 - 24/7 12 hour rotating shifts (the warm bodies present in case of an environmental disaster, no one else wanted the 5 PM to 5 AM shift).  I built a good retirement, something they did away with during my last 5 years, but being grandfathered into the original pension plan I got my retirement, others had to rely on their 401K, savings & SS.

Nuff said, good reminiscing.


----------



## Camper6 (May 2, 2018)

Roadwarrior said:


> My tech update, I have bought 6 previous tablets during the last 12-16 months.  Gave them away to my g-kids (they are hard on them).  Last week Shopko had a sale on 7" tablets, in a weaker moment I bought one.  It's a Polaroid (never had much luck with that brand).  Android - Google's OS driven, long time user of Linux, I found that I was much more comfortable with the tablet since my experience through my smart phone.  Paid $39, listed on Amazon Prime for $49 so I feel I got a good deal.
> 
> Loaded all my data & logins through the apps, updated storage to 40 GB, I had a spare mini SD card laying around.  I was in tech since '63 (1st generation computers) & am still amazed at what they will come up with next.  During my wintering in SW AZ I used my smart phone to pay all my home utilities, banked & paid my other bills accessing my data rather than use the RV park's wifi.  Now I am connected at the dining table (laptop), my easy chair (tablet) & on the road (smart phone).  Loaded prime on all three so I can waste my time watching videos almost anywhere I land.


 
I had a Polaroid tablet.  A cheap one.  The problem with it was that the charging port wouldn't work after awhile. 

I went to an Acer which is stuck on one screen.  

Those two were Android based.

Now I have an Apple I Pad mini which was given to me.

It is much faster and the battery stays charged for a much longer time.

I also have a Samsung smart phone which can do just about anything on a smaller size unit.

I like watching You Tube documentaries and old movies.

Here's a tip on that Polaroid.  Leave the charger cord connected instead of taking it on and off.  It seems to me the pins bend easily or mark the input so you don't damage the pins if you try to insert it incorrectly.

You don't get that problem with an I pad.  The lightning connector is easier to insert and connect.


----------



## Camper6 (May 2, 2018)

Deucemoi said:


> roadwarrior wrote " I was in tech since '63 (1st generation computers)".
> I don't know what computers you are referring to in '63. The eniac which is considered to be the first general purpose computer was built late 1940's for the army and the altair 8800 which many consider to be the first personal computer was built in 1974 and not available in stores.



I used an IBM System 36 with those huge 8 inch floppies for backups.   

Really fast printers with those units and wide sheets.

Huge ribbons.


----------



## Roadwarrior (May 2, 2018)

Camper6 said:


> I had a Polaroid tablet.  A cheap one.  The problem with it was that the charging port wouldn't work after awhile.
> 
> I went to an Acer which is stuck on one screen.
> 
> ...


Good tip, thanks I have observed that the tablet hits 0% much faster than my motorola smart phone.   Only lasts a few hours unhooked.


----------

