4 ms·
Yet it's a shame that we seem to piss that extra performance away instantly in software. Things felt faster in the 80's than they did now, even doing the same
by meaty 14y ago
Yet it's a shame that we seem to piss that extra performance away instantly in software.
Things felt faster in the 80's than they did now, even doing the same tasks.
- mikeash 14y agoI recall waiting a couple of minutes for my computer to just boot in the 80s. When I want to use my phone, it becomes usable in well under a second. Waiting a few seconds every time I hit save was fun. Didn't stop me from developing a ferocious ^S reflex. Fortunately, save is fast enough not to be noticeable these days, to the extent that it usually happens automatically now. Watching a WYSIWYG font menu draw each individual entry was fun. We certainly don't get that pleasure now. But yes, things certainly felt faster in the 80s.... /s
- meaty 14y agoI don't know what you were using but I was booted and operational in under 3-4 seconds on everything I used in the 80s (BBC Master, Acorn A310)
- mikeash 14y agoMy Apple IIGS could be "operational" pretty fast if all you were after was a BASIC prompt with no disk access. If you wanted a BASIC prompt with disk access, that took some seconds. If you want to actually load useful software, it took quite a while.