Saturday Ramble, Remember When?

[DaddyRabbit]

Recently turned 50 and I remember when...

My first PC (moving up from a C64 in 1985) was an XT compatible with the following specs:

CPU - Intel 8088 @ 4.77 mhz (8mhx Turbo mode)
RAM - 256k
Floppy - 2x 5 1/4" 360k
HDD - Seagate 20mb MFM (68 ms access time, half height)
GPU - EGA graphics (640x350 resolution, 16 colors onscreen from a pallette of 64 colors)

My first upgrades:

1.44mb 3 1/2" floppy drive
NEC V20 CPU
VGA card
Miniscribe 40mb RLL HDD (cost me $469.00 at the time at a HAMFEST in Ohio!)
Serial Mouse
1200 baud modem

I used DESQView and just about every version of DOS and Windows that came along (with some Linux and OS2 thrown in). I remember long hours of editing config.sys and autoexec.bat to install mouse, modem, video drivers, get VESA video modes to work, configure Extended versus Expanded memory settings.

Online downloads and messaging was done through BBS boards and file servers and was anything but fast and could run up the phone bill fast!

Nowadays:

I can encode a video in the background while playing a 3D game at 1920x1200 and barely notice.
I have more RAM in my system now (actually in my phone as well!) than I had HDD space for a large chunk of my early computing life.
The seek time on my Agility 2 is .1ms MAX. Boot to desktop is roughly 45 seconds.
I can stream HD video from my DirecTV DVR over a wireless connection and watch it on my PC.
I can post a question to an online forum and have a response in minutes. I can also voice and video chat realtime.
I can record music realtime on my PC modeling a huge number of amps and cabinets in near studio quality, then post process and remix as needed.

These capabilities are the ones that my 16 year old accepts as "the norm". Its his baseline like that old XT was for me back in 1985).

Damn I am OLD!!!

[vbironchef]

Congrat's on making it to 50. I will be 50 in Jan. I have not used computers for that long. I never had the patience, still really don't.

[Apoptosis]

Congrats and when I was younger an old 8088 was what I first used... similar settings and used to play red baron on it with 5.25" floppy's... I can't recall what OS was on it when i had it though... ugh

Wish i never tossed that one!