The Computer Age Old-Timers Poll

[Plaid Adder]

Posted this in the journal a while back, thought some of you all might get a kick out of it...

THE COMPUTER AGE OLD-TIMERS' POLL!

I. WORD UP

1. How old were you the last time you turned in a handwritten school
paper?

2. Have you ever used a manual typewriter? (Typewriters you have to
plug in do not count.)

3. What euphemism do you normally use for "make a photocopy"?

4. Do you know what that little "cc" in your email header actually
stands for? If so, when was the last time you made or used a real
honest-to-god physical cc?

5. What's the first word processing program you remember learning to
use?

6. What new 'feature' of the word processing program you now use do
you wish they had never invented?

II. SENDING AND RECEIVING

1. Did you ever own or operate a computer with an external modem? If
so, describe it.

2. When and under what circumstances did you get your first email
address?

3. What did you think 'the web' would be like before you actually
used it for the first time?

4. How did you find things on the web before the advent of Google?

5. What was the first mailing list you ever joined? Do you still
belong? Why or why not?

6. If they developed the technology to implant email and the web in
your head so you could access both mentally without typing and
simulate telepathic communication, would you be the first to sign up,
or would you run away to a cabin in Montana and start growing your
own wheat? Explain.

III. SYNTAX ERROR

1. What's the oldest-model computer you remember using? Did it have
any fun quirks that the newer models have ironed out?

2. What was the first programming language you learned? Can you still
program in it?

3. Do you remember playing text-only 'interactive fiction' computer
games? If so, which was your favorite?

4. Do you still own any 5 1/4" floppy disks? If so, what's on them?

5. How many DOS commands do you still know?

Enjoy,

The Plaid Adder

[Goldom]

1. okay.

I
1. Last week
2. Yes
3. copy?
4. Carbon copy. I used to own a huge amount of carbon paper looted from a dumpster someplace. I think it was eventually thrown out again. I loved it though.
5. Wordperfect for DOS
6. Crashing constantly

II
1. Yes. It was.. uneventful?
2. When I was 8, and on aol.
3. I didn't think.
4. With Yahoo, just ike today.
5. None. Ever.
6. Yes, now.

III
1. A 386. It had a 300 mb harddrive.
2. batch files, if that counts. If not, Basic. And yes. Kinda.
3. Yes, winadv, Adventure, whatever you want to call it, "A maze of twisty little passages, all alike".
4. Tons, and I don't know.
5. Enough to use a DOS-emulator on WinXP.


And I'm only 17.

[Spider Jerusalem]

2. Let's see...

I. WORD UP

1. How old were you the last time you turned in a handwritten school
paper?

18.

2. Have you ever used a manual typewriter? (Typewriters you have to
plug in do not count.)

Yes...an old Remington office model. Battleship grey, weighed about fifty pounds.

3. What euphemism do you normally use for "make a photocopy"?

Xerox.

4. Do you know what that little "cc" in your email header actually
stands for? If so, when was the last time you made or used a real
honest-to-god physical cc?

"Carbon copy", and...um...probably sometime in the late 1980's (when I was still using the old manual typewriter).

5. What's the first word processing program you remember learning to
use?

Think it was Apple Write...might be mistaken. It was on an Apple IIc, anyway.



6. What new 'feature' of the word processing program you now use do
you wish they had never invented?

Since I use Microsoft Word XP, there are probably about a half-dozen.

II. SENDING AND RECEIVING

1. Did you ever own or operate a computer with an external modem? If
so, describe it.

Yeah...a 9600 baud Hayes external modem. Basically a flat box with flashing lights on the front.

2. When and under what circumstances did you get your first email
address?

about 1994 or '95. It was AOL (which I got rid of because it sucked in about 1997).

3. What did you think 'the web' would be like before you actually
used it for the first time?

The cool William Gibson-inspired visions in my head were brought crashing to earth by the reality of grey backgrounds and lo-res 256-colour images that were the WWW in 1995.

4. How did you find things on the web before the advent of Google?

AltaVista AltaVista was GREAT. Until Digital got bought out and the new owners decided to change the interface and search syntax and a lot of other things. Then I switched to HotBot. And then to Google.

5. What was the first mailing list you ever joined? Do you still
belong? Why or why not?

I really can't remember, and the answer to the latter question would be "no"...

6. If they developed the technology to implant email and the web in
your head so you could access both mentally without typing and
simulate telepathic communication, would you be the first to sign up,
or would you run away to a cabin in Montana and start growing your
own wheat? Explain.

Jesus fucking Christ, that's HORRIBLE! Cell phones are bad enough. The web, yes, that would be cool. But email/instant messaging? Why would ANYONE want to have his brain raped by an inundation of spam for bestiality porn and Viagra? And messages from people you're trying to avoid? That's an innovation that might push me over the line into Ted Kaczynski territory.
III. SYNTAX ERROR

1. What's the oldest-model computer you remember using? Did it have
any fun quirks that the newer models have ironed out?

The Apple II...not that many fun quirks, really, but considering that I was about 6 at the time I was probably too young to learn all of them.

2. What was the first programming language you learned? Can you still
program in it?

BASIC...and I probably could if I wanted to (but I can't for the life of me think why I'd want to).

3. Do you remember playing text-only 'interactive fiction' computer
games? If so, which was your favorite?

Yes. I used to waste hours doing that. Can't remember the name of my favourite, now, but it seems like they were all fairly interchangeable.

4. Do you still own any 5 1/4" floppy disks? If so, what's on them?

Yes (saw some in a box in the back of a closet, but I really have no idea what's on them).

5. How many DOS commands do you still know?

More than I'll ever need. The command line in Windows XP frequently frustrates me by not recognising a DOS 5.0 or 6.22 command that I type in.

[NashVegas]

3. CC

This poll has made me long for the smell of freshly mimeographed pop quizes, heehee.

[Richardo]

6. Mmmmmmm....mimeograph smell.....

:9

[shaolinmonkey]

4. Oh boy...

I. WORD UP

1. How old were you the last time you turned in a handwritten school
paper?
24 (does a 25 page physics take-home test count?)

2. Have you ever used a manual typewriter? (Typewriters you have to
plug in do not count.)
yes.

3. What euphemism do you normally use for "make a photocopy"?
Xerox.

4. Do you know what that little "cc" in your email header actually
stands for? If so, when was the last time you made or used a real
honest-to-god physical cc?
carbon copy. never used one.

5. What's the first word processing program you remember learning to
use?
Microsoft Works, I think 4.0.

6. What new 'feature' of the word processing program you now use do
you wish they had never invented?
That goddam little paper clip that pops up un-asked for and un-wanted.

II. SENDING AND RECEIVING

1. Did you ever own or operate a computer with an external modem? If
so, describe it.
No. I did have one with no connectivity. An IBM PS2 with a 20 MB hard drive. The IBM guy said I'd never need more storage than that.

2. When and under what circumstances did you get your first email
address?
Grad School on a Unix network. Used Emacs to read my mail

3. What did you think 'the web' would be like before you actually
used it for the first time?
More utilitarian than it actually is. More of a virtual salon of great ideas rather than a pit of porn and viagra.

4. How did you find things on the web before the advent of Google?
Whorishly commercial. At least now I can find what I really want.

5. What was the first mailing list you ever joined? Do you still
belong? Why or why not?
Daily Taoist sayings. I was watching a lot of Kung Fu. I don't belong anymore. That was 1994.

6. If they developed the technology to implant email and the web in
your head so you could access both mentally without typing and
simulate telepathic communication, would you be the first to sign up,
or would you run away to a cabin in Montana and start growing your
own wheat? Explain.
Montana. Definitely Montana. I work as a webmaster and find myself less and less comfortable with technology. I think I'd like to go get a PhD in Philosophy and teach classics somewhere remote.

III. SYNTAX ERROR

1. What's the oldest-model computer you remember using? Did it have
any fun quirks that the newer models have ironed out?
IBM PS2. It just plain sucked. The new models are infinitely better.

2. What was the first programming language you learned? Can you still
program in it?
Ugh...Fortran 77. Maybe. But I don't know why anyone would want Fortran programs anymore

3. Do you remember playing text-only 'interactive fiction' computer
games? If so, which was your favorite?
Yes. I don't remember the names.

4. Do you still own any 5 1/4" floppy disks? If so, what's on them?
Nope.

5. How many DOS commands do you still know?
enough to get by. I mix them up with *nix commands.

God I'm a nerd.

[Richardo]

5. Fun! thanx, P.A.!

1. How old were you the last time you turned in a handwritten school
paper? 17 (high school)

2. Have you ever used a manual typewriter? (Typewriters you have to
plug in do not count.) Yes. Typed college papers on it.

3. What euphemism do you normally use for "make a photocopy"? 'Make a photocopy'

4. Do you know what that little "cc" in your email header actually
stands for? If so, when was the last time you made or used a real
honest-to-god physical cc? cc = 'carbon copy'. I can't remember the last time I used carbon paper - was probably in college. (That used to pass for 'saving' your work. If something happened to the original, at least you could retype based on the carbon.)

5. What's the first word processing program you remember learning to
use? Word.....Perfect. White type on blue screen

6. What new 'feature' of the word processing program you now use do
you wish they had never invented? Can't think of one.

II. SENDING AND RECEIVING

1. Did you ever own or operate a computer with an external modem? If
so, describe it. Yes - Hayes something sonthing about the size of a paperback book

2. When and under what circumstances did you get your first email
address? At work - IBM's old mainframe-based intra-office communications software. (PDS? POS? Can't remember.)

3. What did you think 'the web' would be like before you actually
used it for the first time? A lot like the old Lexis - boolean search and text only.

4. How did you find things on the web before the advent of Google? Yahoo and DogPile

5. What was the first mailing list you ever joined? Do you still
belong? Why or why not? N/A

6. If they developed the technology to implant email and the web in
your head so you could access both mentally without typing and
simulate telepathic communication, would you be the first to sign up,
or would you run away to a cabin in Montana and start growing your
own wheat? Explain. Move to Montana, but become a dental floss tycoon. I'm sufficiently connected now, thank you. Wi-FI is going to be my limit.

III. SYNTAX ERROR

1. What's the oldest-model computer you remember using? Did it have
any fun quirks that the newer models have ironed out? IBM PC. 10MB HD which was more than you could ever need. Just the usual quirks that IBM/Microsoft were famous for.

2. What was the first programming language you learned? Can you still
program in it? PL/C. and No.

3. Do you remember playing text-only 'interactive fiction' computer
games? If so, which was your favorite? N/A

4. Do you still own any 5 1/4" floppy disks? If so, what's on them?
no
5. How many DOS commands do you still know?
dir:
copy
move
fdisk
cd

[eyesroll]

7. Hm.

I. Word Up
1. 15. Everything after Sophomore year had to be typed.
2. Yes. Had a temp job in 1996(!) where I had to use a manual typewriter.
3. Xerox.
4. Yes; my last honest-to-god CC was on a credit-card slip a few weeks ago (the receipt printer wasn't working).
5. Appleworks for the Apple IIe.
6. That damn paperclip guy.

II. SENDING AND RECEIVING
1. 2400-baud modem on the outside of my Mac Performa 200. My dad had a 300-baud modem (where you put the phone receiver on it) for about two weeks in the early 80s.
2. 1990-ish, on prodigy.
3. I thought the Web would look like Prodigy, with keywords and all that.
4. Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, dumb luck.
5. It was a Queensryche fan list. No, I don't belong. I joined in 1994 or so; I doubt it still exists.
6.So long as there wasn't an Echelon or spambot installed as well, maybe.

III. SYNTAX ERROR
1. Texas Instruments, baby!
2. Apple BASIC, probably could if I tried.
3. Turn L. Open box. You're dead. I don't remember -- I did play, but I didn't care for them.
4. No.
5. I grew up on Apples.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

8. I am an old geek, God help me.

1. 15 or so
2. Yes, many of them. Still have an Underwood
3. Zerox, ditto, copy
4. Duh, Carbon Copy To.... about 20 years ago
5. IBM System 6
6. The paperclip guy

1. Yes, many of them. The first was the 150Baud tele-coupler from RS.
2. College. KU. it was for CS 201 1978
3. Not a fair question, I helped design it.
4. Gopher or the public library
5. Project Gutenberg... I still get it, but I rarely contribute anymore.
6. Montana/Wheat. I think we are connected enough with the shit we have now.

1. Well, I guess you mean a PC. OsbourneI, it had dual floppy drives, no HD, and a massive 5" B/W monitor.

2. Basic. Yes if I have to.

3. never was into them

4. Still a couple of 8" floppies kicking around. Some 5.25's nothing on them that can be used. No drives for them.

5. Pretty much all of them, I think.

[pmbryant]

9. Ah, my old manual typewriter, I remember it well.

Thanks for the fun trip down memory lane.

----------------

1. How old were you the last time you turned in a handwritten school
paper?

In high school, I think.

2. Have you ever used a manual typewriter? (Typewriters you have to
plug in do not count.)

Oh, yes. Extremely frequently when I was growing up. It was archaic even then, though (1980s).

3. What euphemism do you normally use for "make a photocopy"?

Xerox

4. Do you know what that little "cc" in your email header actually
stands for? If so, when was the last time you made or used a real
honest-to-god physical cc?

carbon copy. I still see carbon copies on things like health insurance forms and credit card forms, so last time was fairly recently.

5. What's the first word processing program you remember learning to
use?

Something called 'Bank Street Writer' (perhaps I'm not remembering it right), back in Apple IIe days (approx. 1983). I remember being amazed at the word-wrap feature. :-)

6. What new 'feature' of the word processing program you now use do
you wish they had never invented?

That auto-formatting thing that keeps messing up what I've typed.


1. Did you ever own or operate a computer with an external modem? If
so, describe it.

Alas, no.

2. When and under what circumstances did you get your first email
address?

1986, when I took a summer job on a University research project.

3. What did you think 'the web' would be like before you actually
used it for the first time?

Used it/discovered it at the same time, so this doesn't apply to me.

4. How did you find things on the web before the advent of Google?

Altavista. Before that, Webcrawler.

5. What was the first mailing list you ever joined? Do you still
belong? Why or why not?

Not sure. Perhaps Sierra Club.

6. If they developed the technology to implant email and the web in
your head so you could access both mentally without typing and
simulate telepathic communication, would you be the first to sign up, or would you run away to a cabin in Montana and start growing your own wheat? Explain.

Run away!! I love the web, but not that much. :-)

1. What's the oldest-model computer you remember using? Did it have
any fun quirks that the newer models have ironed out?

When I was young, I remember using computers in school that didn't have monitors, but used printouts for display. This was in the late 70s.

2. What was the first programming language you learned? Can you still program in it?

BASIC, first learned on those printout-display computers. I abandoned it a long time ago, for Pascal, C, then finally Java.

3. Do you remember playing text-only 'interactive fiction' computer
games? If so, which was your favorite?

Oh yes. But don't recall the names. Tried to write one of my own once upon a time, but it wasn't very good.

4. Do you still own any 5 1/4" floppy disks? If so, what's on them?

Probably have some stashed away somewhere, but haven't actually used one in 6 years or so.

5. How many DOS commands do you still know?

Just the basics. But never really knew more than the basics.

[asthmaticeog]

10. Wow.

I
1) Grade 10, 1985, I think
2) Yes, as recently as a few months ago. Does it count if I used it to scan the results?
3) Xerox
4) Yes I know what it means. I doubt I've used carbon paper in at least 20 years.
5) Bank Street Writer for Apple II+
6) That fucking "It looks like you're writing a (whatever)" bullshit.

II
1) Yes. It was an Apple PowerPC 7300. I bought the external modem so I wouldn't have to shut down the whole machine if my connection froze, I could just turn the modem off and on again.
2) In 1995. A friend of mine ran an indie record label and also worked for an ISP. He paid me for designing album covers by giving me a free account. I didn't have to pay for bandwidth or server space until 2001. That rocked.
3) I didn't really know. I guess I thought it would be like usenet but with easier integration of images.
4) I liked HotBot before Lycos bought it, and Dogpile was decent, too.
5) A list for a friend's band. I still belong. It keeps me in touch with folks who've moved away.
6) Neither.

III
1) It would probably be an APPLE II+. Its quirks were not fun, IIRC.
2) BASIC and Pascal, and hell no.
3) Yes, I played those, but I don't remember my favorite.
4) Yes, I still have all of my old floppies in a box at my mom's house, under the disused Apple IIe. They have everything - games, utilities, school projects, etc.
5) Too much strain to think about that!

[GOPisEvil]

11. Yay! Geek quiz!

I. WORD UP

1. How old were you the last time you turned in a handwritten school
paper? High school, probably.

2. Have you ever used a manual typewriter? (Typewriters you have to
plug in do not count.) As more than a novelty, no. My typewriter growing up was a Smith-Corona electric.

3. What euphemism do you normally use for "make a photocopy"? make a copy

4. Do you know what that little "cc" in your email header actually
stands for? If so, when was the last time you made or used a real
honest-to-god physical cc? Carbon copy. I used carbon copies about 10-12 years ago when first starting my employment with the state. I was trained to do my job manually, before moving on to being trained electronically.

5. What's the first word processing program you remember learning to
use? Appleworks for the Apple IIe.

6. What new 'feature' of the word processing program you now use do
you wish they had never invented? Cute helper things that annoy me. I just want to look for the answer, not be assisted by an animated office supply.

II. SENDING AND RECEIVING

1. Did you ever own or operate a computer with an external modem? If
so, describe it. Nope.

2. When and under what circumstances did you get your first email
address? 1994, aol.

3. What did you think 'the web' would be like before you actually
used it for the first time? Just a storehouse for information.

4. How did you find things on the web before the advent of Google? aol search

5. What was the first mailing list you ever joined? Do you still
belong? Why or why not? Can't recall.

6. If they developed the technology to implant email and the web in
your head so you could access both mentally without typing and
simulate telepathic communication, would you be the first to sign up,
or would you run away to a cabin in Montana and start growing your
own wheat? Explain. I'd run off. I don't need to be instantly in contact with my e-mail. In fact, I enjoy time away from it.

III. SYNTAX ERROR

1. What's the oldest-model computer you remember using? Did it have
any fun quirks that the newer models have ironed out? Apple IIe. Those exterior disk drives were fun to lug around when moving.

2. What was the first programming language you learned? Can you still
program in it? BASIC. I might be able to crank out a simple program at gunpoint.

3. Do you remember playing text-only 'interactive fiction' computer
games? If so, which was your favorite? There was this baseball game I played. I whiled away many hours with that.

4. Do you still own any 5 1/4" floppy disks? If so, what's on them? I have some that came with my Apple. System disks, etc.

5. How many DOS commands do you still know? Just the basics.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

12. Here ya go

THE COMPUTER AGE OLD-TIMERS' POLL!

I. WORD UP

1. How old were you the last time you turned in a handwritten school paper?

A: 1973-- That would make me 17

2. Have you ever used a manual typewriter? (Typewriters you have to plug in do not count.)

A: Yes-- I wrote a great deal of my original poetry using a Royal.

3. What euphemism do you normally use for "make a photocopy"?

A: Xerox

4. Do you know what that little "cc" in your email header actually
stands for? If so, when was the last time you made or used a real
honest-to-god physical cc?

A: Yes- "Carbon Copy". Last time was in the early 80s.

5. What's the first word processing program you remember learning to use?

A: PFS Write for DOS.

6. What new 'feature' of the word processing program you now use do you wish they had never invented?

A: Otomatic spel cheking- it makes us all mentally lazy and is an excuse to not pay attention.

II. SENDING AND RECEIVING

1. Did you ever own or operate a computer with an external modem? If so, describe it.

A: A Compaq Prolinea 486SX 25 with a Hayes 14.4 com port modem.

2. When and under what circumstances did you get your first email
address?

A: Upon joing my first for-pay ISP in Nashville- limited to one hour per day connectivity, downloads in the file section limited to 50mb. No internet connectivity for the first year, afterwards SLIP was integrated and we had limited web connectivity.

3. What did you think 'the web' would be like before you actually
used it for the first time?

A: Thought it would be text-only, and it mostly was for a long while.

4. How did you find things on the web before the advent of Google?

A: Gopher, Veronica and Archie.

5. What was the first mailing list you ever joined? Do you still
belong? Why or why not?

A: WAREZ list! (Yep, I was one of the early suckers. Nothing ever came of it, thank heavens.)

6. If they developed the technology to implant email and the web in your head so you could access both mentally without typing and
simulate telepathic communication, would you be the first to sign up,
or would you run away to a cabin in Montana and start growing your
own wheat? Explain.

A: I'd run away. I repair computers for a living, and I burn out on the web easily these days. Besides, I already know everything there is to know.

III. SYNTAX ERROR

1. What's the oldest-model computer you remember using? Did it have any fun quirks that the newer models have ironed out?

A: The Leading Edge 286 with MS-DOS 2.11. It had a spreadsheet and a word processor, and a green screen. Boring.

2. What was the first programming language you learned? Can you still program in it?

A: Basic. Nope- been WAY too long.

3. Do you remember playing text-only 'interactive fiction' computer games? If so, which was your favorite?

A: Winfrotz. I still have it on my computer. The specific game is Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

4. Do you still own any 5 1/4" floppy disks? If so, what's on them?

A: Yep, but no drive at this time.

5. How many DOS commands do you still know?

A: Most of them.

[skygazer]

13. How fun!

1. I haven't been in school for 25 years.
2. Yes
3. "Copy that" usually followed by "10-4"
4. Carbon copy - many years
5. Word Perfect
6. Features?

1. A what? I barely understand e-mail
2. 1995 or '96 - got an AOL offer in the mail. Free 30 days but the access number was long distance. That was one huge phone bill!
3. Had no idea. Took many bowls to learn to navigate
4. Netscape and luck
5. A group for Boxer owners (dogs) Got too large and I quit
6. Run, run!!! I fear change

1. We had a computer at my high school that took up half of a room. It was like somehting out of Star Trek or Lost In Space. I was terrified of it. And all it did was math.
2. Never learned one
3. "Where In the World is Carmen San Diego"
4. Yes. I have no idea.
5. er.... nope, all gone

[dancing kali]

14. OK, I'll play - and I know I'm going to regret this one...

I. WORD UP

1. How old were you the last time you turned in a handwritten school
paper?

30-something

2. Have you ever used a manual typewriter? (Typewriters you have to
plug in do not count.)

I have and I still have one (buried in the attic somewhere)

3. What euphemism do you normally use for "make a photocopy"?

Photocopy? - Xerox
Copy? - carbon, mimeo, ditto

4. Do you know what that little "cc" in your email header actually
stands for? If so, when was the last time you made or used a real
honest-to-god physical cc?

carbon copy - during the 80's while I was an editorial assistant

5. What's the first word processing program you remember learning to
use?

Scribe

6. What new 'feature' of the word processing program you now use do
you wish they had never invented?

All of them since I am a slave to Microsquish.

II. SENDING AND RECEIVING

1. Did you ever own or operate a computer with an external modem? If
so, describe it.

No

2. When and under what circumstances did you get your first email
address?

Working at a university - before the days of "the web"

3. What did you think 'the web' would be like before you actually
used it for the first time?

The same as when it was the ARPANET, with the same ranting and flaming in the newsgroups only with flashy graphics.

4. How did you find things on the web before the advent of Google?

I went to the library.

5. What was the first mailing list you ever joined? Do you still
belong? Why or why not?

Don't remember - probably a "womyn" newsgroup.

6. If they developed the technology to implant email and the web in
your head so you could access both mentally without typing and
simulate telepathic communication, would you be the first to sign up,
or would you run away to a cabin in Montana and start growing your
own wheat? Explain.

Bang - get off my land you no good city varmint...

III. SYNTAX ERROR

1. What's the oldest-model computer you remember using? Did it have
any fun quirks that the newer models have ironed out?

Something big made by IBM that filled up a room the size of my house.

2. What was the first programming language you learned? Can you still
program in it?

It was before COBOL and began with a P - that's all I remember

3. Do you remember playing text-only 'interactive fiction' computer
games? If so, which was your favorite?

Advent/Adventure/Rogue

4. Do you still own any 5 1/4" floppy disks? If so, what's on them?

No, I just trashed them recently... they were old software installation disks.

5. How many DOS commands do you still know?

more than I care to