It's hard to appreciate today what powerful magic FORTRAN and COBOL were in the 60's and 70's. To learn COBOL was entering a world where you were in control, wh

It's hard to appreciate today what powerful magic FORTRAN and COBOL were in the 60's and 70's. To learn COBOL was entering a world where you were in control, where you could cast spells that really worked, and get paid for it. It's like humour: Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Lewis & Martin never made me laugh, but I have no doubt they were fresh, innovative and irresistible in their day. When I saw my first computer graphics animation in 1966, a crude wireframe of an aircraft, my mind was blown. I was feverish with excitement. It's a shame we can never recapture that zeitgeist.