My computing history in the UK.

Being of a reasonable age I remember some early computing devices, at school I had a mechanical calculator, it was pocket sized and only about 5mm thick (see pic), you moved a metal stylus in little toothed slots to enter your numbers and the results were displayed in little windows above.
It was almost as quick as an electronic calculator, but you could only add, subtract or multiply and the bar on top was pulled up to clear it, if I remember correctly.
I could use it to check my work in maths class, but you always had to show all your working out in your answers and if you were caught using it before you had worked out the answer by hand, you risked being punished.

The first newfangled electronic calculators were very expensive and were not very reliable and exhausted batteries very quickly, remember the red led displays!
I swapped to an electronic calculator when the green led displays came in and I still believe they were better than the lcd displays that followed, they used more batteries, but you could read the display at any angle and in any light.

My first experience with a proper computer, was with a teleprinter ( I think that was what it was called. ) that used a modem the size of a breeze block, to link to a local college that had its own computer, this one computer was used by numerous businesses and a few schools in the area, on a sort of time share basis.

For a business to buy its own computer was very rare as the cost was horrendous and you needed a special room with a controlled environment to keep it in, even the cost of buying a teleprinter was very high and the connection charge to the computer was frightening.

To write a program you first had to draw a flow chart, then you would write your program on special squared sheets of paper, using machine code, basic, forth, cobol or whatever.
You would then check your program worked by hand on paper, the syntax would be checked separately, a typist would enter it onto punched tape and finally it would be fed down the modem to the college.
The people at the college would then try the program using test data and the results would be transmitted back to you via the modem and printed out on the teleprinter.
It was possible to connect to the computer directly and input your data to use in the program, although more commonly the data was sent to the college who processed it and then sent you back the results. (Often by post!)

My first home computer was a Sinclair ZX81, which at the time was quite a powerful little computer, although you had to use machine code to get it to do anything interesting as basic was very slooow.

It only came with a 1k internal memory and even in those days that wasn't much, so most people added a RAM pack, there was a 16k or 48k version, but the majority of people used the 16k, after all who could possibly need a whole 48k.

The ZX81 had a few reliability problems linked to the connections on the RAM pack that would make it freeze or crash, but fitting a ribbon connector usually solved that.
The only other trouble most people had, was loading programs from cassette players, it worked on the same principle as a modern modem and having used these old systems it makes you realise just how reliable the modern internet connection is, in those days loading a 10k program was a long and fraught process.

The infamous ZX printer worked with a roll of heat sensitive paper a few inches wide, but was the only cheap home computer printer in the UK.

Being very enthusiastic about computing in those days I kitted my ZX81 out with a joystick, this was a bit of a waste of money as it would only work with games I had written myself, as none of the commercial games were compatible with it.

Rather more successful was the addition of a moving keyboard, this was a small plastic contraption of levers and plastic keys, that was glued to the original touch sensitive keyboard of the ZX81, this was a great improvement and stopped the ends of your fingers from going numb when typing a lot.

After th e ZX81, I splashed out on a Jupiter Ace, this was a computer produced by a couple of ex-employees of Sinclair Research, its claim to fame was its speed, using Forth as its language, it was possible to create arcade games without resorting to machine code for speed.
Unfortunately Forth is not really suited to making games and having to use reverse polish notation as well, rather killed the machines popularity and very few were sold.

The Jupiter Ace, using the language Forth, probably the most interesting computer I've owned.

After the Jupiter Ace I decided to return to the mainstream and purchased a Sinclair Spectrum, this had a colour display, user defined characters, onboard sound and a built in 16k memory.

The first Spectrum version, later versions replaced the rubber key pads with an almost proper keyboard.

A lot of people had reliability problems with their spectrums, but mine was fine, although it was a later model with a better keyboard than earlier ones, in fact I still have it and it still worked a few years back, when a friends kid wanted a computer to play on.
I'm keeping it for posterity, you never know one day it might be worth something as an antique.

The Sinclair ZX Microdrive, I never owned one, but always wanted one. I believe they used a continuous magnetic tape for storage.

My initial interest in computers was waning by the time I had the Spectrum and the home computer boom only lasted a couple more years, but by then I had moved on to different hobbies, motorbikes, fishkeeping, cycling.

My next foray into computing was with a 800Mhz, 128Mb ram, 20Gb HD, all singing, all dancing multimedia machine, (for 2002) that cost in real terms a fraction of those early computers.
Who would have guessed that this is the direction computers would take and what will they be like in another thirty years, probably completely different to anything we can even imagine.

One thing I think is sadly missing from those early days is the variety and innovation, each computer had features unique to itself, whereas most modern computers are standardized, even different operating systems are very similar in appearance and use.
The only real differences being in the power of the graphics cards, etc. This makes me feel that much of the pioneering excitement of computers has been lost and that is rather sad.

Rob Goldfish Web Site

Copyright 2005 Rob Goldfish.