In case some of our newer members didn't know, one of the really neat things in

our collection is an unassembled Morrow S-100 kit. We plan to leave it

unassembled, but maybe lay out the parts and documentation, so visitors can see

the "building" a computer of that period was different than building one today.

Sometimes when I mention DIY computing to museum visitors, they think it's the

same as plugging in modern PC components -- "Oh I built a computer too." --

ummmm not like this kind you didn't.  ;)

> Sometimes when I mention DIY computing to museum

> visitors, they think it's the same as plugging in modern PC components --

> "Oh I built a computer too." -- ummmm not like this kind you didn't.  ;)



They also won't understand that someone could buy an "assembled" board, or

pay even more for one that was "burned in."  My kids are baffled by that

concept.



Bob

>>> My kids are baffled by that

concept.



Another example: I'm always trying to explain to our young visitors how

terminals differ from keyboards and monitors. Consider the SWTPc 6800: there's a

box (the computer), a standalone screen, and a large-ish thing with a keyboard.

Best I could come up with is to explain that keyboards and monitors are just

accessories that plug into PCs, while terminals are separate products that

"talk" to a computer over a network. Seems like a decent way to explain this to

the masses, technical details aside, right?

--- On Tue, 3/1/11, Evan Koblentz <evan@...> wrote:



> Another example: I'm always trying to explain to our young

> visitors how terminals differ from keyboards and monitors.

> Consider the SWTPc 6800: there's a box (the computer), a

> standalone screen, and a large-ish thing with a keyboard.

> Best I could come up with is to explain that keyboards and

> monitors are just accessories that plug into PCs, while

> terminals are separate products that "talk" to a computer

> over a network. Seems like a decent way to explain this to

> the masses, technical details aside, right?



Yeah, but it's confusing, since the connection is not a network connection.

Network implies more than two devices are capable of communicating on the same

line. You should explain how the terminal takes care of drawing the letters on

the screen, and talking to the keyboard - and simply passes the characters along

to the computer, and displays the characters the computer sends to it. Explain

how the terminal is a separate device, capable of displaying the text, even when

the computer is disconnected or shut off.



-Ian

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, "Evan Koblentz" <evan@...> wrote:

>

> >>> My kids are baffled by that

> concept.

>

> Another example: I'm always trying to explain to our young visitors how

terminals differ from keyboards and monitors. Consider the SWTPc 6800: there's a

box (the computer), a standalone screen, and a large-ish thing with a keyboard.

Best I could come up with is to explain that keyboards and monitors are just

accessories that plug into PCs, while terminals are separate products that

"talk" to a computer over a network. Seems like a decent way to explain this to

the masses, technical details aside, right?

>



Ask the kids if they know what a modem is... If they know, tell them that once

upon a time, people didn't *have* COMPUTERS in the house, they were too big, so,

terminals allowed people to connect, over the modem, to a distant computer.



These days we use computers to connect to the internet. But back in the old

days, a single computer was kind of like a small, self-contained internet in

that many people shared it's resources and worked collaboratively within a

computer system. They could even "chat" with each other using a chat program on

the computer that sent messages from terminal to terminal.



When computers got smaller, but were still housed in separate boxes from the

keyboard and monitor, the terminals acted as keyboard/monitor "emulators" via a

serial connection.

On Tue, 1 Mar 2011, Evan Koblentz wrote:



> In case some of our newer members didn't know, one of the really neat

> things in our collection is an unassembled Morrow S-100 kit. We plan to

> leave it unassembled, but maybe lay out the parts and documentation, so

> visitors can see the "building" a computer of that period was different

> than building one today. Sometimes when I mention DIY computing to

> museum visitors, they think it's the same as plugging in modern PC

> components -- "Oh I built a computer too." -- ummmm not like this kind

> you didn't.  ;)



     When I have time, I'm going to build a vintage SBC kit I have, a SD

Systems Z80 Starter Kit from 1978/79:



http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/S100/Z80Starter.jpg



     I believe all the parts are present.  It has two S-100 slots, a

wirewrap area, Kansas City Tape interface, 2758/2716 EPROM burner,

7-segment display and hex keypad, with the ZBUG monitor in ROM.





Mike Loewen 		 mloewen@...

Old Technology       http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

>>> I don't know about the early kits, but for a long time desk-top computers

hovered at $2500 or so while the value of that money dropped.  I think they only

got cheaper around 1990 or so. 



Many homebrew-era kits were priced in the hundreds, not thousands. Even the

Apple 1 was (quite famously) $666.66.

>>> Gmail phone app makes it difficult to bottom post



Just copy and paste the part you're quoting, put some carrots before it, type

your reply, and delete the original message. That's what I have been doing all

morning via BlackBerry (albeit not using Gmail.)

Bruce Freeman <freemab222@...> writes:



>On Tue, Mar 1, 2011 at 10:00 AM, Evan Koblentz <evan@...> wrote:

>

>> > > In case some of our newer members didn't know, one of the really

>neat > things in our collection is an unassembled Morrow S-100 kit. We

>plan to > leave it unassembled, but maybe lay out the parts and

>documentation, so > visitors can see the "building" a computer of that

>period was different than > building one today. Sometimes when I mention

>DIY computing to museum > visitors, they think it's the same as plugging

>in modern PC components -- > "Oh I built a computer too." -- ummmm not

>like this kind you didn't. ; >

>

>(Gmail makes it really difficult to bottom-post, and makes a very good

>case for top-posting.  Now that I'm down here, I'll go ahead...)



Top-posting never makes sense! ;)



http://www.html-faq.com/etiquette/?toppost

On Tue, 1 Mar 2011, Bruce Freeman wrote:



>>

>>

>>> (Gmail makes it really difficult to bottom-post, and makes a very good

>>> case for top-posting. Now that I'm down here, I'll go ahead...)

>>

>> Top-posting never makes sense! ;)

>>

>> http://www.html-faq.com/etiquette/?toppost

>>

>>

>> No, it makes very good sense with Gmail.  Try it.  Gmail hides all the

> carried-over messages, but by its nature makes it very awkward to

> bottom-post.  I can be just as adamant on this point as you hide-bound

> bottom posters!

>

Hey!  We *like* our hide-binding!  It's shiny!



> I will try to remember to bottom-post on this forum, but don't hold your

> breath!



S'ok, we'll be happy to remind you all the time. :D



g.





--

Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007

http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

http://www.simpits.org/geneb - The Me-109F/X Project



ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment

A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.

http://www.scarletdme.org - Get it _today_!



Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical

minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which

holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd

by the clean end.

--- On Tue, 3/1/11, Bruce Freeman <freemab222@...> wrote:



>No, it makes very good sense with Gmail.  Try it.  Gmail hides all the

>carried-over messages, but by its nature makes it very awkward to

>bottom-post.  I can be just as adamant on this point as you hide-bound

>bottom posters!



>I will try to remember to bottom-post on this forum, but don't hold your

>breath!





While you're at it - lose the HTML email. HTML has no place in civilized

conversation. :D



-Ian

 

On Tue, 1 Mar 2011, Evan Koblentz wrote:



> In case some of our newer members didn't know, one of the really neat

> things in our collection is an unassembled Morrow S-100 kit. We plan to

> leave it unassembled, but maybe lay out the parts and documentation, so

> visitors can see the "building" a computer of that period was different

> than building one today. Sometimes when I mention DIY computing to

> museum visitors, they think it's the same as plugging in modern PC

> components -- "Oh I built a computer too." -- ummmm not like this kind

> you didn't. ;)



When I have time, I'm going to build a vintage SBC kit I have, a SD

Systems Z80 Starter Kit from 1978/79:



http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/S100/Z80Starter.jpg



I believe all the parts are present. It has two S-100 slots, a

wirewrap area, Kansas City Tape interface, 2758/2716 EPROM burner,

7-segment display and hex keypad, with the ZBUG monitor in ROM.



Mike Loewen mloewen@...

Old Technology http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/







Is there a source for simple components?  It seems that bread boarding modern

equivalents of the chips used at the time

might do the trick.  It's probably easier to get the discrete components up to

the basic ttl chips than it is to get the

micro processor and other more advanced integrated chips.

bs

Mr Ian Primus <ian_primus@...> writes:



>>No, it makes very good sense with Gmail.  Try it.  Gmail hides all the

>>carried-over messages, but by its nature makes it very awkward to

>>bottom-post.  I can be just as adamant on this point as you hide-bound

>>bottom posters!

>

>>I will try to remember to bottom-post on this forum, but don't hold

>your >breath!

>

>

>While you're at it - lose the HTML email. HTML has no place in civilized

>conversation. :D



Does this imply that it is OK for uncivilized conversation?