WHERE DID COMPUTING BEGIN FOR YOU?

Today, many of us, as students, own and operate our own personal computers. We uses them in a productive capacity for typing and printing assignments and reports, graphing calculations or surfing the World Wide Web for pertinent information. Besides the fact that the personal computer has become a necessity for college and everyday use, what really influenced us in using them?

I don't have to look very far into history to see the evolutionary changes I've endured in computing. Tucked away in a corner of my home office, under the protection of a dust cover, my Commodore 128, with all its input/output devices and dangling cables is set up and ready to function. Although completely outdated, this small, slow running, 8-bit machine is where my history of computing began.

Between the late 1970's and early 1980's, the Commodore 64 and 128 computers were state of the art in home computing and fun for the gaming public. Although most thought the Commodore computer as no more that a kids toy, the productive side of this machine is where I cut my teeth, gained the experience and began my computing career in using the Windows platform, 32-bit computer of today.

At first, the Commodore did function as primarily a gaming computer, providing entertainment for myself, the family and friends. With the introduction of new applications, such as GEOS, the Commodore world soon became a necessity for personal productivity. GEOS made the Commodore more versatile, providing WYSIWYG technology through GEOWRITE and GEOPAINT. Additionally, GEOS provided the user with the capability of applying more and different types of input/output devises. From the keyboard, that is also the CPU, RGB monitor, 5-1/4" floppy disk drive (1571) and printer, computing was made easy. GEOS program applications allowed even more additional input/output devices to be recognized, such as multiple floppy drives, expandable RAM, system utility cartridges, mouse's and the telephone modem, just to name a few. I can remember a visit to a friends home, where his Commodore 128, was up running, with two color-printers, 2 Commodore 1571 (5-1/4" drives), 2 Commodore 1581 (3.5" drive), Dual RAM expansion, 80 column color monitor, dual joysticks, a mouse, a pencil pad, and a gazillion miles of cable. The computer took up most of the space in the room, not to mention the stacks of floppy disks, which gave the room the so-called "Contemporary - Computer - Look". This alone would have been the reason why people converted to the convience of the IBM home computer.

However, the Commodore computer, running GEOS programs had its similarities to the IBM Windows systems of today. For instance, both used a window style of applications with pull down windows and icons. With a point a click, the program would be functional. The introduction of the 600-baud modem in the Commodore world gave you the capability to communicate to other computers as well. Commodore clubs sprang up over night, organized and determined to make the Commodore more than just a gaming machine. Backyard programmers began writing applications in GW basic and machine language enabled the Commodore to survive a little longer than it did. One of the famous explorers in computer programming, was Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft. His dream of better computing has influenced all of us and in reality as a big part of your lives when it comes to operating our home personal computers.

I have not forgot those slow running Commodore computers. If not for anything else, they bring back memories of family and friends, and the adventures of using a new program for the first time. There are still many Commodore clubs out in the world, many with their own web sites, surrounded with the belief the Commodore will never die. You can access many of these sites, just to get a peek at the past in early computing, where the technological advances are still being made, but realistically will never catch up to the real world of computing today.

This is where I started; bear bones computing, hit and miss education. Some of you at my age may still remember the beginning of your computing past, recalling the hassle of loading and using one program at a time, the slowness of access, saving and downloading, and big pixels squares that made up a graphic on your monitor. For us, we can say, it was an experience, for the younger generation, it's just a history lesson.

Continue to enjoy you computing experience and CIS120. I have included a few Commodore Web sites for you to explore, so go surfing and see where technology has taken you.