When visiting Shrewd'm with a laptop, it can be pleasant to hold Command (or Ctrl with Windows) and '+' a few times. The site scales to allow any font size, and the larger font can be pleasant to read even for Shrewds with perfect sight! For luxury Shrewdness, you can combine that with setting the browser to full screen. You'll then find yourself Shrewding a lot.
- Manlobbi
Personal Finance Topics / Macroeconomic Trends and Risks
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Mosaic 4 tech, HAMR drives. Shipping to major data centers.
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Interesting, but we were using TRS-80 Model 1 computers--built in 1978. In 1980, added four floppy drives to each computer.
Noticed hard drives, but they were a joke. $500 for 5mb, $1k for 10mb. Low capacity.
Prices dropped over next few years and capacities got larger, but still silly pricing.
In late 1984, got a new system ("multi-user", ha-ha). More than two users and it slowed to a crawl. 8" 40mb HDD--which I filled twice in first two weeks. LOL !! Informix RDBMS made things easier, but almost no one knew how to use it. Built a basic database for the project I was doing. Finished building the database and was then "let go" while on vacation.
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Well, as Einstein once said, "Everything is relative"
My first storage on my TRS-80 Model 1 was a cassette tape recorder. When I upgraded to a 70kb floppy drive, I felt like I could rule the world. 5mb of storage was an inconceivably large drive. (I'm guessing that was back in 1977 +/-).
A few months after this ad ran (I'd say in 1982), I was pushing a company name IMS International (which later changed its name to Cubix). After a couple of dud manufacturers trying to sell vaporware, they came up with a scheme that worked: Sigle-board computers (each with its own Z-80 CPU, 64kb RAM and a pair of serial ports plugged into an S-100 bus computer (which handled storage, printing and communication between the boards).
This setup was way ahead of its time (hard to say whether it was a blade server or a network in a box). It ran an operating system called "TurboDos". We were able to expand it (given enough CPU boards) into a 16 user system where each user ran as fast as a stand-alone PC, but they all shared the same storage and system-wide peripherals. I think they changed their name when they shifted to 8086 running Unix in a similar concept of hardware environment.
Jeff
No. of Recommendations: 2
My first storage on my TRS-80 Model 1 was a cassette tape recorder. When I upgraded to a 70kb floppy drive, I felt like I could rule the world.
LOL !!
Same here. Cassettes were the only option until early 1980: 35-track floppy drives. Connected the drives, loaded the cassette, and saved to the floppy. Cassette setup then discarded. Ran off floppies thereafter. Got the word processer (Scripsit UC--no lower case available) and saw Visicalc in the spring. Told the owner "BUY IT !!" ($100) and he did a few months later. Then things got a LOT simpler.
We were running a retail store inventory system that we adapted to a manufacturing business. Outside programmer added an inventory-interactive bill-of-materials stand-alone program (based on an existing program) that had selectable "deduct from inventory doing BOM" or "do NOT deduct from inventory--just give a status check on a 'what-if-we-wanted-to-build-it'" machine. I added a new program to enter items to be added to inventory, cost data, and so on. After these, it was FAR easier. Mainly making monthly backups (floppies), which was done by a part-time worker who was majoring in computers at the U of MN. He had a lot of time to play with them (no games--didn't have any, as the games were on cassette), do art, etc. Moved to a Xenix system in late 1984 (for a special project needing RDBMS) and the Model 1s were no longer used/needed. I left in March/April 1985. Kept my own Model 1 until 1992, when I finally got a PC and went online from home shortly thereafter. Traded the Model 1 away for a couple remote-control toy cars and gave them to my nephew (mid 90s). Now he is a high-end Mercedes-certified auto body repairman and he handles all the very expensive cars that come into the shop for bodywork. I don't own a car !! LOL !!!
No. of Recommendations: 2
My "computer" experience was primarily devoted to creating tools for my businesses, and unsurprisingly, was separated into hardware and software.
On the hardware side, it morphed from a TRS-80 Model I to a (major upgrade) TRS-80 Model II then (another major upgrade) to an NEC APC II (MS-DOS) and then on to a series of, ever more powerful, network connected Intel/MS-DOS, then Windows systems. Interestingly, we frequently sold for more powerful and elaborate equipment than we used. I was never patient when it came to printing and, while with the TRS-80 I I used a series of bizarre second-hand printers, I hooked a 300 line-per-minute Teletype 40 printer to my TRS-80 II (sort of like dropping a Porsche engine into a Yugo). That printer served for the years until laser printers became available.
On the software side, it started as a database designed to price material and compare costs between distributers and that branch developed into an electrical contractor's estimating application which served its purpose for decades.
When I started (what I personally thought of as) my computer business (depending on who was being touched by it, it was known as a dealer/reseller/OEM/distributor/installer/value added reseller/contractor/import-exporter/mail-order house and various other names - basically, what ever would get us the lowest cost and allow us to sell at the highest price). I started the business as a mail-order house (as displayed by the ad I referenced). As I sold nation-wide (and sometimes internationally), shipping cost and speed were of paramount importance and I created accounts at dozens of manufacturers and distributers throughout the country (frequently being "creative" as to the type of firm our company was with a goal to get the lowest possible cost. Using a Boolean flat database tool (Q&A - Symantec's original product), our database of available items grew to almost a million different line items each available from multiple sources. As the business morphed into a government contractor of those items - both as commodities and as components of design/build installations, the software morphed into having the ability to absorb a bill of material and spit out purchase orders matching long lists of arbitrary stuff and churning out purchase orders to vendors - designed to minimize the net landed cost.
We had the advantage of always paying our bills on time (a rare attribute in the US) so we had essentially unlimited credit and vendors who were willing to fight for our business. I would explain to them that despite their attention to all sorts of wonderful advantages, their competitors paid the same attention and then I would ask them to choose whatever items they preferred, we'd enter them into the system and then show them the output of which vendor (and at what price) the software selected. The simple solution for them was to reduce their prices across the board or not to expect our orders except on loss-leaders. The ability of the software to churn out the lowest cost kept vendors "honest" - if they raised their prices, our orders disappeared and they had a decision to make.
The guys who bought the business from me felt this was too complicated and made a deal with a single major distributor. I'm guessing this decision cost them a substantial portion of what their profit could have been.
Jeff
