Old computers did it better!

[Garth Wilson]

Surface-mount brought a lot of improvements. Breadboardability and ease of modification and probing and, in the cases of any failure, repair, are unfortunately not among them.

Things I miss about the computers of yesteryear:

• the ability to type ahead. GUIs don't usually allow this. You can't start typing into something that's not fully loaded yet. Worse, sometimes things on the screen in a modern GUI jump just as you click on something, making your click be misunderstood to be on something other than what you wanted.
• the ability to turn it on and immediately start programming. Actually, the first automated test equipment (ATE) setup I did for use in production was powered by an HP-41cx which was much easier to program than PCs at the time. (Much more portable too, making it easy to take between the workbench, desk, and home.)
• Software was more efficient (mostly because it had to be, with more-limited resources), and, I believe, generally more bug-free. The most complex PC board I ever laid out had about 500 parts and 12 layers. I did it in 1994 on a 16MHz '286 with 1MB of RAM, and I did not run out of RAM or need any disc-swapping. The CAD package did initially have a lot of bugs, but I and one other intensive user kept reporting and describing them to the manufacturer who was responsive in fixing them.
• real manuals, and the fact that the owner stood a much better chance of understanding the computer and of being able to fully control his own computer!
• ability to make up your own cables, troubleshoot interface problems with an oscilloscope, etc.

I'm sure I'll think of more as soon as I click "Post Reply." Much of the above could be preserved with simplish computers using newer technology like faster, denser memory and SD Card for file storage. Virii used to be a problem with modern computers, particularly Windows (not Linux), but it seems like that has been remedied to a large extent.

Does the mere fact that something can be done mean it should be done? Moving on from a GUI on a 1MHz 8-bit computer (GEOS on C64), take hi-res video for example. When I go to Fry's, immediately as I enter, I'm greeted by a big-screen hi-def TV showing performers on stage, and you can even see their nose hair, which I'd rather not see. Some people may have a legitimate use for downloading a feature-length movie in a few minutes max. I and my family don't. Our DSL is 3Mbps download, fast enough for all of us to be watching YouTube videos at the same time. Gas pumps and ATMs have large color monitors now so they can advertise to you; but I wish they'd go back to just a basic monochrome text display that can be easily read when the sun is shining on it, and no sound other than beeps. BTW, I absolutely loathe touch screens—the grime, the parallax, the lack of precision—and the ones at our bank's ATMs sometimes do not want to respond to my fingers anyway.