On Thu, 2008-04-03 at 23:44 +0100, Nicholas Robinson wrote: > The typical session started with bootstrapping RIM into the PDP 8e and then > loading the BIN loader off paper tape. Assuming you didn't make a mistake > hand-loading the 30odd 12 bit instructions in the RIM loader and the paper > tape didn't jam/fall out of the reader/stop for no apparent reason, you were > in business and could then load another paper tape with something more > interesting on it, like BASIC or Algol or an assembler (subject to the > jams/falls/stops noted before). If the optical paper tape reader (300 or so > cps) failed then we had to resort to the old teletype reader which was rated > at 10 cps, but always seemed slower. Even with only 8k core memory, it still > took a long time to load a big programme. > > Ah, how the younger ones on the list must be enjoying reading about the lives > of the when-we's. Who've never had the displeasure of trying to load programs from audio cassette tape on a personal computer from the 1980s... On a friend's C64, it was almost guaranteed that anything that took longer than two minutes to load would foul up and require multiple attempts. Even without screw-ups, it was awfully slow. Now, with these kids and their Windows box, they still get to experience something like that (even if applications are quick to start), with prolonged boot-ups, and all those reboots... :-p -- (This computer runs FC7, my others run FC4, FC5 & FC6, in case that's important to the thread.) Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored. I read messages from the public lists.
