A Proud Father

[Brad Adrian]

As any of you out there who have children can attest, there are certain milestones that our children pass that make us overflow with parental pride. You know what I'm talking about: your baby's first words, the first time your son takes a step unassisted, your daughter's very first successful ActiveSync...<br /><br />Yes, that's right! Today, My 11-year-old daughter asked for one of my old Pocket PCs for keeping track of her homework assignments, recording buddies' e-mail addresses and writing a daily journal. We shared a real bonding moment as we held our breath, waiting for that magic <i>tweedle-eep!</i> tone that signifies a successful ActiveSync connection. We built lasting memories as we worked side-by-side, configuring Notes synching, installing Transcriber and downloading ferret-related Today themes. My eyes were misty with pride. *sniff*<br /><br />Sure, like any father, I want to protect her from life's troubles, like the first time her heart is broken by a dreaded Guest-only connection. But if there's one thing our bonding session today has taught us, it's that "'tis better to have Activesynched and lost, than never to have synched at all."<br /><br />Dare I even HOPE that one day she'll ask for her own eVest?

[Fishie]

Man, what a nerd.
No offense.

[Mike Temporale]

brings a tear to my eye just reading that http://www.anchoredbygrace.com/smileys/bigeyecry.gif

I can only hope that my little one will someday follow in her pappa's footsteps. ( I got a ways to go. She's almost 1, however I'm already working her up to saying Pentium, and Microsoft :mrgreen: )

[sponge]

That was touching, in a somewhat scary nerdy way ;)

[Venturello]

Its not a nerdy thing, its a geeky thing.

And HELL I AM PROUD OF BEING A GEEK!

And I take offense on being called nerd.

Heh... look it up :) :roll:

Fun. Girlfriend was (when we got together 3 years ago) almost totally computer illiterate. Now she amazes here college teachers (psychology) with the videos she creates, has discovered the pleasures of internet (of really finding stuff) and owns an iPaq - and uses it more than me - she writes everything down, is the organized type that always has had an agenda, while I am the opposite...

[rlobrecht]

Wow. That's great. Mine (2 1/2 yrs) loves to scribble on my iPaq. I can only hope someday he'll want a Pocket PC.

[Paragon]

Brad, your actions show what a poor father I am. You gave your daughter a Pocket PC........I gave my son an old Palm....How inconsiderate...:)

Dave

[Ed Hansberry]

Dare I even HOPE that one day she'll ask for her own eVest?
What a touching story. :mecry:
$10 she denies she is your father if any of her friends at school read this. :lol:
Brad, your actions show what a poor father I am. You gave your daughter a Pocket PC........I gave my son an old Palm....How inconsiderate...
Borderline child abuse, or at least neglect. ;)

[Reinaldo]

What a touching story. :mecry:
$10 she denies she is your father if any of her friends at school read this. :lol:

Might want to edit that, Ed. After all, she is Brad's father?

So, the young skywalker has finally joined us!

Anyway, I think that is a good sentimental story (can you tell I am not good with emotions?). I do have to agree that I would not expect anyone other than us to read it. It has a large Geek/Nerd factor. :wink: :D

tweedle-eep!

[blang]

My 7 year old daughter asked for an IPAQ for her birthday. Although I bought her a Polly Pocket Sparkle House instead, I think there is real potential of her becoming a Geeket, like her Mom.

My son on the other hand, needs some work. He keeps on asking for a Playstation 2.

[Jimmy Dodd]

I know what you mean, Brad. My daughter and I shared our first trip to Starbuck's last week. She's only four, so she had hot cocoa instead of coffee (I'm not that crazy) but still it was a Kodak moment to be sure.

She also loves to draw on my e740, and she insists on my sitting in her room while I work on my laptop (Visual Studio) as she "works" on her PC (Reader Rabbit, Stuart Little, and Winnie-the-Pooh) so we can work together.

Geeky or not, I love this time together. I only dread the day when she decides that dad isn't the coolest guy around anymore. :D

[egads]

I know what you mean, Brad. My daughter and I shared our first trip to Starbuck's last week. She's only four, so she had hot cocoa instead of coffee (I'm not that crazy) but still it was a Kodak moment to be sure.

She also loves to draw on my e740, and she insists on my sitting in her room while I work on my laptop (Visual Studio) as she "works" on her PC (Reader Rabbit, Stuart Little, and Winnie-the-Pooh) so we can work together.

Geeky or not, I love this time together. I only dread the day when she decides that dad isn't the coolest guy around anymore. :D

Both of my kids used to do this also. My tech. room (wife calls it my cave) is in the basement where the kids play. Years ago they would pretend to do work on old VT100 terminal kby's while I worked. Now my daughter asks me to leave when she plays with here friends down there. My son is plugged into a PS2 and is 100% into the game. :cry:
At times when they pretended to work with me and I was real busy I thought they were distracting and in the way, now I miss them. Don't know what ya got till its gone...

[Steven Cedrone]

That story is beautiful man!!!

Every once in a while, my daughters request mp3's and movie trailers instead of their usual night-night books. It makes me proud! I can only hope that we too, can follow the path to pre-teen Pocket PC ownership... :way to go:

I can only hope I can handle the pain, the first time the batteries are left to completely drain and my kids experience that first loss of data... :cry:

Steve

[Pony99CA]

My 11-year-old likes to play games on my iPAQ (and her mom's, my old iPAQ). I gave her my old Hitachi Windows CE 1.0 device (so she can play Solitaire and keep a phone book if she wants). She also liked to draw on my old Sharp Mobilon Handheld PC when she was younger.

However, she hasn't asked to do anything productive yet. Maybe she's a late bloomer. :lol:

Steve

[jgrnt1]

Well, my oldest is only seven and doesn't need a PPC....yet. He does like to play with mine, though, especially the games. I have to watch him carefully, when he uses it, because he reads extremely well and likes to look at the news on Journal Bar. At seven, he doesn't need to be reading some of the stuff in the news.

However, he does help out my wife, when she runs into a snag on her computer. :) Does this make him a geek....heck, yes. Does it make him a nerdy wimp....NO! The kid is a mean pitcher and also takes kung-fu twice a week.

A few definitions (for the non-geeks, since the geeks already know these): :mrgreen:

From the High Definition Dictionary (http://hdd.rox.com)

geek - a crazy person; a gross person; a smart person
....Very recently -- in the 90's -- the repulsive connotation has receded and the brainy factor has come to the fore. One often hears the word "geek" used in ironic and even complimentary fashion to connote knowledgeability and expertise.

From The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (http://www.bartleby.com/61/)

geek - Noun: Slang 1a. A person regarded as foolish, inept, or clumsy. b. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept. 2. A carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.

From the Hyper Dictionary (http://www.hyperdictionary.com)

geek - n : a person with an unusual or odd personality [syn: {eccentric},
{eccentric person}, {oddball}]

From Jargon File (4.3.0, 30 APR 2001) [jargon]

geek - n. A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity;
one who pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not
mainstream social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of
{neophilia}. Most geeks are adept with computers and treat {hacker} as a
term of respect, but not all are hackers themselves - and some who _are_
in fact hackers normally call themselves geeks anyway, because they
(quite properly) regard `hacker' as a label that should be bestowed by
others rather than self-assumed.

One description (http://www.darkwater.com/omni/geek.html) accurately
if a little breathlessly enumerates "gamers, ravers, science fiction
fans, punks, perverts, programmers, nerds, subgenii, and trekkies. These
are people who did not go to their high school proms, and many would be
offended by the suggestion that they should have even wanted to."

Originally, a `geek' was a carnival performer who bit the heads off
chickens. Before about 1990 usage of this term was rather negative.
Earlier versions of this lexicon defined a `computer geek' as one who
eats (computer) bugs for a living - an asocial, malodorous, pasty-faced
monomaniac with all the personality of a cheese grater. This is often
still the way geeks are regarded by non-geeks, but as the mainstream
culture becomes more dependent on technology and technical skill
mainstream attitudes have tended to shift towards grudging respect.
Correspondingly, there are now `geek pride' festivals (the implied
reference to `gay pride' is not accidental).

See also {propeller head}, {clustergeeking}, {geek out}, {wannabee},
{terminal junkie}, {spod}, {weenie}, {geek code}.

And for those who have to know:

neophilia /nee`oh-fil'-ee-*/ n. The trait of being excited and pleased
by novelty. Common among most hackers, SF fans, and members of several
other connected leading-edge subcultures, including the pro-technology
`Whole Earth' wing of the ecology movement, space activists, many
members of Mensa, and the Discordian/neo-pagan underground (see {geek}).
All these groups overlap heavily and (where evidence is available) seem
to share characteristic hacker tropisms for science fiction, {{music}},
and {{oriental food}}. The opposite tendency is `neophobia'.

Does taking the time to look this up demonstrate my geekiness? :confused totally: Personally, I have yet to bite the head off a live chicken, but if that's what it take to insure my "geek" label.....

[JvanEkris]

I can only hope I can handle the pain, the first time the batteries are left to completely drain and my kids experience that first loss of data... :cry:

Steve
Isn't that the moment where daddy becomes their hero by performing a magic trick (i.e. restoring a backup back to the machine) ??? A good educational moment that shows them the true value of a good backup-policy....

Jaap

[rfischer]

You guys are hilarious! Thanks for the great story and the terrific user comments.

My wife and I don't have any kids yet, but I caught my Yellow Lab checking my T-Mobile for "Pawprint Recognition" software yesterday. Thank goodness it was in it's case! (The T-Mobile not the dog).

:D

[JMountford]

I have a 7 almost 8 year old now. I have mentioned her before on the forums here. At one point she was really into the computer stuff. As she has got older she is only interrested in playing games. Right now she has a stereo a tv a vcr and a dvd player in her room. I know this is not too big a deal in this day and age. We own an Xbox and a PS1 not to mention my old Sega Saturn. She has a Gameboy, (which she passed on to her 3 year old brother when she got her), game boy advanced. She used to try to play on my iPaq all of the time, but I am stingy. The new Gameboy is cool, but she gets too annoyed at games, (too much like her mom, no patience). My son will be a geek/jock. He loves the computers and helping me fix em. Alas I am not really geeky enough for thoughts. I only have one PC. My iPaq is a 3765. I mean maybe it is just that I am poor so our money has to be budgetted for esential things like clothes and food and stuff like that.

I digress. I live in a bad State for getting tech jobs. There just are none. But back to the topic. I can easily say that my daughter would NEVER want a tech vest. I am thrilled about that. She has bigger and better things to do than become another unemployed Geek.

[rfischer]

I live in a bad State for getting tech jobs."

You mean there's a GOOD state for getting Tech Jobs right now? I've been looking since December 2002.....

[ironguy]

My 9 year old daughter is in 4th grade - yes, the year of the dreaded California Mission report! Last night it was time to start typing up the report. She had collected her info and needed to get it into the PC.

Little did I know that she had already started it. She walked to the PC, logged in, opened Word and opened her report. I was slightly stunned to see a title page, complete with pictures and word art.

"Did Mom help you with this?", I asked.
"No"
"Where did you get the pictures?"
"Oh, I saved them off the internet."

Her teacher had given them a number of websites about missions and she took it from there. Man! Talk about proud!

[Pony99CA]

I live in a bad State for getting tech jobs."
You mean there's a GOOD state for getting Tech Jobs right now? I've been looking since December 2002.....
Is that all? :lol: I've been looking since December 2001.

Steve

P.S. If you have a job in the Silicon Valley area, check my resume (http://steve.svvg.biz/resume.html). :-)

[Pony99CA]

My 9 year old daughter is in 4th grade - yes, the year of the dreaded California Mission report! Last night it was time to start typing up the report. She had collected her info and needed to get it into the PC.
You must live in California, but I didn't realize it was something standard. My daughter did that in 4th grade, too. She's in 6th grade now, and types her reports in, but I still do the formatting and graphics.

Steve

[Ainvar]

My grildriend's little brother who is 11 loves to use one of my pocketpcs.
I have an iPAQ 3855 and a Tosh e550G. Other than using them to msg his friends when he is not at a computer, he loves the game snails. He loves to work on computers and also take them apart (he has not found the path to putting them back together yet) and to watch me troubleshoot and fix computer problems. He also plays baseball, basketball, and football when he is not on the computer or playing the PS2. For his christmas/birthday I will give him my old iPAQ when I get my new one.

I am glad he is showing interest in something where you have to really think and pace yourself through the steps (learns patients) and to give his mind a workout. Schools here in GA are a joke and private schools are too much money. He is not my child but I do share a bond with him and he is always wanting to hangout with me. Makes me in a way think of him as a little brother that I never had and someone I can teach what I do know to.
The girlfriend is learning computers also but she is always using her newly learned skills to find anything she can on the show called Friends.

[palmsolo]

Brad,

I bought my three daughters Palm m100s for Christmas this last year since they were cheaper than the Pixters and more powerful. They are 9, 7, and 3 and a half and I have to say that we have a lot of fun together learning how to use the Datebook, Address Book, NotePad and, of course, games. I initially bought it for my 3 year old so she wouldn't feel left out, but there is actually some great counting and alphabet training programs that she is using when we are going to the store, etc. We homeschool our daughters and are finding some great little applications that help them out, i.e. quiz programs, flash card type stuff, etc. I also bought a Stowaway keyboard so they can practice typing.

They keep asking when they can move up to a color Pocket PC and I told them when they get a bit older. The most hilarious thing is when my three year old runs around the house screaming, "Where is my Palm, I need my Palm." That is enough to bring tears of joy to my eyes :)

[jmulder]

My 9 year old daughter is in 4th grade - yes, the year of the dreaded California Mission report! Last night it was time to start typing up the report. She had collected her info and needed to get it into the PC.

I think I remember doing that report in 4th grade...23 years ago!! Of course, no internet for us, we had to actually visit the missions. :)

-Jim

[The Yaz]

I agree that computer moments with our kids can be memorable. I have a six year old daughter and a three year old son. They are both heavy computer users, playing educational programs/games and surfing parent approved web sites likes nickjr.com.

I also let them use my pocket pc's when we are out shopping or waiting to be seated at restaurants to pass the time. My daughter is very good at writing on the pda with letter recognizer. So much so that at a recent parent-teacher meeting I was given some pages that my daughter wrote during "free time". The teacher was worried because some of the letters did not make sense. That's when I realized that she was writing her f,t,l,& k's as she would enter them in recognizer.

My wife wanted to kill me at that moment. 8)

[Pat Logsdon]

My 9 year old daughter is in 4th grade - yes, the year of the dreaded California Mission report! Last night it was time to start typing up the report. She had collected her info and needed to get it into the PC.
You must live in California, but I didn't realize it was something standard. My daughter did that in 4th grade, too. She's in 6th grade now, and types her reports in, but I still do the formatting and graphics.
Does the education system NEVER change? I remember doing this in 4th grade myself, almost 20 years ago! I had to build the Mission Santa Ynez out of sugar cubes. I was covered with glue and sugar for a week, and then we had an ant problem. Then we had a dog problem, when ours ate the mission and the ants. :D

But to keep on topic, I can't imagine how subjecting a child to ActiveSync could be a good thing! Aren't we supposed to protect our kids from pain and suffering? :wink:

[Weyoun6]

Ohkay.... I know I am a geek, but this is kinda weird...

[malcolmsharp]

Dare I even HOPE that one day she'll ask for her own eVest?

sniff, sniff...

They just don't make emoticons for moments like this!

[jgrnt1]

Now at your local Toys R Us, the new eVest edition Ken and Barbie dolls, with miniature PDA's and cell phones. The special edition talking dolls include such phrases as:

- "It's frozen again. Time for another hard reset. Now, where did I put that SD card with the backup on it?"

- "Do you like my pink Vaja case? It matches my shoes and nails."

[Ivan]

geek - Noun: Slang 1a. A person regarded as foolish, inept, or clumsy. b. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept. 2. A carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.



Wow... to think Ozzy Osbourne has been a geek all this time. 8O

Well, my daughter's only a year and a half and her only experience with a PC has been getting on my lap while I'm working at the PC and start typing and clicking the mouse incessantly screwing up whatever I'm working on...

I realize now from all your posts that I will miss this when she grows up... :cry:

[Brad Adrian]

...That's when I realized that she was writing her f,t,l,& k's as she would enter them in recognizer...
LOL! "She's not dyslexic, she just uses a Palm!"

[Jimmy Dodd]

- "Do you like my pink Vaja case? It matches my shoes and nails."

I always suspected that Ken was a little..."different"...

[Jimmy Dodd]

Check this (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005Y7DF/pdasupportcom-20/002-8428522-4417656) in case anyone doesn't know they actually exist. :lol:

[docangle]

My 16 Month old boy @ Play:


http://www.wmfinc.com/misc/nol1.jpg

http://www.wmfinc.com/misc/nol2.jpg

http://www.wmfinc.com/misc/nol3.jpg

[The Yaz]

...That's when I realized that she was writing her f,t,l,& k's as she would enter them in recognizer...
LOL! "She's not dyslexic, she just uses a Palm!"

Brian,

I said she uses Letter Recognizer on my pocketpc's (Casio E-125 & Audiovox Maestro). We don't use the word "Palm" in my household...

8)

[sponge]

Uh oh, do I see fingers on the screen in the 2nd picture? ;)

[Don Tolson]

Well, both my 7 and 9 year-old boys like to 'play' with the games on my J568 (...and my wife is still trying to beat me at Crazy Bubbles -- HA!), but my eldest (seen in my avatar at the tender age of 1) told me last night that he wants to save up to get his own Jornada, cuz they are so cool.

Ah, the sins of the father, visited upon the son(s). Mom just did her usual eye roll. :roll: (hee, hee, I couldn't have been prouder!)

[PhatCohiba]

Dare I even HOPE that one day she'll ask for her own eVest?

This might seem like too much work but if you have the March 03 issue of ELLE, on page 288 is a jill sander high fashion version of the eVest, saw it yesterday. Couldn't stop chuckling...

If someone has the magazine, scanner, and website to host an image (I only have one of the three...) I'd appriciate it.

[Brad Adrian]

...We don't use the word "Palm" in my household...
Same here! Took quite a while to cure them of using that generic name. Now, if anybody slips and calls my device a Palm, they know they can expect a VERY icy stare (and possibly no allowance -- just kidding).

[Billsgirl]

Wow!! I feel like "Mommy Dearest!" My daughters are not allowed to play with my ipaq or even touch it!! I'm a newbie maybe thats why!! :D

When we play a game I use the stylus and hold the ipaq, asking what they want to do next. They are 10 and 7 and Love to go to Fry's or other stores so they can play with all the PPC's the poor little things!!

They have no chance at not being little geeks!! Between me and my husband a Graphic Web Desinger!! They are definately geek bound!!

[Brad Adrian]

...My daughters are not allowed to play with my ipaq or even touch it!!
That's why I gave my daughter my OLD iPAQ. She knows better than to even get too close to my Phone Edition.

[Saaby]

I've got you all beat, I was the nerd child. Had my eyes on a PDA since the ages of Palm Pilot Professional.

I have an Axim now but I haven't quite kicked the Palm habit--you see, Palm is one sylabol--PocketPc is two. Sometimes Palm is just easier to say...

[Brad Adrian]

Palm is one sylabol--PocketPc is two.
...or sometimes even four.

[Sheynk]

My 7 year old daughter asked for an IPAQ for her birthday. Although I bought her a Polly Pocket Sparkle House instead, I think there is real potential of her becoming a Geeket, like her Mom.

My son on the other hand, needs some work. He keeps on asking for a Playstation 2.

get him an Xbox and he'll be on his way to the dark..errr... Microsoft side

[bbarker]

My daughter begged for a PDA for Christmas when she was 14. She was incredibly excited when she opened the Jornada 545 I bought on eBay. After a couple of months she'd grown bored with it so I sold it to my brother. I should have learned from the low-end digital camera I bought her the previous year. She was pleading for a camera at the time. Now, at 15, she says she hates hers because it's not cool.

My 7-year-old twins (a boy and a girl) always want to play with my Pocket PC. But I seldom let them any more. One of them damaged my Stowaway keyboard a year ago while playing with the PPC and keyboard. I'd love to find them a cheap, child-oriented PDA. But none of those I've seen include a drawing/doodling program or decent games. That's what they really want.

[TechMage]

Docangle, I see your son has good tastes. That's a Jornada 56x, in my opinion one of the best PPCs ever.


I have a little 4 year old sister, and when I drive over to my mom's house, I usually bring my Jornada 568. The first time I brought it over (she was 3) she was very interested and curious about it. I brushed it off as curiosity of any little kid. I brought it over several times after that and every time she asked to play with it or let her watch. I made a little wack'em up game and she enjoyed playing it. I was worried about her scratching the screen or pressing too hard with the stylus so I supervised her and only let her play it for a little while. About a month and a half ago, I went over to my mom's house and didn't bring my PPC. My little sister asked me to my suprise if I had brought my Pocket PC. I said no and she asked me to bring it next time. I've been over there several times since, and have forgot to bring my PPC, everytime she has asked me if I had it with me. I never realized how much she liked it, so the next time I go over I'm going to try to remember to bring it. I feel so bad telling her I will bring it next time, and then I forget it.

Also, if you guys have little ones, you should buy them a toy called LeapPad. It's a little electronic book that teaches them different subjects. You can buy tons of cartrages (science, math, reading, spelling, etc) for it that fit into the toy and then come with a small kids book that fits into it. The LeapPad has a stylus (attached by a cord) that they use on the books. Like click the cow and it says "moo" or click on a word and it tells you what it means and how to say it. The LeapPad is a great little learning tool and when they have learned everthing in a book and it's cartrage, you can always just buy them more subjects. My little four year old sister loves it and it keeps her occupied while teaching her at the same time. She even talks about what she has learned in the LeapPad to me.



Oh yeah and you guys are funny. I think all parents enjoy their kids taking after them and being interested in the same things as them. Just be carefull what you teach them, they observe and hear almost everything, even when you think they don't understand or are busy playing.

[bjornkeizers]

I've got you all beat, I was the nerd child. Had my eyes on a PDA since the ages of Palm Pilot Professional.

Lol, me too. I grew up with organisers [like the casios] Wanted more so I moved onto a Psion Siena.. then a while later I saw a Palm Pilot Pro. I bought one and boy was I proud! I was hooked! I did everything with it. I even wrote reports on it and read books on it too. Everybody thought I was from another planet! Nobody on my school had ever even heard of PDA's, let alone used one. Instant geek label :D

Of course, after that things picked rather fast: Palm IIIE, my first Pocket PC [ipaq 3630], I also bought another couple palms in between [one is on backorder right now!] and nowadays, I use a Jornada 565 and a IIIC for most of my mobile needs.

I can only hope if/when I have kids, they'll grow up using these devices too.

[Tim Allen]

My 9-year old son wasn't too interested in my iPAQ until the day I got EverQuest. Then all I heard was 'Can I play EverQuest?' every 10 minutes. Finally solved the problem by getting him one of the new Gameboy Advance SP's for his birthday.

[AndrewLubinus89]

I've got you all beat, I was the nerd child. Had my eyes on a PDA since the ages of Palm Pilot Professional.

Lol, me too. I grew up with organisers
I beat you all in Kid geekyness...I had the original newton when I was ten! :D Talk about geeky. My freinds were all thinking 'What do you do with it?'. Now I have a visor edge (I really want a dell though or I wouldn't be here)

[bbarker]

Wow. When I grew up they didn't even have digital watches or PCs, let alone PDAs.

[jgrnt1]

I've got you all beat, I was the nerd child. Had my eyes on a PDA since the ages of Palm Pilot Professional.

Lol, me too. I grew up with organisers
I beat you all in Kid geekyness...I had the original newton when I was ten! :D Talk about geeky. My freinds were all thinking 'What do you do with it?'.

OK, since we're one-upping each other with childhood geekiness stories, I'm going to show my age by talking about my early geekiness.

I'm 43, so I grew up long before PC's and PDA's. My father was a research engineer for IBM. I used to sit with him when he did work at home. I loved to play with his Keuffel & Esser slide rule. It came in a green leather case.

I also used to visit him at work. I remember being in awe of the computers of the day, which spanned rooms. The rooms were all temperature controlled and had false floors, so they could run all the wires and, sometimes, water-cooling under the floor.

I remember the day he brought home one of the first true pocket calculators, a Commodore Minuteman 3. It did addition, subtraction, mulitplication and division. That was it. It didn't even do square-roots. I believe it was 1973 and the cost was about $80, from some sleazy electronics/camera/luggage place in New York City. Later, I was the proud owner of a Commodore VIC-20 and, after that, a Commodore 64. My dad still has his, along with a Commodore color monitor and a disk drive.

I spent the Summer of 1979 working for IBM while I was in college. Computers were getting much smaller. I worked on a computer project where, for the first time, IBM was offering an entire computer in one "box." Prior to that time, the CPU was just that, the central processing unit. The I/O unit was a separate box. Both were about the size of washing machines. When they combined them, they didn't shrink anything. They just offered both units in one bigger box, about the size of a washer and dryer. If I remember correctly (I may not), it was the 8100 series.

The prior fall, when I entered college, the university had just installed one of IBM's first 3033's, dubbed "The Big One." It's many pieces filled a very large, glassed in, temperature controlled room. The 3033 features were absolute state-of-the-art, including a "buffer storage capacity of 65,536 bytes," and "four, six or eight million characters of main memory." The basic configuration, "four million characters of main memory, an operator's console and power and coolant distribution unit," could be leased for about $70,000 per month, or purchased for a little over $3,000,000.

Now I own every gadget I can get my hands on, and my sons beg to play with all of them.

[bbarker]

The prior fall, when I entered college, the university had just installed one of IBM's first 3033's, dubbed "The Big One."...The basic configuration, "four million characters of main memory, an operator's console and power and coolant distribution unit," could be leased for about $70,000 per month, or purchased for a little over $3,000,000.
Basically the second version of the Palm Pilot.

[baralong]

Now at your local Toys R Us, the new eVest edition Ken and Barbie dolls, with miniature PDA's and cell phones.

Actually, my daughter's Barbie has a pink PDA (although perhaps it's ment to be a game boy) and a Note book and a desktop PC (well iMac anyway) When my daughter saw the pda she said "Look dad Barbie's got a little computer like yours"

Both my kids (5 yo twins) like to play with the computers, at times I have to aviod arguements I have let one play with the little computer while the other plays with the big computer.

Favourite games for the kids are:
Rayman Ultimate, my son was really dissapointed I wouldn't buy the full version
Snails
and KidColor (http://www.freewareppc.com/graphics/kidcolor.shtml)
Chips Challenge (http://www.iceboxman.com/software/pocketpc/chips.php)

now if I could just find a good PPC lemmings clone

[Saaby]

Palm is one sylabol--PocketPc is two.
...or sometimes even four.

Doh! Can't spell either I now see...

[Saaby]

" I worked on a computer project where, for the first time, IBM was offering an entire computer in one "box.""

Hey my Elementary school (I'm in High School now) still has those. Oh wait, they have PS2s...(Not Play station, all-in-one IBM "Personal System 2")

My dad does RPG programming so I grew up around green screen terminals, AS/400s and those lovely false floors. When I was younger (Think 13-14 years ago) he could work from home using a green-screen dumb terminal. Now he can work through home by making his 1.33 Ghz AMD Athlon system with 32 Million some odd colors do what? Emulate a dumb terminal :smack:

[TechMage]

"buffer storage capacity of 65,536 bytes,"


ROTFL! :lol: I burst into laughter when I read that. Good God, it's hard to find a single program that will even fit in 65K today.

[Jason Dunn]

Man, what a nerd.
No offense.

Tsk, tsk. The term is GEEK, not NERD. They are very different terms, and you should learn how to use them when insulting others.

Very uncool comment BTW. :evil:

[Jason Dunn]

I never realized how much she liked it, so the next time I go over I'm going to try to remember to bring it. I feel so bad telling her I will bring it next time, and then I forget it.

Maybe you should set a reminder on, you know, your Pocket PC? :wink:

[jgrnt1]

Saaby reminded me of one more story. In high school, we had one terminal in the library (mid 1970's). It was essentially a teletype machine, with a roll of paper (no screen). I used to spend all my spare time on it, playing Lunar Lander -- enter a value for fuel to burn the thruster, see how it reacts, enter another value, etc. and hope you could land without crashing. We didn't have to worry about refresh rates or frames per second back then. It was more like frames per hour.

[Weyoun6]

IBM "ps2s" would be PS/2?