I posted these this morning from the Opera browser with the VPN function turned on. IntenseDebate puts them promptly in the furnace filter until one of our redoubtable mods rescues them.
In 1988 I went to work for a company that used these to do word processing. That round thing next to the keyboard was a mouse-like pointing device, and the 9" floppies went in that console beside the desk. The screen was true wysisyg and would zoom in and out, if a bit clumsily. They output to clattering high-speed daisy-wheel printers and would do proportionally-spaced fonts. Only secretaries knew how or were allowed to use them.
<img src="http://www.old-computers.com/museum/photos/xerox_860_2.jpg"> It's a Xerox 860. You'll recall that Xerox, not Apple, invented the WIMP (windows, icon, mouse & pointer) interface.
Shortly after I started there the corporate oligarchs granted our office its first PC: a tank-like XT with two floppies, a monochrome monitor, no clock or hard disk, and a Hayes modem. Thus began the long struggle, during which I was told by the office manager that I would never see a time when every employee had a computer on his or her desk. It took me until 1992 or so to make that happen, and by then we had a 42" HP inkjet plotter and a UNIX network.
My then-company was a strict traditionalist. After 50 years of never buying their employees anything but pencils and used office furniture, they were freaking out at the idea of (1) paying $500 or whatever it was for Lotus 1-2-3, and (2) the legal requirement that you buy another copy for every employee who wanted to use it.
We had a phone/intercom system in that office that allowed you to address anybody's phone with a message even if they hadn't picked up the phone. So when we got our first sound card, it came with text-to-speech software and we used it to send machine-voice messages to people:
THIS IS THE UNIX SERVER. DO NOT TURN AWAY FROM YOUR WORK. DO NOT GO TO THE BATHROOM. TIMECARDS WITH ERRORS WILL BE REJECT. THAT IS ALL.
I didn't use a computer at work until 1999 when I promoted to a low-level managerial role. Back in the late 80's, an employer owed me for some 1099 work but was too broke to pay me. He gave me a Commodore VIC-20 daisy-chained to the capabilities of a 64. Cassette drive, no memory, plugged into an actual television. Classic green screen. I hated that thing, and I turned off to computers until probably 1995 or 1996, when I bought a used PC, a 284+2 I think it was. They've been my salvation and downfall, simultaneously, ever since.
Whoa, talk about a Sunday night news dump!
I posted these this morning from the Opera browser with the VPN function turned on. IntenseDebate puts them promptly in the furnace filter until one of our redoubtable mods rescues them.
Ten of 'em in a row, I think that's some kind of a record.
WTF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????
Because it's so easy to find a job using the print ads in the newspaper. Jesus fucking Christ…
/FFS
Or do my charting at work.
Well it doesn't take long to look at the help wanted ads in the paper anymore, that's for sure.
And you thought the car insurance canard was bad.
He wants backspace, page-up and page-down keys, and a scroll wheel on his mouse.
Wordstar or GTFO!
In 1988 I went to work for a company that used these to do word processing. That round thing next to the keyboard was a mouse-like pointing device, and the 9" floppies went in that console beside the desk. The screen was true wysisyg and would zoom in and out, if a bit clumsily. They output to clattering high-speed daisy-wheel printers and would do proportionally-spaced fonts. Only secretaries knew how or were allowed to use them.
<img src="http://www.old-computers.com/museum/photos/xerox_860_2.jpg"> It's a Xerox 860. You'll recall that Xerox, not Apple, invented the WIMP (windows, icon, mouse & pointer) interface.
Shortly after I started there the corporate oligarchs granted our office its first PC: a tank-like XT with two floppies, a monochrome monitor, no clock or hard disk, and a Hayes modem. Thus began the long struggle, during which I was told by the office manager that I would never see a time when every employee had a computer on his or her desk. It took me until 1992 or so to make that happen, and by then we had a 42" HP inkjet plotter and a UNIX network.
My then-company was a strict traditionalist. After 50 years of never buying their employees anything but pencils and used office furniture, they were freaking out at the idea of (1) paying $500 or whatever it was for Lotus 1-2-3, and (2) the legal requirement that you buy another copy for every employee who wanted to use it.
We had a phone/intercom system in that office that allowed you to address anybody's phone with a message even if they hadn't picked up the phone. So when we got our first sound card, it came with text-to-speech software and we used it to send machine-voice messages to people:
THIS IS THE UNIX SERVER. DO NOT TURN AWAY FROM YOUR WORK. DO NOT GO TO THE BATHROOM. TIMECARDS WITH ERRORS WILL BE REJECT. THAT IS ALL.
I didn't use a computer at work until 1999 when I promoted to a low-level managerial role. Back in the late 80's, an employer owed me for some 1099 work but was too broke to pay me. He gave me a Commodore VIC-20 daisy-chained to the capabilities of a 64. Cassette drive, no memory, plugged into an actual television. Classic green screen. I hated that thing, and I turned off to computers until probably 1995 or 1996, when I bought a used PC, a 284+2 I think it was. They've been my salvation and downfall, simultaneously, ever since.
Only my last 7 or 8 years. I was still union though, dammit!
At Caltrans*, no less!
___________________
*California's actual government
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v478/jamest52/microsoft-adjpg.jpg"</img>
*Sir* to you…
People can change, man!