[GTALUG] ancient computer history

[James Knott]

On 09/18/2018 02:37 AM, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:
> (I was in high school then and it was extremely difficult to get 
> information about computers then.  The internet is such a great facility! 
> I used to sneak into U of T, Waterloo, and York to get accesss to 
> computers.)

I didn't have access to computers until I bought my own, an IMSAI 8080,
in 1975.  However, when I was in Gr. 12, I took a FORTRAN course.  We
used pencil mark cards, which our teacher took to the board office to
compile.  I don't know that the code was actually run.  We were more
focused on getting back results showing it had compiled correctly.  I've
often thought that we could have written nonsense code, provided it
compiled correctly.  ;-)

I also took a FORTRAN course at Ryerson, back in the mid 80s.  In class,
we had to find a working terminal, that was connected to an IBM
mainframe.  I found it easier to my homework on a VAX 11/780 at work. 
So, when the lab portion of the class started, I'd go home, dial into
the VAX using my IMSAI, and do my homework that way.  This was also
around the time Ryerson stopped using punch card equipment, connected to
a computer at York.  I recall seeing that equipment, forlornly sitting
in the hall, disconnected from any computer.  :'(