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My computing history almost mirrors that of the personal computer
itself. IBM introduced the original PC in 1984; the same year I had
my introduction to the computing world, but I was started on the HP
41-C series of programmable calculators. It was a very advance model
that allowed the use of alphanumeric characters; provided ample
memory space and it had several ports into which input
pre-programmed modules (applications). I was hooked and it wasn’t my
property at all! It became almost a pastime trying to figure out how
to program all the formulas and algorithms I learned in my
structural and other civil engineering courses. See sidebar at the
right for a chronological listing of all the computers I had
owned.
My passion for computing has evolved slowly from the early days of
programming as an end in itself, to using applications developed by
others as a means to an end. While in college, not needing to
generate income, computing was an exciting field to showcase my
intellectual powers. Having a boatload of study exercises upon which
to test the results of my programs, I indulged in programming mainly
for fun.
My first computer was a Radio Shack TRS-80 which I latter upgraded
from cassette tape to floppy drive storage. Using the floppy drive
as cache memory, I was able to write "ambitious" software to solve
hyper static frames and separate modules for internal forces
analysis with some rudimentary graphical display.
At the time I landed my first job all my experience had been on my
TRS-80 and interpreted BASIC, therefore, I had to learn fast the
world of mainstream computing (IBM standard). I quickly became a
wizard of DOS (Disk Operating System), the text based thing you see
if you ever open a Windows’ command prompt. It was the time of the
Hercules graphics card 720x348 with its 1-bit (monochrome screen,
either green or beige). Color adapters were very expensive and
lacking in features. The CGA was almost a joke with resolutions of
320x200x16 colors or 640x200x1 color; and the EGA was only
marginally better at 640x350. However, its 16 colors offered a
substantial quality increase over the Hercules monochrome. 5-1/4”
floppy drives were ubiquitous. 10 or 20 MB HDD was something you
could brag about. Math coprocessors were chips required only by a
very small number of applications and therefore, it was a premium
option. Graphical user interfaces and mice were luxuries only Apple
owners enjoyed fully. MS Windows was still a novel but limited
software.
Because of the nature of the TRS-80, I had basically no experience
handling hardware, and since my job duties did not involve hardware
setup, I remained only aware of devices’ features.
It was after I decided to become an independent consultant and
therefore, I had to buy my first business computer, that I also
became a hardware jockey. It was also the time when the term
price/performance took real meaning for me…
I had to buy that computer on payments and I even had to get a loan
for the down payment... Needless to say that I had to compromise
somewhere and I picked the computer display as the piece of hardware
where the corners were going to be cut. Logically, the monitor
started to behave funny as soon as the 1-year warranty expired
L
and I had to repair it as I had no money for a new one.
I acquired a good working knowledge of memory cards and chips; how
to physically set it up and how to configure the device drivers for
optimum performance. As my interest in rendering started to develop
and my financial resources began to develop, I also became
acquainted with higher end graphic cards.
The 90's
brought a new buzzword to the mainstream of computing: Remote
connections, which included both, LAN & WAN (Local Area Network and
Wide Area Network). These concepts predate the PC of course; but
until the 90's it remained the domain of super high-end computing or
hard-core computer freaks. The advent of the Internet expanded my
hardware interest to something called "Modem". My going back to
being an employee in a team of professionals at the end of the 90's
introduced me fully to the concept of Networked Computers. Until
that time I had only heard of it but never showed any interest at
all. The company had a network system based on coaxial cable and
DOS-based Novell. By the time I was through learning the new
concepts I had revamped the system to a workgroup-based system
running on Windows NT and Ethernet cable. I latter migrated the
workgroup to a domain connected to the Internet via DSL modem.
My next
paradigm shift came in 2001 when I jumped with both feet into the
concept of high-performance mobile computing. Money was less of an
obstacle at this point and I could afford to buy the best hardware
available at the time (at least the best on the most important
elements).
The most
recent development in my hardware evolution was the embracing of the
MAC platform. Since 1996 I had been curious about computing
platforms other than IBM which offered levels of performance you
often read about in magazines but never had the chance to touch.
Sun's Sparc UNIX workstations and Silicon Graphics arose my interest
at one time but I never had any chance to really act upon it.
Looking back, it was all for good. With its new G5 computers, Apple
was claiming to offer workstation-class computing for PC price. Hype
notwithstanding, my experience on the MAC platform has been so
positive that now that they run on Intel chips capable of running
Windows in dual boot mode, coupled with the departure of IBM from
the personal computing market, I might consolidate systems by
purchasing a MAC and a copy of Windows; although, my recent
experience with hardware failure taught me the importance of having
a second computer for backup of critical applications (that's the
Dell computer shown on the sidebar).
On the software side; after the TRS-80, I got immersed in DOS,
first the MS version and latter, when I owned an IBM computer, the
PC version. Besides my main application (AutoCAD), I also learned
some other basic packages such as spreadsheets and word processors.
I saw Windows evolve from a novel DOS application that allowed users
to have more than one program running concurrently and to operate in
a friendlier interface to become a true operating system; although I
didn't participate in the Windows phenomenon until the end of this
cycle. Previous to Windows 95, the software was only an operating
environment that ran on top of DOS. IBM tried to implement their own
system (OS/2), introduced at the time they launched the PS/2 systems
and their proprietary micro channel bus. Around 1990-1991, being now
an IBM system owner, I tried the second version of it, running it in
parallel to DOS (with the dual boot feature). It was a
technologically superior product to Windows but, with little support
from software vendors, it died rather quickly. Refusing to “do
windows” on my breadwinning applications, I became a die-hard DOS
user until 1998 when, being able to afford some high-end graphic
hardware (no emulations this time), I found out that the hardware
vendors were discontinuing support for such hardware on the DOS
platform, thereby “forcing” me to jump on the Windows bandwagon. I
had been running some Windows 95 applications such as CD burning,
backup, Internet browsing and e-mailing while still on DOS, but that
was it. No high power applications on “shaky” Windows software.
Up to this moment, video games had been an integral part of my
computing environment; starting with my TRS-80 and “Polaris” where
you defend your islands against an array of missiles and bombs
raining from above, and reaching its climax with Origin’s Wing
Commander, the space arcade with incredible graphics, cinematic
sequences and musical score which broke ground in their time.
The only reason I abandoned DOS was my desire to exploit Autodesk’s
3D Studio which by 1998 was in its second iteration as 3D Studio MAX
for Windows. Knowing full well both, the software demands and the
technical wants of Windows 95 vs. Windows NT 3.5, I jumped directly
to NT. Alas, gaming was not on Microsoft’s engineers developing the
business version of the operating system. Today, gaming is only a
peripheral aspect of my computing experience, even though Windows XP
Professional is almost as supportive of games as the Home version
is.
Today, the fields of computing that attract me the most are 3D
modeling & animation, photo & video editing, music storage &
cataloguing and the Internet (web development, on-line research and
education, electronic shopping, and trading).
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