I started my Engineering degree in 1985 and we were still using punch cards for CAD/CAM. I remember my Commodore 128 spreadsheet. I would enter my data and hit “calculate” and go eat dinner as the spreadsheet made the calculations.
I never thought this interweb thingy would ever catch on.
During a tour of an engineering school, 1960 or so, I looked behind the metal case of a computer. The device was a matrix (similar to a 3D chess board) of stiff wires that had a bead of metal at each junction. That was the brains of the computer.
My very first “online” program was one I copied off of a magazine (can’t remember the name). It was several pages of machine-level hexadecimal codes that I saved to a file and ran through debug to produce a .com file. I remember using a ruler to make damned sure I got every line right!
When I fired up the application, my screen came up with a prompt to enter the phone number of the bulletin board to which I wanted to connect. I typed it in, hit ENTER, and heard my modem go! I listened and heard the handshake, then boom! The bulletin board came up! This was in the late 80’s as I recall.
Psshhh, youngster, I was doin stuff like that on my Apple II+. Hand coded assembly language, I swear it felt as fast as anything operating today.
Looks to me as if both jump to FFFF:0.
What am I missing?
ML/NJ
The Ford EEC or Electronic Engine Control is a series of ECU (or Engine Control Unit) that was designed and built by Ford Motor Company. They were introduced in 1978 and went through several model iterations.
Contents
EEC I and II Edit
These two “modules” used a common processor and memory so they can be described together. The processor was a 12 bit unit manufactured by Toshiba. The Ford internal code name for it was “PM-11” or “Poor Man’s 11” implying it was a stripped down version of the, then popular, Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11 computer. A PDP-11 was used in a vehicle in the first half of the 1970s for “proof of concept”. In reality there was very little in common between these two computer architectures. This chip was never commercially available.
Yah I remember doing this too...if I remember right they would have separate listings for separate system...I had a commodore 64 (preceded briefly by the vic 20) during the early 80's and remember the joy of hunching over the kitchen table and entering that code. And I was in hog heaven when I got the tape drive.
Instead I ended up writing an 8080 simulator. I was able to load and run the Zapple Monitor, but couldn't get a version of BASIC to run. I must have coded a bug somewhere, but not having the source listing for the BASIC made it very impractical to troubleshoot.
My youngest grandson is one year old. I hope to last long enough to show him some of this archaic technology.
These kids do not know such old technology.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb1e-QJotL4
I opened my own computer consulting business in 1983 with a brand spanking-new IBM PC with 2 360k Floppies (5.25in), a 10MB Hardcard Drive (PCI Slot) and MS-DOS 2 and a green phosphor monitor. WOW!
My most useful tool was Borland’s Sidekick TSR - a swiss army knife utility that was a calendar, notepad and other apps that could be bounced in and out of while working on another program. Main job was writing dBase and Lotus 1-2-3 applications. Later used Clipper to compile the dBase for speed and security.
Quit the business when I realized that I had 2 silent partners, the IRS and state taxing authorities. They never helped out but boy, did they want tax returns and money. Somewhere along the line, I misfiled paperwork about paying myself and the IRS & state wanted past due unemployment taxes. UGH!
Love it! Thanks for starting the thread.
Remember DoubleDOS and Desqview? I ran those so I could hack around while my BBS ran.
TheDraw for making excellent ANSI art
Waaay back in my Apple days using Ascii Express and my Applecat modem to trade W@rez at a screaming 1200 baud. Upgraded to 2400 baud from a modem sold by DAK Industries. I *loved* DAK!!!
Bonus points:
g=c800:5