http://oldcomputers.net/compaqi.html

One of first computers used at NIU. Similar type when I got into Public Accounting.

(04-15-2014 09:16 AM)klake87 Wrote:  http://oldcomputers.net/compaqi.html

One of first computers used at NIU. Similar type when I got into Public Accounting.

Great link. The cost was over $4ooo per computer. Us old farts are coming out of the woodwork. Time to strap on the Post Slide Rule to my belt and walk around Still Gym to visit with the ghosts. It is ironic when I did visited Still Gym last year, I saw some of the old furniture from 40 years ago still being used.

(04-15-2014 08:59 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(04-14-2014 04:32 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(04-14-2014 04:19 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  Anybody have the old Macintosh Classic with the little 9" black and white screen? Good times.

Yup and it still works. My mom also got the separate hard drive to give us an additional 1mb of space. Its the size of 2 laptops stacked up.


Did anyone have a Commodore 64?

I managed a trade show using a Commodore 64.

I used to have one. Even had a tape drive for it (before upgrading to an actual disk drive). I remember my brother and I typing in a Star Trek game program written in BASIC.

AppleIIe is where its at!

(04-15-2014 10:57 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 08:59 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(04-14-2014 04:32 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(04-14-2014 04:19 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  Anybody have the old Macintosh Classic with the little 9" black and white screen? Good times.

Yup and it still works. My mom also got the separate hard drive to give us an additional 1mb of space. Its the size of 2 laptops stacked up.


Did anyone have a Commodore 64?

I managed a trade show using a Commodore 64.

I used to have one. Even had a tape drive for it (before upgrading to an actual disk drive). I remember my brother and I typing in a Star Trek game program written in BASIC.

I also had the tape drive and several tapes but since I was so young then, I never understood how to used the thing. From age 2-7 I just played the video games...Frogger, Cosmic Cruncher (a packman knockoff), Space Invaders & Asteroid.

(04-15-2014 11:21 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  AppleIIe is where its at!

The only thing I remember using those for was playing Oregon Trail.

We found a used copy of "New Oregon Trail" at a Game Stop for Wii so we got it. It was kind of disappointing because while you were on the trail it actually gave you a few less options than the old game.

(04-15-2014 10:57 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  I used to have one. Even had a tape drive for it (before upgrading to an actual disk drive). I remember my brother and I typing in a Star Trek game program written in BASIC.

I had one, plus the Commodore brand dot matrix printer that didn't have descending letters. That really made printed stuff looking like crap.

That old disk drive was so slow that you could start it loading a game, go get a snack and come back to it just being ready to start.

PSI 5 Trading Company, Gunship.

(04-15-2014 12:24 PM)GeorgeBorkFan Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 10:57 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  I used to have one. Even had a tape drive for it (before upgrading to an actual disk drive). I remember my brother and I typing in a Star Trek game program written in BASIC.

I had one, plus the Commodore brand dot matrix printer that didn't have descending letters. That really made printed stuff looking like crap.

That old disk drive was so slow that you could start it loading a game, go get a snack and come back to it just being ready to start.

PSI 5 Trading Company, Gunship.

My brother left a plastic worm on top of the disk drive while it was working. It ended up melting right into the top of the disk drive.

Favorite game was Firezone.

(04-14-2014 09:28 PM)NIU_PSE Wrote:  Not going to state the year(s), but I used a slide rule as a freshman, built a four function calculator as a sophomore (still needed the slide rule with the slider lost for trig, exponentials etc.) and built 4004 (that's a 4-bit first run $25 cosmetic defect donated by Intel to universities) in EE Computer Circuits as a senior and thought that I had gone to heaven. Kaypro, XT and 286 were later. In fact, I am still not sure how much of an improvement a 64 bit dual processor running Win7 and memory hogging apps is? Or, maybe I'm just an old timer.

P.S. Back then, NIU had one IBM 360 Main Frame that had been upgraded to equal a 370. All university departments used that computer only. Even NI Gas and CommEd purchased batching time to process billing invoices (but that's another thread).

That was the 360/67. It was moved from 2nd floor in Altgeld to 1st floor in early 70s due to fears that someone could possibly plant a bomb on the floor underneath it. Those were the radical days.

Few people knew about the 360/20 that was also in Altgeld and was used by the DP classes in the Accounting dept. Of course, punched cards were the only method of input to both machines.

(04-15-2014 12:20 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(04-15-2014 11:21 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  AppleIIe is where its at!

The only thing I remember using those for was playing Oregon Trail.

We found a used copy of "New Oregon Trail" at a Game Stop for Wii so we got it. It was kind of disappointing because while you were on the trail it actually gave you a few less options than the old game.

I bought an old version of oregon trail (version 1.2, my favorite version) and my computer is too advanced to install it...but I can still run it off the disk.

VERY satisfying.