Computing was soooooooooo much different in 1984...

Computing is sooooooo much different today then in 1984…fer shur!

@fourth this ones for you.

After I purchased my Commodore 64 system, I got on the phone to all my friends and let them know how much farther ahead in the computerized future I was now living then any of them. With my C64 and peripherals, I was like a high tech god to all in my circle, who at the time, had an Atari 400 or 800, if they had any computer at all.  Into the Wayback Machine dailed in for 1984 and we will listen in on a typical call:
 

Me on the phone: Dude you need to motor over. I got it! I finally got it!

Bill: The Commodore 64? That is bitchin’…what’d ya pay?

Me: 300 bucks at Wally World  

Bill: Whoa…that’s like half man. Last I looked it was $595.

Me: Yeah and I got it set up and you are not gonna believe how much bigger a C64 is then the Vic20. I now have 65,536 whole Kilobytes of RAM to play with.

Bll: Shut up! That is huge!   

Me: You know it, and Commodore 64 has a cartridge slot in the back for games and software programs and stuff. I got a game and a word processor with it.
 

Bill: What’s a word processor do?
 

Me: It turns your computer into a typewriter, only smarter. You can erase shit and stuff. I think I am going to start a business typing term papers and resumes and whatever people need typed. That’s how I am going to pay for everything I been buying.
 

Bill: How much space does it take on the cassette machine to save your typing?
 

Me: That cassette drive is lame. I can barely save a letter to my mom on that thing with a 30 minute tape. No I ordered me a 1541 5 ¼” floppy disc drive to save my typing.
 

Bill: How much does a floppy disc hold?
 

Me: A totally kick ass 170 Kilobytes. I will be able to type for a week and not fill it up. I should be able keep years worth of term papers on one disk. Oh and I got a Commodore 1702 computer monitor too. So no more squinting at the fuzzy tv and Diane all wigging out when I am busy word processing and she can’t watch Magnum P.I.
 

Bill: So where did you put all this stuff?
 

Me: In the bedroom. I built a stand for the monitor out of pine and am still using that card table mom and dad got for a wedding present. Hey one more thing, Dad contributed to my computing big time by buying me a dot matrix printer. It’s a Gorilla Banana.
 

Bill: That’s a stupid name for a computer thing.
 

Me: Yeah it is, but it works. Its kinda loud when it runs, but I just hit print and it does it. It has paper all attached together in a stack that just pulls through the bottom of the machine and it prints on it. Its call pin feed paper. Then you just tear it apart and tear off the sprocket holes on the side, and you got a piece of paper with your letter on it.
 

Bill: It sounds like Christmas at your place with all the toys.
 

Me: Yeah come on over and you can see for yourself and we will play Seafox. It is a totaly addictive submarine game. Its almost like being in an arcade with the color and sound. You bring the brew and I will call for a ‘za and we are gonna give all 65,536 kilobytes a workout….


Computing was  sooooooooo much different in 1984.  

Sometimes I miss it so.

 
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