Jim Jacobs relates some of his experience with computers.
In Cloudland
I graduated in electronic engineering in 1951 from the UNSW. All the talk then was about computing but I didn't get near one till the late 60s, an IBM mainframe using punched cards and the PL1 (Plain Language One) language. Then in the 70s it was punched tapes and minicomputers but then micro processors appeared and I was able to buy a kit to build a computer of my own.
 I remember the CPUs, Philips 2650, Intel 8088, Ziglog Z80, etc. but I could only look on enviously as the Apples and PCs came along, they were beyond my reach. I programmed in machine language and got results from lights switching on and off. The first computer I bought was a Tandy Micro Colour Computer, it had a keyboard built in, used the Basic language, stored data on a cassette recorder and connected to a colour TV; I was in heaven.
In the mid 80s I joined TAD, (Technical Aid to the Disabled), and started to apply my tiny computer skills to various aids such as wheel chair control by blowing and sucking.
About 1990 I bought my first Windows machine, an Amstrad with a colour monitor, two floppy disk drives and the DOS operating system; I got it cheap for $600. I used it to learn the Forth language, a refinement of DOS. I was also able to install a 5MB hard drive card and then installed Windows 3.1.
Then TAD formed the Computer Loan Service, I started to refurbish obsolete PCs running Windows and helping disabled people use them; once again I was in heaven.
Then in 1995 I joined U3A, (University of the Third Age), and started teaching people about computers using Windows 3.1. I realized how useful computers were for people; word processing, graphics and games were the main applications we used. I still find WordPad the best word processor. Windows 95 then 98 came out but we couldn't afford them or the machines needed to run them. This lead in '98 to the formation of the Endeavour Seniors Computer Club, (ESCC), I have been a member ever since.
In 2000 I plucked up courage and bought myself the parts to build a good computer, a Pentium with 64M of memory and a colour monitor. To go with it I plunged out on Windows ME. One thing that influenced me was the Windows Media Player application, another was the USB sockets on the motherboard. A big influence was the Internet, I started with dial-up and just went on from there; now I don't know what I would do without it.
Computers have just got cheaper and cheaper and I ended up with a network of three systems and a laptop all with XP. Last year I replaced one system with a Vista machine just to keep up to date and last month I installed Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 on the spare system for the same reason. I find that each version of Windows has some improvement on the previous one but the transition is not smooth and the whole thing is hardly worth the trouble.
A couple of months ago I bought a netbook, an Acer Aspire One with XP, 1GB Ram, 160 GB HDD, built in wireless networking, WebCam, etc. for just over $500; I couldn't resist. It is very easy to move around and is just what I need to use for Skype video contacts.
Over the years I have been hearing about the Linux operating system and it seemed that the Ubuntu version was worth a look. The first version I tried was 7.04 and now I have 9.04 but I have not installed them but run them directly from a CD. The versions are improving each time and I find it easy to step up from one to the next. This got me to the stage of seriously considering changing over from Windows.
But last month I was browsing the computer section of my local bookshop when I came across a copy of "Google Apps for Dummies"; I had heard of this a lot recently and knew it dealt with much the same problems I was having with Windows. Anyway now I am completely convinced that this is the way to go. You can store all you data and programs on the net and access them any where you have a computer with an internet connection.
Now I am beginning to see a light on the hill through the cloud!
Jim Jacobs, June '09
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