3 ms·

Let's see - No cell phone network, so no UMTS/EDGE/LTE connectivity - No Wifi - No USB peripherals On the laptop - No RS-232 - No Thinwire Ethernet jack

by iSnow 12y ago

Let's see - No cell phone network, so no UMTS/EDGE/LTE connectivity - No Wifi - No USB peripherals On the laptop - No RS-232 - No Thinwire Ethernet jack - No modem jack So, not a very useful thing to have back then, you couldn't connect it to any printer (not that there were a whole lot of consumer-grade printers back then) or storage. You could use it to replace a compute center with the size of its SSD, but then, no way to connect it to any network.

oakwhiz 12y ago
Assuming the laptop contained a GNU/Linux operating system, as well as some way of providing serial ports, you could probably set it up as a multi-user system connected to a bunch of VT50 terminals.
deleted 12y ago
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ars 12y ago
You would attach an acoustic coupler to the mic/headphone jacks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_coupler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_coupler Also making a USB->RS232 adapter using 1975 tech should be possible (if you had the skills). With the high bandwidth of a modern audio port you might even be able to make an audio->RS232 adapter and avoid the noise of the acoustic coupler.
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trentmb 12y ago
> So, not a very useful thing to have back then Sure, if 1975 was the same as Idiocracy. Otherwise, you'd have a bunch of brilliant people going to this man from the future and his fancy gadgets and trying to figure how they worked and what society is like in the future. EDIT: My two year old laptop does have a modem... is it still modern?
- yardie 12y ago
  It would still be too modern for 1975. IIRC most winmodems in laptops dropped a bunch of ancient standards. If you can find the spec sheet it will probably show 9600bps as the lowest negotiable rate. In '75, 300bps was probably the max. You'd have better luck using the soundcard than the RJ11 jack.
meric 12y ago
You could still download a lot of information from 2014 to bring back, and charge your computer when you get there. That would let you get rich from the stock markets, and then I presume do something cool with the money.
meric 12y ago
You could still download a lot of information from 2014 to bring back, and charge your computer when you get there. That would let you get rich from the stock markets, and then I presume do something cool with the money.
willyt 12y ago
You would also need to take an arduino and ftdi cable, then you'll be able to interface with anything

by iSnow 12y ago

oakwhiz 12y ago

Assuming the laptop contained a GNU/Linux operating system, as well as some way of providing serial ports, you could probably set it up as a multi-user system connected to a bunch of VT50 terminals.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

ars 12y ago

You would attach an acoustic coupler to the mic/headphone jacks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_coupler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_coupler Also making a USB->RS232 adapter using 1975 tech should be possible (if you had the skills). With the high bandwidth of a modern audio port you might even be able to make an audio->RS232 adapter and avoid the noise of the acoustic coupler.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

trentmb 12y ago

> So, not a very useful thing to have back then Sure, if 1975 was the same as Idiocracy. Otherwise, you'd have a bunch of brilliant people going to this man from the future and his fancy gadgets and trying to figure how they worked and what society is like in the future. EDIT: My two year old laptop does have a modem... is it still modern?

yardie 12y ago
It would still be too modern for 1975. IIRC most winmodems in laptops dropped a bunch of ancient standards. If you can find the spec sheet it will probably show 9600bps as the lowest negotiable rate. In '75, 300bps was probably the max. You'd have better luck using the soundcard than the RJ11 jack.

meric 12y ago

You could still download a lot of information from 2014 to bring back, and charge your computer when you get there. That would let you get rich from the stock markets, and then I presume do something cool with the money.

meric 12y ago

willyt 12y ago

You would also need to take an arduino and ftdi cable, then you'll be able to interface with anything