On 13/11/2007, David Restall - System Administrator <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi, > > lots of interesting stuff on this subject but I have to disagree with > Norman (I think) the best terminal EVER was the DEC VT100 closely > followed by the wonderful VT220. DEC lost it after that :-( Best ever > printer was the DECWriter III. I've seen cars with smaller starter > motors than that printer's head motor :-) I currently have (though not > used for a couple of years) an HP 2563A line printer, another good piece > of kit but not with the same cachet as the DECWriter :-( > > I think it was Alan that mentioned solder bridges etc. I realised a couple > of years ago that that was why computers are not as much fun as they > used to be. When I started you had to know how to use a soldering iron, > you had to know that a paperclip was the perfect tool for testing that > a dumb terminal's RS232 port was working properly, you had to be able to > solder RS232 cables and later centronics cables if they broke. We have > lost something over the years because of this lack of understanding - > I too remember having to use the CP/M debugger to read the wordstar > binary in and edit the binary by hand and then save it back to another > floppy just to get the thing to do stuff like print underscores and bold > on a printer that wasn't known. > > Now, you can't even have a soldering iron without a qualification from > the safety inspector and lead in solder - whoa there - toxic material - > can't have that - you'll need hard hat, eye protection, fume protection, > gloves and a leather apron before you can touch it. We were so poor we > couldn't afford evo-stik - we got our highs breathing in resin cored > solder fumes :-) > > TTFN > > Great reading! Caroline > > D > ubuntu/uk-2007-11-13.tx ubuntu-uk > > +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ > | Dave Restall, Computer Nerd, Cyclist, Radio Amateur G4FCU, > Bodger | > | Mob +44 (0) 7973 831245 Skype: dave.restall Radio: > G4FCU | > | email : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : Not Ready Yet > :-( | > > +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ > | I'd like to meet the guy who invented beer and see what he's > working | > | on > now. | > > +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ > > > -- > ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk > https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/ >
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