Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - We're all techies here, but who among us are the true, hardcore, old-school geeks?

frankx · 08-02-2004, 07:49 PM

I have been working on computer gear of various types for the last 22-23 years or so. I got my start packing classifieds (on 8" floppy disks) and later repairing high output typesetting gear. I learned Basic, Fortran and Cobol on an old Digital DEC mainframe system and I vividly remember the days of actually using paper tape and Hollerith punch cards. I remember being very impressed when they brought the first Mac I have ever seen (an B&W SE) into my shop. My first personal computer was an 8088 with two 5 1/4 floppy drives (no HD) using text-based XyWrite as a word processor (that is, if you don't count the Commodore 64 I have been playing with for over 20 years) and having to drive almost 100 miles to buy 5 1/4 high density floppy disks just to save my output. When I joined the U.S. Navy down the line, I mostly worked on Sperry/Univac shipboard systems as a data systems technician. I have had to use wire wrap guns on many occasions and performed 3M microscopic hand-soldering on motherboards and various circuit cards. I have been shoulders-deep in repairing mission critical tape drives the size of your refrigerator. I have had extensive experience with repairing old style multiple disk packs and ships guidance computer systems, some of which used vacuum tube technology, I shit you not. I remember when having a 10Mb (not Gb, MB) hard drive meant that you were king shit on the block. I had a hand in building many large scale computer networks before I even knew what an MCSE was. I now possess two MCSE's, a CCNA, and a Bachelor's degree in information systems management. In truth, I am a crappy programmer, but I still know a good bit about it, and I admire and value people on my team who are good at it.

I do not consider myself a uber geek/guru of any type, just a great admirer of all things technical and most things mechanical (I'm all thumbs when it comes to working on cars).

I do stand in complete awe of guys like Seymour Cray, Tim Berners Lee, Bob Metcalfe and Vint Cerf. If you don't know who they are, looking them up would be well worth your time.

08-02-2004, 07:49 PM	#20 (permalink)
frankx Psycho Location: The Tip of the Boot	I have been working on computer gear of various types for the last 22-23 years or so. I got my start packing classifieds (on 8" floppy disks) and later repairing high output typesetting gear. I learned Basic, Fortran and Cobol on an old Digital DEC mainframe system and I vividly remember the days of actually using paper tape and Hollerith punch cards. I remember being very impressed when they brought the first Mac I have ever seen (an B&W SE) into my shop. My first personal computer was an 8088 with two 5 1/4 floppy drives (no HD) using text-based XyWrite as a word processor (that is, if you don't count the Commodore 64 I have been playing with for over 20 years) and having to drive almost 100 miles to buy 5 1/4 high density floppy disks just to save my output. When I joined the U.S. Navy down the line, I mostly worked on Sperry/Univac shipboard systems as a data systems technician. I have had to use wire wrap guns on many occasions and performed 3M microscopic hand-soldering on motherboards and various circuit cards. I have been shoulders-deep in repairing mission critical tape drives the size of your refrigerator. I have had extensive experience with repairing old style multiple disk packs and ships guidance computer systems, some of which used vacuum tube technology, I shit you not. I remember when having a 10Mb (not Gb, MB) hard drive meant that you were king shit on the block. I had a hand in building many large scale computer networks before I even knew what an MCSE was. I now possess two MCSE's, a CCNA, and a Bachelor's degree in information systems management. In truth, I am a crappy programmer, but I still know a good bit about it, and I admire and value people on my team who are good at it. I do not consider myself a uber geek/guru of any type, just a great admirer of all things technical and most things mechanical (I'm all thumbs when it comes to working on cars). I do stand in complete awe of guys like Seymour Cray, Tim Berners Lee, Bob Metcalfe and Vint Cerf. If you don't know who they are, looking them up would be well worth your time. __________________ Louisiana: We're Not ALL Drunken Cajun Wackos, But That's Our Tourism Campaign