On Wednesday 02 April 2008, Mikkel L. Ellertson wrote:
bruce wrote:
> i recall my 1st use of a time share on the local university's machine..
>
> my 7th grade math teach was taking colleges courses, in like 1972.. and
> she had access to a tele-type machine with the dialup phone couple hooked
> to the machine...
>
> the machine created rollup punched out paper spools that we had written
> our "basic" programs on....
>
> i thought punch cards were a step up when i got into college later on!
>
> i say all this as i cruise on a 4G-Mem/250G-Drive/17" laptop on a fast
> wireless network!
>
>
> my god i'm old!!!
Even better - it was a 110 baud connection. The teletype was
probably 72 characters wide, all capitals. The paper tape had up to
8 full size holes and one small alignment hole. You were probably
punching 7 bit ASCII code, possibly with parity. The aliment hole
was used by a toothed sprocket to move the tape on the teletype, but
could also be used as a clocking bit for optical readers.
There was also a 5 bit version that didn't use ASCII... Both types
also had a 20ma or 60ma current loop interface. Great for long
distance wired serial communications. The bast part is that were
almost entirely mechanical, with very little electronics.
The teletype was also popular with early home computers like the
Altar 8008, and other S-100 systems. CP/M had teletype support.
Now I feel old - I owned a model 33 teletype.
And I still own a 1650-ro, the ro meaning receive only. The worlds fastest
Daisy Wheel printer at 40 cps. Its a friggin tank folks, I haven't been able
to kill it in the 15 years I used it. In its day, an amazing printer. 18"
wide BTW.
Mikkel
--
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Worst Month of 1981 for Downhill Skiing:
August. The lift lines are the shortest, though.
-- Steve Rubenstein