5 ms·

"Communication between computers over normal telephone lines" As a kid, I would have walked up, seen that, and my mind would be reeling with the possibilities.

by wgx 4y ago

"Communication between computers over normal telephone lines" As a kid, I would have walked up, seen that, and my mind would be reeling with the possibilities. Computers that can talk to each other remotely! The hassle and the hurdles you'd have to overcome just to send a message to another Atari over dial-up. It's 40 years later and we all have a portalable, always-on computer in our pockets, with instant access to all the world's information. Just mind blowing progress in 40 years.

iancmceachern 4y ago
They're truly tricorders. They can 3d scan the world, they can broadcast live to the entire world, they can connect you with a doctor and help diagnose your illness, on and on.
- dwighttk 4y ago
  Point it at a bird or bug or flower and get an ID Record a birdsong and get an ID
  - iancmceachern 4y ago
    Tell you who sings the songs playing
- zitsarethecure 4y ago
  Phyphox really does it for me to get that "a tricorder, but real" feeling. https://phyphox.org/ https://phyphox.org/
wil421 4y ago
When I was young my dad hooked up 2 computers so my brother and I could play 2 player Doom II (could’ve been Doom but unlikely). It was probably 5fps and barely playable. My brother and I almost fell out of our chairs when we saw the other player. It blew my mind being able to see another player and what he looked like in game.
- bluedino 4y ago
  > It was probably 5fps and barely playable. Did you have 386's?
dbrueck 4y ago
> my mind would be reeling with the possibilities Right?? When I was about 14 or so I got ahold of my very first modem - a 300bps acoustic coupler; that beast must have weighed 20 pounds. I don't know what I was expecting when we connected to a local BBS for the first time, but when I saw characters from a remote computer show up on my screen, it was like the world shifted. I had no way to grasp the implications of it all, but I could sense it was significant, and it impacted me so strongly that that memory is still crystal clear 30 years later.
StanislavPetrov 4y ago
On the term I used to dial with my 300 baud modem on my Atari 800 you had to specify "ATDT" (tone) or "ATDP" (pulse) because rotary dialing was still much more common.

by wgx 4y ago

iancmceachern 4y ago

They're truly tricorders. They can 3d scan the world, they can broadcast live to the entire world, they can connect you with a doctor and help diagnose your illness, on and on.

dwighttk 4y ago
Point it at a bird or bug or flower and get an ID Record a birdsong and get an ID
- iancmceachern 4y ago
  Tell you who sings the songs playing
zitsarethecure 4y ago
Phyphox really does it for me to get that "a tricorder, but real" feeling. https://phyphox.org/ https://phyphox.org/

wil421 4y ago

When I was young my dad hooked up 2 computers so my brother and I could play 2 player Doom II (could’ve been Doom but unlikely). It was probably 5fps and barely playable. My brother and I almost fell out of our chairs when we saw the other player. It blew my mind being able to see another player and what he looked like in game.

bluedino 4y ago
> It was probably 5fps and barely playable. Did you have 386's?

dbrueck 4y ago

> my mind would be reeling with the possibilities Right?? When I was about 14 or so I got ahold of my very first modem - a 300bps acoustic coupler; that beast must have weighed 20 pounds. I don't know what I was expecting when we connected to a local BBS for the first time, but when I saw characters from a remote computer show up on my screen, it was like the world shifted. I had no way to grasp the implications of it all, but I could sense it was significant, and it impacted me so strongly that that memory is still crystal clear 30 years later.

StanislavPetrov 4y ago

On the term I used to dial with my 300 baud modem on my Atari 800 you had to specify "ATDT" (tone) or "ATDP" (pulse) because rotary dialing was still much more common.