"Kids React to Old Computers"

[n4gix 4,947]

I ran across this earlier this morning and thought I'd share it here. It is a hoot! :LMAO:

[january 19]

Hi Fr. Bill- Wonder if those kids will ever discover the art of the 'slipstick' or Slide Rule?

I still have mine from University days !

And wouldn't be surprised if I could also find some 'log' tables if I rooted around a bit.

Anybody remember hand cranked, rotary mechanical calculators ? 

Thanks for the video- those youngsters look to be winners!

january

[mebull 27]

Thanks Fr. Bill.

 

 

 

Wonder if those kids will ever discover the art of the 'slipstick' or Slide Rule?

I still have mine from University days !

And wouldn't be surprised if I could also find some 'log' tables if I rooted around a bit.

Anybody remember hand cranked, rotary mechanical calculators ?

 

The great thing about the 'punch and crank' calculators was they stayed where you put them as long as your desk didn't collapse from the weight.

 

Guys, you do realize that the young kids look at us vintage citizens the same way they view our 'old' tech don't you?

 

Let's put a rotary dial phone, a Remington manual typewriter, a black and white tv (with 3 stations only) with the choice of, The Lone Ranger, The Little Rascals or the Three Stooges for programming and a bicycle with tires as wide as your forearm in front of them and tell them to have a good time. I could add great number of other objects and activities from days gone by, but we the 'ancient' ones know those and must keep them from the young ones so they do not become convinced that we simply migrated here from some other backward world.

 

When I was a young kid: I asked grandpa, "What is that big crank handle on the floor of the car for?". Grandpa said, "That goes on the front of the engine", I asked "Grandpa why does the engine need a crank?", He responded, "That is for starting the car". I asked, "Doesn't the car have a starter?". He answered, "Yep! you are bothering him right now and he's gonna make you walk home - anymore questions?".

 

Mel

[HiFlyer 9,343]

I would probably respond about the same to an Abacus or a slide-rule.............

[Brian Doney 127]

"I don't get it...and I also don't get the 1970's..."

 

Amen child....amen....  :lol:

[bic 44]

I loved that wire frame and small grid for FS in green.  My friend eventually got an IBM PCjr and had a color monitor, FS was amazing!  I started learning BASIC by writing rudimentary flight schedules on Apple ][.

 

Bucky Covington - A Different World

 

[Christopher Low 5,332]

Now fast forward thirty years to 2044, and ask the kids of the future to use quirky relics like mobile phones and iPads! :lol:

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

The old Command Prompt was the better way compared to GUI.....reason why is the human can type an average of 30 to 40 words per minute and up to around 80 words per minute. Impossible to replicate that speed with mouse clicks.

 

The GUI slowed people down and dumbed computing down by making it visual and more appealing to the masses.

 

I miss my Apple][ 

[Captain_Barfbag 31]

My slide rule is hanging on the wall right behind my monitor.

 

And to do real work, I still use the command line and UNIX.

[Raindance 25]

Those kids display seriously irritating mannerisms... I wondered actually if they were stage-school kids deliberately chosen for "personality"?

[n4gix 4,947]

When I was a young kid: I asked grandpa, "What is that big crank handle on the floor of the car for?". Grandpa said, "That goes on the front of the engine", I asked "Grandpa why does the engine need a crank?", He responded, "That is for starting the car". I asked, "Doesn't the car have a starter?". He answered, "Yep! you are bothering him right now and he's gonna make you walk home - anymore questions?".

Under the same set of circumstances, my too smart mouth would have betrayed me (again) with the quick rejoinder...

 

"Oh! No wonder you're so cranky..." :LMAO:

[HiFlyer 9,343]

Those kids display seriously irritating mannerisms... I wondered actually if they were stage-school kids deliberately chosen for "personality"?

I would actually say they were about average, and in fact probably showed more patience than normal because they were being filmed. A lot of kids would have rolled thier eyes and walked away much quicker than that.

[january 19]

Speaking of ancient "computing" arts- 

In the days of exploration and sailing vessels, the British Admiralty log tables, although recognized as being the best of all the world's navies, still was plagued with errors. 

(All these computations had been done by hand by obscure mathematicians presumably sitting on high stools and using quill pens.)

As might be expected, Admiralty Log Tables had many errors - with the Admiralty offering a reward to persons detecting such errors.

---------

The story goes that the admiral of a British Naval Squadron, presented a volume of the Admiralty Tables to the master of an Italian naval vessel on the occasion of a friendly rendezvous somewhere in the Med. (Presumably the wine may have had something to do with such surprising largesse,)

 

The tale further recounts that the Italian ship was subsequently reported as missing at sea- never to be heard from again.

 

All of which goes to suggest that this naval loss might have been prevented if Apple had only brought their product & its computational ability to market a couple of centuries earlier !!!!

january

[woodreau 0]

 

Let's put a rotary dial phone, a Remington manual typewriter, a black and white tv (with 3 stations only) with the choice of, The Lone Ranger, The Little Rascals or the Three Stooges for programming and a bicycle with tires as wide as your forearm in front of them and tell them to have a good time. I could add great number of other objects and activities from days gone by, but we the 'ancient' ones know those and must keep them from the young ones so they do not become convinced that we simply migrated here from some other backward world.

 

Here is the rotary dial phone one

 

 

and the Walkman one.

 

[mebull 27]

 

 

"Oh! No wonder you're so cranky..." :LMAO:

 

Good thing that one didn't pop into my head back then! That is a good one!

 

I think my next question was, "where's the brake pedal?". It was only a two mile walk home from grandpas, but is sure seemed a long way back then.

 

 

 

Here is the rotary dial phone one

 

At the age of about eight; I drove mom nuts, screaming until she couldn't breath. Every time the mistake was made of leaving me by myself I would disassemble things. My favorite was the rotary phone - down to the last screw. Mom would come in and go ballistic. I would calmly sit and put it back together, put it back on the hall table and rewire it to the wall. When dad came in from work she would rat on me but dad would just ask, "Does it still work?, she would pant, "yes", and he'd say "well don't worry about it then.". The first time, he asked if I had any parts left over. The answer was no, so he just shook his head and walked away. Who needs a Erector Set when you have small household appliances? :Big Grin:

 

Thanks for the videos.

 

Regards,

Mel