My Computing

I have always been fascinated by computers, and have been using them since 1968 when I started my original Physicsdegree. The Physics Department had a DEC PDP8, which was the size of a filing cabinet and had, as its name implies, 8Kb of RAM. That's right, 8Kb. Not 8Gb, not even 8Mb. It took ages to turn on. First you had to manually enter numbers (in binary octal) into specific memory locations using switches on the front of the machine, then you ran a bootstrap loader paper tape, which was the precursor to loading the BASIC program, also on paper tape. Then you could enter BASIC program code using a teletype. Not very rock and roll, but cutting edge in its day.

I also did some FORTRAN programming, running programs on the University ICL mainframe via punched cards. I used this method to analyse the data for my extended 3rd year project, which was centred on analysing radioactive decay using a 400 channel pulse height analyser. I reckon I used equipment that at the time would have cost around £10,000. In terms of spending power, that is the equivalent of around £150-200,000 today. And they let me loose on all that gear!

My first home computer was a Sinclair ZX81. It had 1k of RAM but there was an 8k memory expansion pack that plugged in the back. Unfortunately it was always falling out. You had to plug the computer into the TV to see what was happening. I bought a Sinclair Spectrum when they came out, followed by an Amstrad 6128 in about 1986. I got my first PC in 1988; actually it was borrowed from work, but I had permission to use it at home. Since then I have had a succession of PCs, but I was never completley happy with Windows. I felt it had been going downhill since 3.1, although XP was ok. Things came to a crunch when I bought a PC running Windows Vista, and I hated it. I found it unstable and lots of my existing programs did not work with it as well as they had under XP. This was the tipping point; I had been toying with the idea of moving over to Apple Macs for a while, and this was the final straw.

I now use an iMac and a MacBook Pro, and my youngest daughter also has a MacBook Pro which she uses for her studies. 
We have a MacBook Air that we take on holiday, and my wife used to use a Windows laptop but I've finally turned her, and she now has a MacBook. We also have 4 iPads in the house, as well as 3 iPhones and about 5 iPods. I really should have bought shares in Apple.