Computers and Progress

I go back to the relative beginning of the personal computer revolution. When I was an undergraduate (major in Philosophy) my girlfriend was a Math/Electrical Engineering major. That's what they called Computer Science in those days.

There were no personal computers. It was all mini-computer work, and those things were large, floor-to-ceiling, rack-mounted affairs. There were no computer screens. You interacted with the computer using a teletype--an automated typewriter which printed out hardcopy on an enormous roll of newsprint.

Students would sign up for computer time to do their assignments. Non-prime-time was the easiest to get, but it meant that you were at the computer lab in the middle of the night. Not wanting my lady to walk around campus alone in the dark, I would go with her and do my own work while she did hers.

I studied quicker than she did.

Frequently finding myself with no work to do, I started to read the computer manuals that were in the lab. My speciality in Philosophy was Formal Logic, and I quickly realized that I understood computer languages easily. So I started to fool around with available machines and quickly became good enough that Electrical Engineering Majors would ask for my help.

I purchased my first personal computer as soon as a serious machine was offered. It was an IBM PC, model one. It had 64K of memory (that's 64 Kilobytes, not 64 Megabytes) and came with a cassette port. I just followed the technology, upgrading my machines and learning as I went. I had one of the earliest IBM Advanced Technology machines, and if you Google the web for my name you'll discover I've some serious Geek Credentials. I was featured in InfoWorld and a couple of other publications.

About seven years ago I abandoned the Windows platform and moved to Apple Macintosh machines. They cost more but are more secure and reliable. My practice is busy enough that time really is money, and I needed my computers to work without a lot of hassle. Macs do that.

Cloud Computing is the wave of the future (there is an "inside joke" in this sentence but only other Geeks will get it).

Cloud computing means that your software and data no longer reside on your personal computer. Instead, the software and data reside on powerful computers attached to the Internet (also known as "the Cloud").

When doing this sort of computing, you use your personal computer as a terminal to interact with these more powerful computers. As all the "heavy lifting" is done by large arrays of computers on the Internet, the user no longer needs to have a great big powerful computer at home or at the office. Almost anything will work well on your desktop, provided you have a good, reliable high-speed hookup to the net.

For years I worked with "built to order" Macintosh machines that pushed the limits of technology. But now with the "Cloud" I don't need that. I can do everything with a sexy, slim laptop.

I own one of the first MacBook Air computers ever made. These things are amazingly small, thin machines (they literally fit into a standard manila envelope). I still have it and use that machine as my "traveler" because it easily fits in to a briefcase. However, Apple has upgraded the MacBook Air line twice since the first generation, and my new desktop machine is an off-the-shelf, third-generation MacBook Air.

It's amazing.

It's faster than my old MacBook Pro. While the central processor is slower, the overall architecture of the machine is so efficient that it does work faster. When on my desk it is connected by one cable to Terabytes of secondary hard disk storage, a high speed Lightscribe CD/DVD disc burner, an iPhone dock, a card reader and a printer that is also a high-speed scanner.

When not on my desk it is a perfectly serviceable computer that weighs about 3 pounds and is less bulky that a clipboard. I'm actually writing this blog entry while sitting in my Solarium with a cat on one knee and the computer on the other.

How far we've come! The evolution of the personal computer that I've seen in my lifetime is unquestionably a world-changing event, easily as important as the development of the printing press.