From: jump_around_design@yahoo.com (Jump Around) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Sun, 06 Sep 1998 22:45:43 GMT Lines: 10 Message-ID: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> NNTP-Posting-Host: 195.147.15.72 X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.1/32.230 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeed.uk.ibm.net!ibm.net!nntp.news.xara.net!xara.net!news.itg.net.uk!usenet I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing quotes. Can anybody help me? Please email me at james@jump-around.com Thanks for your time James Cohen ###### From: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 6 Sep 1998 23:54:24 GMT Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Lines: 8 Message-ID: <6sv7bg$msl@freenet-news.carleton.ca> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> Reply-To: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) NNTP-Posting-Host: freenet5.carleton.ca X-Given-Sender: ab528@freenet5.carleton.ca (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-raspail.gip.net!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!torn!nott!cunews!freenet-news.carleton.ca!FreeNet.Carleton.CA!ab528 Jump Around (jump_around_design@yahoo.com) writes: > I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing > quotes. > Can anybody help me? COBOL, FORTRAN, PASCAL, ALGOL, and BASIC will be extinct by 1980. ###### From: Gary Tait Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 12:50:07 -0400 Organization: Not very organized Lines: 24 Message-ID: <35F40EBF.43BD@zdnetmail.com> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6sv7bg$msl@freenet-news.carleton.ca> Reply-To: taitg@zdnetmail.com NNTP-Posting-Host: virginia.bmts.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.04 (Win95; I) Cache-Post-Path: Virginia!unknown@pm3-156.primeline.net Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!europa.clark.net!4.1.16.34!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!News.Ottawa.iSTAR.net!news.istar.net!nr1.ottawa.istar.net!not-for-mail Heinz W. Wiggeshoff wrote: > > Jump Around (jump_around_design@yahoo.com) writes: > > I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing > > quotes. > > Can anybody help me? > > COBOL, FORTRAN, PASCAL, ALGOL, and BASIC > will be extinct by 1980. Or : Pcs will never need more than 640K of memory. -- Gary Tait,VE3VBF ; Homepage http://www.primeline.net/~tait ------------------------------------------------------------------ Please note that I use the Internet as a research / entertainment tool ,and I shall not recieve Email regarding the purchase, trade ,or reccomendation of merchandise , services, or intellectual property , unless I explicitly request such materials. If you Email me and wish a reply, Please use your REAL address with no spamblockers,etc. ###### From: Dave Daniels Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 19:53:43 BST Organization: ArgoNet, but does not reflect its views Lines: 37 Distribution: world Message-ID: References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6sv7bg$msl@freenet-news.carleton.ca> <35F40EBF.43BD@zdnetmail.com> Reply-To: Dave Daniels NNTP-Posting-Host: userp659.uk.uudial.com X-Newsreader: NewsAgent 0.84 for RISC OS Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!btnet-peer!btnet!rill.news.pipex.net!pipex!warm.news.pipex.net!bore.news.pipex.net!pipex!argonet.co.uk!argbq79 In article <35F40EBF.43BD@zdnetmail.com>, Gary Tait wrote: > Heinz W. Wiggeshoff wrote: > > > > Jump Around (jump_around_design@yahoo.com) writes: > > > I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing > > > quotes. > > > Can anybody help me? > > > > COBOL, FORTRAN, PASCAL, ALGOL, and BASIC > > will be extinct by 1980. > > Or : > > Or: Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM (This is a well-known phrase in the computing industry, but I saw it on the wall at a British Gas computer centre when BG decided to replace *all* of their IBM kit with ICL.) Dave -- ANTISPAM: Please note that the email address above is false. My correct address is: dave_danielsargonetcouk Please replace the and s with @ and . respectively when replying - Thanks! ###### From: cjt&trefoil Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 21:39:27 -0500 Organization: Prodigy Services Corp Lines: 40 Message-ID: <35F498DF.793B@prodigy.net> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6sv7bg$msl@freenet-news.carleton.ca> <35F40EBF.43BD@zdnetmail.com> Reply-To: cheljuba@prodigy.net NNTP-Posting-Host: dllsb203-21.splitrock.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Post-Time: 8 Sep 1998 02:40:09 GMT X-Auth-User: 002709921/6e7fc026ba8e46f7 X-Problems-To: abuse@prodigy.net X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.04 (Win95; U) Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-raspail.gip.net!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!newsfeed.direct.ca!Supernews73!supernews.com!newscon01!prodigy.com!not-for-mail Dave Daniels wrote: > > In article <35F40EBF.43BD@zdnetmail.com>, Gary Tait > wrote: > > Heinz W. Wiggeshoff wrote: > > > > > > Jump Around (jump_around_design@yahoo.com) writes: > > > > I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing > > > > quotes. > > > > Can anybody help me? > > > > > > COBOL, FORTRAN, PASCAL, ALGOL, and BASIC > > > will be extinct by 1980. > > > > Or : > > > > > Or: > > Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM > > (This is a well-known phrase in the computing industry, but I saw > it on the wall at a British Gas computer centre when BG decided to > replace *all* of their IBM kit with ICL.) > > Dave > > -- > ANTISPAM: Please note that the email address above is false. My > correct address is: > > dave_danielsargonetcouk > > Please replace the and s with @ and . respectively when > replying - Thanks! The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers. See: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Hamming.html ###### From: joet@jtcs.net (joet) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 20:27:09 -0400 Organization: jtcs Lines: 18 Message-ID: References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca> NNTP-Posting-Host: p-036.newsdawg.com X-Newsreader: Anawave Gravity v2.00 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!europa.clark.net!207.172.3.37!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!howland.erols.net!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!su-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!pln-w!spln!extra.newsguy.com!newsp.newsguy.com!enews4 In article <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca>, ds829@FreeNet.Carleton.CA says... > A good source for quotes is some of the 'Dummies' series of books. > Can't remember the one where I saw Thomas(?) Watson's estimate of > around 6 (large) computers for the entire world, made around 1946, > and Bill Gate's '640k was plenty'. These quotes, in their correct > form, were inserted at the start of Chapters. "The Experts Speak : The Definitive Compendium of Authoritaive Misinformation" by Victor Navasky, Christopher B. Cerf It's a collection of quotes, predictions, and such by authorities who probably regret meking them. I heard Chris Cerf talking about the book on NPR the other day and they mentioned more than a couple computer references. -joet ###### From: ds829@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Tom Bach) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 8 Sep 1998 21:01:09 GMT Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Lines: 19 Message-ID: <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> Reply-To: ds829@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Tom Bach) NNTP-Posting-Host: freenet5.carleton.ca X-Given-Sender: ds829@freenet5.carleton.ca (Tom Bach) Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.internetmci.com!206.172.150.11!news1.bellglobal.com!torn!nott!cunews!freenet-news.carleton.ca!FreeNet.Carleton.CA!ds829 Jump Around (jump_around_design@yahoo.com) writes: > I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing > quotes. > > Can anybody help me? > > Please email me at james@jump-around.com > > Thanks for your time > > James Cohen A good source for quotes is some of the 'Dummies' series of books. Can't remember the one where I saw Thomas(?) Watson's estimate of around 6 (large) computers for the entire world, made around 1946, and Bill Gate's '640k was plenty'. These quotes, in their correct form, were inserted at the start of Chapters. ###### From: Tim Bradshaw Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 09 Sep 1998 15:53:12 +0100 Organization: AIAI, University of Edinburgh Lines: 19 Sender: tfb@todday.aiai.ed.ac.uk Message-ID: References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca> NNTP-Posting-Host: todday.aiai.ed.ac.uk X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.2.25/XEmacs 19.14 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.internetmci.com!158.43.192.17!rill.news.pipex.net!pipex!server1.netnews.ja.net!newsfeed.ed.ac.uk!news * Tom Bach wrote: > A good source for quotes is some of the 'Dummies' series of books. > Can't remember the one where I saw Thomas(?) Watson's estimate of > around 6 (large) computers for the entire world, made around 1946, > and Bill Gate's '640k was plenty'. These quotes, in their correct > form, were inserted at the start of Chapters. I think the `n computers' quote didn't originate with Thomas Watson, but with Howard Aitken, and it was in fact used in a quite specific context -- namely that 6 computers would be sufficient for the work of some particular American government organisation which was considering commissioning machines at that point. There is an article in the most recent `Annals of the history of computing' to this effect anyway. --tim ###### From: tph@longhorn.uucp (Tom Harrington) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 9 Sep 1998 17:54:59 GMT Organization: Mechanist Industries Lines: 17 Message-ID: <6t6fdj$oq05@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6sv7bg$msl@freenet-news.carleton.ca> Reply-To: tph@rmi.net NNTP-Posting-Host: cs0053.eld.ford.com X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsxfer3.itd.umich.edu!jobone!dailyplanet.srl.ford.com!eccws1.dearborn.ford.com!longhorn!tph Heinz W. Wiggeshoff (ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA) wrote: : Jump Around (jump_around_design@yahoo.com) writes: : > I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing : > quotes. : > Can anybody help me? : COBOL, FORTRAN, PASCAL, ALGOL, and BASIC : will be extinct by 1980. Where's the irony in that? -- Tom Harrington --------- tph@rmii.com -------- http://rainbow.rmii.com/~tph "The only conclusion that can be gained here is that I must treat you as imaginary from this time forward." -Yalin Ekici, ephesus@netcom.com Cookie's Revenge: ftp://ftp.rmi.net/pub2/tph/cookie/cookies-revenge.sit.hqx ###### From: Charles Richmond Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Wed, 09 Sep 1998 20:05:26 +0000 Organization: Cannine Computer Center Lines: 8 Message-ID: <35F6DF86.47BF5251@plano.net> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca> Reply-To: richmond@plano.net NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.215.63.150 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: 905389051 R67V8VHUD3F96CCD7C usenet53.supernews.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 (Macintosh; I; 68K) Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!Supernews60!supernews.com!Supernews69!not-for-mail Let us *not* forget Ken Olson (one of the founders of DEC) and one of his famous quotes--something like: "There is absolutely *no* reason why anyone would want a computer in his home." -- +-------------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles and Francis Richmond | +-------------------------------------------------------------+ ###### From: DAN Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Wed, 09 Sep 1998 23:35:58 -0400 Organization: GlobeTrotter Lines: 94 Message-ID: <35F7491E.EB2CBD63@odyssee.net> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca> NNTP-Posting-Host: ts1-07.f3211.quebectel.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="------------8FE433664E746117829A52B7" X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95; I) Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.internetmci.com!192.26.210.166!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!newsfeed.quebectel.com!news.quebectel.com!not-for-mail --------------8FE433664E746117829A52B7 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Quote from An Open Letter to Hobbyists written February 3, 1976 Almost a year ago, Paul Allen and myself, expecting the hobby market to expand, hired Monte Davidoff and developed Altair BASIC. Though the initial work took only two months, the three of us have spent most of the last year documenting, improving and adding features to BASIC. Now we have 4K, 8K, EXTENDED, ROM and DISK BASIC. The value of the computer time we have used exceeds $40,000. The feedback we have gotten from the hundreds of people who say they are using BASIC has all been positive. Two surprising things are apparent, however. 1) Most of these "users" never bought BASIC (less than 10% of all Altair owners have bought BASIC), and 2) The amount of royalties we have received from sales to hobbyists makes the time spent of Altair BASIC worth less than $2 an hour. Sources the PCmuseum Tim Bradshaw wrote: > * Tom Bach wrote: > > > A good source for quotes is some of the 'Dummies' series of books. > > Can't remember the one where I saw Thomas(?) Watson's estimate of > > around 6 (large) computers for the entire world, made around 1946, > > and Bill Gate's '640k was plenty'. These quotes, in their correct > > form, were inserted at the start of Chapters. > > I think the `n computers' quote didn't originate with Thomas Watson, > but with Howard Aitken, and it was in fact used in a quite specific > context -- namely that 6 computers would be sufficient for the work of > some particular American government organisation which was considering > commissioning machines at that point. > > There is an article in the most recent `Annals of the history of > computing' to this effect anyway. > > --tim --------------8FE433664E746117829A52B7 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Quote from An Open Letter to Hobbyists written February 3, 1976
Almost a year ago, Paul Allen and myself, expecting the hobby market to  expand, hired Monte Davidoff and developed Altair BASIC. Though the initial  work took only two months, the three of us have spent most of the last year documenting, improving and adding features to BASIC. Now we have 4K, 8K,  EXTENDED, ROM and DISK BASIC. The value of the computer time we have used  exceeds $40,000.
The feedback we have gotten from the hundreds of people who say they are using BASIC has all been positive. Two surprising things are apparent,  however.
1) Most of these "users" never bought BASIC (less than 10% of all  Altair owners have bought BASIC), and
2) The amount of royalties we have  received from sales to hobbyists makes the time spent of Altair BASIC worth
 less than $2 an hour.
Sources the PCmuseum

Tim Bradshaw wrote:

* Tom Bach wrote:

> A good source for quotes is some of the 'Dummies' series of books.
> Can't remember the one where I saw Thomas(?) Watson's estimate of
> around 6 (large) computers for the entire world, made around 1946,
> and Bill Gate's '640k was plenty'. These quotes, in their correct
> form, were inserted at the start of Chapters.

I think the `n computers' quote didn't originate with Thomas Watson,
but with Howard Aitken, and it was in fact used in a quite specific
context -- namely that 6 computers would be sufficient for the work of
some particular American government organisation which was considering
commissioning machines at that point.

There is an article in the most recent `Annals of the history of
computing' to this effect anyway.

--tim

  --------------8FE433664E746117829A52B7-- ###### From: alex*@*rockvax.rockefeller.edu (Alexandre Pechtchanski) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Organization: Rockefeller University Hospital (GCRC), New York Message-ID: <35f8eb51.92067038@Rockyd> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca> <35F7491E.EB2CBD63@odyssee.net> X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.5/32.451 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 21 Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 15:15:14 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.85.24.56 X-Trace: rockyd.rockefeller.edu 905440520 129.85.24.56 (Thu, 10 Sep 1998 11:15:20 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 11:15:20 EDT Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!btnet-peer!btnet!newsfeed.nyu.edu!rockyd.rockefeller.edu!not-for-mail On Wed, 09 Sep 1998 23:35:58 -0400, DAN wrote: >Quote from An Open Letter to Hobbyists written February 3, 1976 [ Bill Gates whine about Altair Basic being freely exchanged ] >Sources the PCmuseum I have seen even more interesting one [NB: quoting from memory as the book is unavailable at the moment] from "Programmers at work" by Microsoft Press. An article on Bill Gates is prefaced by the reproduction of the first page of Altair Basic listing. After usual "Paul Allen and I wrote this, Monte Davidoff wrote all math stuff", there's a comment at the beginning of the program, something along these lines: "A jump to address zero after the program was executed produces unexpected results (random crashes). There used to be a regular program reset call at this jump point, but Bill Gates changed this." Don't know about you, but I find this hilarious! [ When replying, remove *'s from address ] Alexandre Pechtchanski, Systems Manager, RUH, NY ###### From: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 10 Sep 1998 15:39:10 GMT Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Lines: 8 Message-ID: <6t8rqu$qit@freenet-news.carleton.ca> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca> <35F7491E.EB2CBD63@odyssee.net> <35f8eb51.92067038@Rockyd> Reply-To: ab528@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) NNTP-Posting-Host: freenet3.carleton.ca X-Given-Sender: ab528@freenet3.carleton.ca (Heinz W. Wiggeshoff) Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!howland.erols.net!torn!nott!cunews!freenet-news.carleton.ca!FreeNet.Carleton.CA!ab528 Alexandre Pechtchanski (alex*@*rockvax.rockefeller.edu) writes: > > "A jump to address zero after the program was executed produces unexpected > results (random crashes). There used to be a regular program reset call at this > jump point, but Bill Gates changed this." I understand that code fragment is in Windows to this day! B-) ###### From: jnickelsen@acm.org (Juergen Nickelsen) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 00:25:44 +0200 Organization: [Posted via] Interactive Networx Message-ID: <1df5t6q.1na4msk2f51b0N@[10.0.0.3]> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca> <35F6DF86.47BF5251@plano.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: n35-46.berlin.snafu.de X-Newsreader: MacSOUP 2.3.3 Lines: 5 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-raspail.gip.net!news-lond.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!dispose.news.demon.net!demon!newsfeed.nacamar.de!fu-berlin.de!unlisys!news.snafu.de!jnickelsen Didn't Ken Olson also ask "Why waste a huge 70 MB hard disk on a single-user workstation?" -- Juergen Nickelsen ###### From: TonyLima@ms.spacebbs.com (Tony Lima) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 04:00:02 GMT Organization: Nope, none Lines: 11 Message-ID: <35f99fb0.11912738@news.spacebbs.com> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> Reply-To: TonyLima@ms.spacebbs.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 207.204.228.53 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: 905487581 ON.7SG/MSE435CFCCC usenet78.supernews.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.5/16.451 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-raspail.gip.net!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!Supernews60!supernews.com!Supernews69!not-for-mail On Sun, 06 Sep 1998 22:45:43 GMT, jump_around_design@yahoo.com (Jump Around) wrote: >I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing >quotes. > >Can anybody help me? > "Adults don't need color." - Peter Norton ###### From: J.Hendrickx@maw.kun.nl (J.Hendrickx) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 12:23:01 +0200 Organization: KUN Lines: 5 Message-ID: References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca> <35F7491E.EB2CBD63@odyssee.net> <35f8eb51.92067038@Rockyd> NNTP-Posting-Host: mwpc87.daf.kun.nl X-Newsreader: MicroPlanet Gravity v2.10 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!surfnet.nl!barba.uci.kun.nl!not-for-mail "DOS is Unix with the good bits left out." (Someone's sig a few years back) and "DOS will always be with us, just like syphilis." ###### From: huge@axalotl_nospam.demon_nospam.co.uk (Hugh Davies) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 11 Sep 1998 13:41:17 GMT Organization: Piglet's Pickles and Preserves Message-ID: <6tb99t$6sr@axalotl.demon.co.uk> References: <35f99fb0.11912738@news.spacebbs.com> Reply-To: huge@axalotl_nospam.demon_nospam.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Host: axalotl.demon.co.uk X-NNTP-Posting-Host: axalotl.demon.co.uk:158.152.24.143 X-Trace: news.demon.co.uk 905537977 nnrp-02:3200 NO-IDENT axalotl.demon.co.uk:158.152.24.143 X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net x-no-archive: yes Lines: 21 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!btnet-peer!btnet!dispose.news.demon.net!demon!news.demon.co.uk!demon!axalotl.demon.co.uk!axalotl!usenet In article <35f99fb0.11912738@news.spacebbs.com>, TonyLima@ms.spacebbs.com (Tony Lima) writes: >On Sun, 06 Sep 1998 22:45:43 GMT, >jump_around_design@yahoo.com (Jump Around) wrote: > >>I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing >>quotes. >> >>Can anybody help me? >> > >"Adults don't need color." - Peter Norton > Except that this one happens to be right.... -- "The road to Paradise is through Intercourse." The uk.transport FAQ; http://www.axalotl.demon.co.uk/transport/FAQ.html [Substitute "axalotl" for "nospam" to email me] ###### From: DAN Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 22:18:01 -0400 Organization: GlobeTrotter Lines: 35 Message-ID: <35F9D9D9.1BDC4042@odyssee.net> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <35f99fb0.11912738@news.spacebbs.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: ts1-05.f3224.quebectel.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="------------4979B3322A79AE4BA3E63595" X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95; I) To: TonyLima@ms.spacebbs.com Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!newsfeed.quebectel.com!news.quebectel.com!not-for-mail --------------4979B3322A79AE4BA3E63595 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Quote from Spinnaker Software chairman William Bowman: "We're just sitting here trying to put our PCjrs in a pile and burn them. And the damn things won't burn. That's the only thing IBM did right with it - they made it flameproof." Source: PCmuseum --------------4979B3322A79AE4BA3E63595 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Quote from Spinnaker Software chairman William Bowman:
                                                 "We're just sitting here trying to put our PCjrs in a pile and
                                                 burn them. And the damn things won't burn. That's the only
                                                 thing IBM did right with it - they made it flameproof."

Source: PCmuseum --------------4979B3322A79AE4BA3E63595-- ###### From: jnickelsen@acm.org (Juergen Nickelsen) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 01:23:13 +0200 Organization: [Posted via] Interactive Networx Lines: 12 Message-ID: <1df9pn6.1edd7p2nvs1loN@n32-78.berlin.snafu.de> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca> <35F6DF86.47BF5251@plano.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: n32-78.berlin.snafu.de X-Newsreader: MacSOUP 2.3.3 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news-fra1.dfn.de!news-fra.maz.net!newsfeed.ecrc.net!wuff.mayn.de!unlisys!news.snafu.de!jnickelsen Charles Richmond wrote: > Let us *not* forget Ken Olson (one of the founders of DEC) and one of his > famous quotes--something like: "There is absolutely *no* reason why anyone > would want a computer in his home." I have read somewhere a quote of the early 70s that someone who has a computer at home must be very rich and (or?) very eccentric. Does anyone know the reference? -- Juergen Nickelsen ###### From: Marc Walters Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 13 Sep 1998 04:35:22 GMT Organization: APANA Hunter Regional Hub Lines: 14 Message-ID: <6tfi2a$a4k$1@attila.apana.org.au> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <35f99fb0.11912738@news.spacebbs.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: apana-hunter.dragon.net.au User-Agent: tin/pre-1.4-980226 (UNIX) (FreeBSD/2.2.1-RELEASE (i386)) Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.mel.connect.com.au!news.syd.connect.com.au!news.hunter.apana.org.au!not-for-mail jump_around_design@yahoo.com (Jump Around) wrote: >I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing >quotes. >Can anybody help me? After annual sales of around 1 million units: "Commodore would have to shoot people to stop them from buying Commodore 64s." - Editor, Commodore Format magazine, early '90s. Soon after, Commodore missed and shot itself in the foot. Marc mwalters@attila.apana.org.au ###### From: Bob Shair (courtesy) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 13 Sep 1998 11:40:36 GMT Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Lines: 21 Message-ID: <6tgavk$sd0$1@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> NNTP-Posting-Host: delphi.itg.uiuc.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 unoff BETA 970217; 000047148900 AIX 2] Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-raspail.gip.net!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!howland.erols.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!delphi.itg.uiuc.edu!not-for-mail Jump Around (jump_around_design@yahoo.com) writes: > I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing > quotes. > > Can anybody help me? "Parity is for farmers!" Seymour Cray, answering a question at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, about the lack of error-checking circuitry in his new CDC 6600 computer. > Please email me at james@jump-around.com What, and not share them with the rest of the world? -- Bob Shair rmshair@delphi.itg.uiuc.edu Open Systems Specialist Champaign, Illinois /* Opinions expressed are mine... go get your own! */ ###### From: Michael Meissner Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 13 Sep 1998 15:57:55 -0400 Organization: Cygnus Solutions Lines: 21 Message-ID: References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6tgavk$sd0$1@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: tiktok.cygnus.com X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.5/Emacs 20.2 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.internetmci.com!209.244.253.199!newsfeed.xcom.net!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cam-news-feed2.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!cambridge-news.cygnus.com!not-for-mail Bob Shair (courtesy) writes: > "Parity is for farmers!" Of course how many people in this group actually know what parity price supports were for argi products. > Seymour Cray, answering a question at the University of Wisconsin, > Madison, about the lack of error-checking circuitry in his new > CDC 6600 computer. When asked a few years later at the 7600 launch (or Cray-1 -- probably the -1, since it used 64-bit words instead of 60 bits that the CDC 6xxx/7xxx computers used) which did have parity, Cray is supposed to have said: "Farmers buy a lot of computers" -- Michael Meissner, Cygnus Solutions (Massachusetts office) 4th floor, 955 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA meissner@cygnus.com, 617-354-5416 (office), 617-354-7161 (fax) ###### From: tph@longhorn.uucp (Tom Harrington) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 14 Sep 1998 16:34:17 GMT Organization: Mechanist Industries Lines: 89 Message-ID: <6tjgi9$m6g5@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <35F6DF86.47BF5251@plano.net> Reply-To: tph@rmi.net NNTP-Posting-Host: cs0053.eld.ford.com X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-raspail.gip.net!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!newsxfer3.itd.umich.edu!jobone!dailyplanet.srl.ford.com!eccws1.dearborn.ford.com!longhorn!tph Charles Richmond (richmond@plano.net) wrote: : Let us *not* forget Ken Olson (one of the founders of DEC) and one of his : famous quotes--something like: "There is absolutely *no* reason why anyone : would want a computer in his home." I have the following collection in my quote file. They're not all computer- related, but most that aren't are in related fields. Note that I cannot vouch for the authenticity of any of these. "DOS Computers are manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq, Tandy, and millions of others are by far the most popular, with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans, on the other hand, may note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans, and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form." -The New York Times, Noveber 26, 1991 "I do not think that this 'transistor' can ever be worth the immense development cost that has gone into it. It cannot be mass produced and will never be able to handle more than very small signal levels." -Dr. Thomas James, 1949 "Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers of the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1 1/2 tons." -Popular Mechanics, March, 1949 "Radio has no future. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. X-rays will prove to be a hoax." -William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, English scientist (1824-1907) "Space travel is utter bilge." -Sir Richard van der Riet Wooley, The Astronomer Royal (1956) "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" -Harry M. Warner, founder of Warner Bros. studio (1927) "Rail travel at high speeds is not possible, because the passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia." -Dionysius Lardner, English scientist (1793-1859) "While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it an impossibility." -Lee DeForest, American inventor (1873-1961) "I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone." -Bjarne Stronstrup, inventor of the C++ programming language "I think there is a world market for about five computers." -Thomas J. Watson Sr., Chairman of the Board at IBM, 1943 "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." -Ken Olsen, president, chairman, and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977 And a couple of topical, though non-computer-related quotes: "There are always going to be people who want to be President, and some days I'd like to give it to them." -Bill Clinton "I cannot imagine any condition which would cause this ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that." -E. I. Smith, captain of the Titanic, 1912 -- Tom Harrington --------- tph@rmii.com -------- http://rainbow.rmii.com/~tph "A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them." -P.J. O'Rourke Cookie's Revenge: ftp://ftp.rmi.net/pub2/tph/cookie/cookies-revenge.sit.hqx ###### From: jones@cs.uiowa.edu (Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 14 Sep 1998 18:17:01 GMT Organization: The University of Iowa Lines: 49 Message-ID: <6tjmit$o7c$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu> References: <6tjgi9$m6g5@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.enteract.com!news-xfer.siscom.net!streamer1.cleveland.iagnet.net!NewsNG.Chicago.Qual.Net!news.uiowa.edu!not-for-mail From article <6tjgi9$m6g5@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com>, by tph@longhorn.uucp (Tom Harrington): > > "Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 > vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers of the future may > have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1 1/2 tons." > > -Popular Mechanics, March, 1949 This prediction came true within the decade. I have a 1958 book on digital computers that includes a market survey of commercially available computers. Of the machines in the book, the Bendix G-15 and the Royal McBee LGP 30 clearly beat this limit with vacuum tube and rotating magnetic drum memory technology. The book also has a photo of a Philco TRANSAC (TRANSistorized Automatic Computer) that is under a cubic foot, but the specs given make it fairly clear that this was not a complete machine, but rather, a partial prototype with an ill defined CPU and no memory. > "Rail travel at high speeds is not possible, because the passengers, > unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia." > > -Dionysius Lardner, English scientist (1793-1859) Of course, this prediction fell long before the 20th century. Lardner's definiton of high speed was around 25 miles per hour, and trains routinely ran over this speed by the end of his lifetime! By 1900, 100 mph speeds had been achieved, and by 1950, average speeds from end to end on many major rail lines exceeded 100 mph. Sadly, today, you can't find any way to get from downtown to downtown between many North American cities with the same convenience that was routinely available 50 years ago! > "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." > > -Ken Olsen, president, chairman, and founder of Digital > Equipment Corporation, 1977 And this from the president of the first company that ever sold computers on a retail cash and carry basis! By 1977, there were a fair number of people running DEC computers in their homes, and DEC had even had, on occasion, company policies to encourage DEC employees to buy personal machines. Doug Jones jones@cs.uiowa.edu ###### Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <35f99fb0.11912738@news.spacebbs.com> <6tfi2a$a4k$1@attila.apana.org.au> X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.1 (NOV) From: jasnider@iglou2.iglou.com (Pat Larkin) NNTP-Posting-Host: 192.107.41.17 X-NNTP-Posting-Host: 192.107.41.17 Message-ID: <35fe7600.0@news.iglou.com> Date: 15 Sep 1998 10:13:20 -0500 X-Trace: 15 Sep 1998 10:13:20 -0500, 192.107.41.17 Lines: 20 X-NNTP-Posting-Host: 192.107.41.52 Organization: IgLou Internet Services, Inc. Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!europa.clark.net!205.231.236.10!newspeer.monmouth.com!uunet!uunet!in4.uu.net!news.iglou.com!iglou2!jasnider Marc Walters writes: >jump_around_design@yahoo.com (Jump Around) wrote: >>I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing >>quotes. >>Can anybody help me? >After annual sales of around 1 million units: >"Commodore would have to shoot people to stop them from buying Commodore >64s." >- Editor, Commodore Format magazine, early '90s. >Soon after, Commodore missed and shot itself in the foot. Yes. And kept shooting until it was dead. What the flight safety people call "controlled flight into terrain." -- Pat "My Amiga can _still_ do stuff my neighbor's PC can't" Larkin -- ###### From: J.Hendrickx@maw.kun.nl (J.Hendrickx) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 13:19:40 +0200 Organization: KUN Lines: 24 Message-ID: References: <6tjgi9$m6g5@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com> <6tjmit$o7c$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: mwpc87.daf.kun.nl X-Newsreader: MicroPlanet Gravity v2.10 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.nacamar.de!rill.news.pipex.net!pipex!sun4nl!surfnet.nl!barba.uci.kun.nl!not-for-mail In article <6tjmit$o7c$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu>, jones@cs.uiowa.edu says... > > "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." > > > > -Ken Olsen, president, chairman, and founder of Digital > > Equipment Corporation, 1977 > > And this from the president of the first company that ever sold > computers on a retail cash and carry basis! By 1977, there were > a fair number of people running DEC computers in their homes, > and DEC had even had, on occasion, company policies to encourage > DEC employees to buy personal machines. I said the same thing when a friend of mine got a C=64 back in 1982 (my first contact with a computer)! Certainly he didn't have any heavy duty number crunching that needed doing and although I didn't know about word processing, a typewriter would have been cheaper and easier. Didn't take games into account, and I guess Olsen didn't either. Even so, it *is* pretty weird, the amount of money people are willing to pay for a game machine/typewriter and calculator on steroids. Might as well go on record now saying I can't imagine anyone needing more than 640M of memory. (I *know* it's going to happen, I just can't imagine it). ###### From: jmfbahciv@aol.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Tue, 15 Sep 98 13:22:30 GMT Organization: UltraNet Communications, Inc. Lines: 26 Message-ID: <6tltp6$quv$2@strato.ultra.net> References: <6tjgi9$m6g5@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com> <6tjmit$o7c$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: d4.dial-14.mbo.ma.ultra.net X-Complaints-To: abuse@ultra.net X-Ultra-Time: 15 Sep 1998 14:32:06 GMT X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #4 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!btnet-peer!btnet!newshub.northeast.verio.net!newsfeed.xcom.net!news.ultranet.com!d4 In article <6tjmit$o7c$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu>, jones@cs.uiowa.edu (Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879) wrote: >From article <6tjgi9$m6g5@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com>, >by tph@longhorn.uucp (Tom Harrington): >> "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." >> >> -Ken Olsen, president, chairman, and founder of Digital >> Equipment Corporation, 1977 > >And this from the president of the first company that ever sold >computers on a retail cash and carry basis! By 1977, there were >a fair number of people running DEC computers in their homes, >and DEC had even had, on occasion, company policies to encourage >DEC employees to buy personal machines. But I don't remember him saying this (I'm not saying that he never uttered those words, I just don't remember). There was some talk like this, but it was in the context of networks where people would have a terminal and call into a computer (which we did all the time back then). /BAH Sigh! - Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail. ###### From: yuska@bgs.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 14:51:14 GMT Organization: Deja News - The Leader in Internet Discussion Lines: 34 Message-ID: <6tlut2$2fa$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6tgavk$sd0$1@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.165.159.3 X-Article-Creation-Date: Tue Sep 15 14:51:14 1998 GMT X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/4.04 [en] (X11; I; SunOS 5.5.1 sun4m) X-Http-Proxy: 1.0 x6.dejanews.com:80 (Squid/1.1.22) for client 204.165.159.3 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!feed1.news.luth.se!luth.se!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!newsfeed.xcom.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!newsfeed.internetmci.com!204.238.120.130!news-feeds.jump.net!nntp2.dejanews.com!nnrp1.dejanews.com!not-for-mail In article <6tgavk$sd0$1@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>, Bob Shair (courtesy) wrote: > Jump Around (jump_around_design@yahoo.com) writes: > > I am trying to get hold of some ironical, historical, computing > > quotes. > > > > Can anybody help me? > > "Parity is for farmers!" > > Seymour Cray, answering a question at the University of Wisconsin, > Madison, about the lack of error-checking circuitry in his new > CDC 6600 computer. > > > Please email me at james@jump-around.com > > What, and not share them with the rest of the world? > > -- > > Bob Shair rmshair@delphi.itg.uiuc.edu > Open Systems Specialist Champaign, Illinois > /* Opinions expressed are mine... go get your own! */ > Another Crayism, probably apochryphal: Memory is like orgasms. Both are better if they are real. Joe " and his machines had, for their time, looong words" Yuska -----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==----- http://www.dejanews.com/rg_mkgrp.xp Create Your Own Free Member Forum ###### From: pechter@news.monmouth.com (Bill Pechter) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 15 Sep 1998 22:52:32 -0400 Organization: Lakewood MicroSystems, Tinton Falls, NJ. Lines: 47 Message-ID: <6tn95g$c8e@i4got.pechter.org> References: <6tjgi9$m6g5@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com> <6tjmit$o7c$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: fh-ppp22.monmouth.com Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newspeer.monmouth.com!news.monmouth.com!not-for-mail In article , J.Hendrickx wrote: >In article <6tjmit$o7c$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu>, jones@cs.uiowa.edu >says... >> > "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." >> > >> > -Ken Olsen, president, chairman, and founder of Digital >> > Equipment Corporation, 1977 >> >> And this from the president of the first company that ever sold >> computers on a retail cash and carry basis! By 1977, there were >> a fair number of people running DEC computers in their homes, >> and DEC had even had, on occasion, company policies to encourage >> DEC employees to buy personal machines. > >Didn't take games into account, and I guess Olsen didn't either. >Even so, it *is* pretty weird, the amount of money people are willing >to pay for a game machine/typewriter and calculator on steroids. > >Might as well go on record now saying I can't imagine anyone needing more >than 640M of memory. (I *know* it's going to happen, I just can't imagine >it). Actually I've got that quote on my motd here. What I've heard (dating back to my DEC days): Ken Olsen believed in timesharing and possibly smart terminals to an information utility (i.e. CompuServe) for home use -- with someone else maintaining backups, security, redundancy. In current terms, think Network Computer. I think this may not be a bad thing. Ken Olsen actually felt the floating point in 8 bit PC's wasn't really good enough for many problems and he figured someone would supply access to regional computer timesharing house at reasonable speeds. I'm still waiting for cheap lines to my ISP. Bill +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Bill and/or Carolyn Pechter | pechter@shell.monmouth.com | | Bill Gates is a Persian cat and a monocle away from being a villain in | | a James Bond movie -- Dennis Miller | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ###### From: Ariel Scolnicov Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 16 Sep 1998 11:38:39 +0200 Organization: NetVision LTD. Lines: 22 Message-ID: References: <6tjgi9$m6g5@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com> <6tjmit$o7c$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: bioserv.compugen.co.il Mime-Version: 1.0 (generated by tm-edit 7.108) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.5/XEmacs 20.4 - "Emerald" Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-raspail.gip.net!news-dc.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!news-feed.netvision.net.il!news.NetVision.net.il!not-for-mail J.Hendrickx@maw.kun.nl (J.Hendrickx) writes: > In article <6tjmit$o7c$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu>, jones@cs.uiowa.edu > says... > > > "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." > > > > > > -Ken Olsen, president, chairman, and founder of Digital > > > Equipment Corporation, 1977 > > [...] > > I said the same thing when a friend of mine got a C=64 back in 1982 (my > [...] > Might as well go on record now saying I can't imagine anyone needing more > than 640M of memory. (I *know* it's going to happen, I just can't imagine > it). We have a Sun with 1GB. Of course, at 4 processors it's 256MB/processor, but come back in a few years (I can probably use 512MB, and 1GB isn't out of sight). PLUS we should be able to cook with the "waste" microwave radiation our computers will be emitting RSN... ###### From: lisard@zetnet.co.uk Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 16 Sep 1998 18:33:39 GMT Message-ID: <6tp0a3$v5r$1@irk.zetnet.co.uk> References: <6tjgi9$m6g5@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: man-076.dialup.zetnet.co.uk X-Trace: irk.zetnet.co.uk 905970819 31931 194.247.41.94 (16 Sep 1998 18:33:39 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: 16 Sep 1998 18:33:39 GMT X-Everything: Net-Tamer V 1.08X Lines: 15 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeed.uk.ibm.net!ibm.net!dispose.news.demon.net!demon!peer.news.zetnet.net!zetnet.co.uk!not-for-mail On 1998-09-14 tph@rmi.net said: :And a couple of topical, though non-computer-related quotes: :"There are always going to be people who want to be President, and :some days I'd like to give it to them." :-Bill Clinton LOL! I suppose this was when he addressed the group who want to get a woman in the White House by 2000. (That'll be after his secretary blew him off for saying "Hell, I've had hundreds of women in the White House" upon receiving the invitation.) ..And that's enough of that. };> ###### From: lisard@zetnet.co.uk Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 16 Sep 1998 18:33:55 GMT Message-ID: <6tp0aj$v5r$5@irk.zetnet.co.uk> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: man-076.dialup.zetnet.co.uk X-Trace: irk.zetnet.co.uk 905970835 31931 194.247.41.94 (16 Sep 1998 18:33:55 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: 16 Sep 1998 18:33:55 GMT X-Everything: Net-Tamer V 1.08X Lines: 12 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeed.uk.ibm.net!ibm.net!dispose.news.demon.net!demon!peer.news.zetnet.net!zetnet.co.uk!not-for-mail On 1998-09-15 J.Hendrickx@maw.kun.nl(J.Hendrickx) said: :Might as well go on record now saying I can't imagine anyone :needing more than 640M of memory. (I *know* it's going to happen, I :just can't imagine it). I *still* can't imagine why anyone would need over 640k... ;> (but don't ask me why I upgraded this 386sx to 5Mb) -- Communa (together) we remember... we'll see you falling you know soft spoken changes nothing to sing within her... ###### From: tph@longhorn.uucp (Tom Harrington) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: 17 Sep 1998 17:23:09 GMT Organization: Mechanist Industries Lines: 24 Message-ID: <6trght$b4v11@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com> References: <6tp0aj$v5r$5@irk.zetnet.co.uk> Reply-To: tph@rmi.net NNTP-Posting-Host: cs0053.eld.ford.com X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsxfer3.itd.umich.edu!jobone!dailyplanet.srl.ford.com!eccws1.dearborn.ford.com!longhorn!tph lisard@zetnet.co.uk wrote: : On 1998-09-15 J.Hendrickx@maw.kun.nl(J.Hendrickx) said: : :Might as well go on record now saying I can't imagine anyone : :needing more than 640M of memory. (I *know* it's going to happen, I : :just can't imagine it). We've got a Sun here with 4GB of RAM and 8 CPUs, for 500MB/CPU. That's not quite 640MB, but when you add in the 4GB of swap space... : I *still* can't imagine why anyone would need over 640k... ;> (but don't : ask me why I upgraded this 386sx to 5Mb) When I had my old Apple IIe I wondered why anyone would want more than 64kb of memory. What would you DO with all of it? Nowadays I don't even notice 64kb chunks of memory. -- Tom Harrington --------- tph@rmii.com -------- http://rainbow.rmii.com/~tph CAUTION: This planet may be hazardous to simplistic, black-and-white world-views. Proceed at your own risk. Cookie's Revenge: ftp://ftp.rmi.net/pub2/tph/cookie/cookies-revenge.sit.hqx ###### From: jnickelsen@acm.org (Juergen Nickelsen) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Wanted: Computing Quotes Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 19:08:22 +0200 Organization: [Posted via] Interactive Networx Lines: 26 Message-ID: <1dfm51k.17gml1x1wf1gsgN@n31-82.berlin.snafu.de> References: <35f31033.25538694@read.news.globalnet.co.uk> <6t45ul$4fi@freenet-news.carleton.ca> <35F6DF86.47BF5251@plano.net> <6tjgi9$m6g5@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com> <6tjmit$o7c$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: n31-82.berlin.snafu.de X-Newsreader: MacSOUP 2.3.3 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newspeer.monmouth.com!news-hh.maz.net!unlisys!news.snafu.de!jnickelsen J.Hendrickx wrote: > Might as well go on record now saying I can't imagine anyone needing more > than 640M of memory. That's easy. In March 1996 I worked with HP to prepare a presentation for the CeBIT fair. They had a couple of the then-new J series workstations for the fair. While the machines where very fast in general, they also had 768 MB RAM. The I/O *screamed* with several hundreds of megabytes of disk buffer cache. And this is just a workstation, meant to be used mostly interactively by a single person. Meteorologists belong to the greedy kind in terms of CPU performance and memory size. The numerical weather forecast is done by supercomputers with memory in the Gigabyte range (and networking in the GB/s range). Planned vizualizations of threedimensional model output will even need workstations with several Gigabytes of memory. On the other hand, when the Commodore C 64 came out, I could not imagine how anyone would need such a huge amount of RAM (64 KB). (I was still in school then, where we had PET 2001s with 8 KB and a CBM 3001 (?) with 32 K, which already seemed an abundance.) After all, someone would have to type all the stuff in! -- Juergen Nickelsen ###### From: Shez Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Computing quotes Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 01:55:48 +0100 Organization: a thousand miles from home Message-ID: <6Tq31BAUQaB2EwPF@xerez.demon.co.uk> NNTP-Posting-Host: xerez.demon.co.uk X-NNTP-Posting-Host: xerez.demon.co.uk:193.237.22.174 X-Trace: news.demon.co.uk 906346214 nnrp-11:21277 NO-IDENT xerez.demon.co.uk:193.237.22.174 X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Newsreader: Turnpike (32) Trial Version 3.05 Lines: 22 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!ubnnews.unisource.ch!news-nyc.telia.net!howland.erols.net!woodstock.news.demon.net!demon!news.demon.co.uk!demon!xerez.demon.co.uk!Gnus This is just one of those sick attempts to raise the profile of some dumb website, but anyway I've extended the Hacker's Table at the Last Stop Cafe so it now includes an extra 17 computing quotes/jokes suitable for (and in several cases, stolen from) sig files and fortune programs. Also on the page: a little Quake II quiz; and there's a new soothing motif-ish background colour for the "REAL real programmer" story (link now fixed!) which also has an embedded quiz, namely what program is formed by the 41 bytes of hex used as the page border? (As always, see the comments in the HTML source for hints.) -Shez -- _________________________________________________________________________ Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time. -- E. B. White _________________________________________________________________________ Email to Gnus will be rejected: if replying by email, address it to Shez. (c)Shez asserts the moral rights of authorship under the Berne Convention Take a break at the Last Stop Cafe at