Aaaarrrghh! (computer issues)

kazky wrote: Val I used to take puters apart & rebuild them, now I feel like i’m computer illiterate! I don’t know what’s happened

Yep, my ancient machine was a broken hand-me-down that I repaired myself at minimal cost. There was always a strange satisfaction and pride that came with doing it youreslf. And I don't think age is the only issue now. With the exception of the Raspberry Pi, devices these days are generally much less configurable, partly due to the obsession with thinness that seems to have removed the clunky modular structure that computers used to have. And they'd much rather have you buy a new model than tinkering with the stuff you've already got.

Maybe it's only the fact that we were around before the internet that makes us old?

When we had "computer classes" in school they were all black screen MSDos type of things. I didn't get them at all. But when I did my thesis at uni there it was. Internet! And UI's that were easy to comprehend etc. I never learned how to build computers but I did learn how to code some stuff and to find/change/fix things - and then they started making them more "user friendly" hiding all the tricky stuff to make it much trickier, and only showing users the pretty new UI's. That's when I started to feel old

EDIT: and no I still haven't managed to get my monitor back. And I miss my games. I realised I could get my Tribez onto my cellphone without losing progress, but then I really don't like playing on the phone, so there it sits, now...

I remember only having two computer lessons at school and only one of them involved an actual computer, it was one of those BBC Micro Models that had massive keys. Or maybe they just seemed massive because I was small.

The first lesson involved learning to draw a "flow chart" using those little plastic templates then the second lesson (with the computer!) was about "programming" a crane to load containers on a ship. Or more accurately, considering the graphics of the time, making a tall block move small blocks onto a wide block.
Didn't see another computer after that for about three years. Yes, we were at the cutting edge of technology back then.

Our programming consisted of something like the following:

*************************
MERRY CHRISTMAS
*************************

And if we got even one asterisk wrong we had to start over because we hadn't learned about the backspace button. (I think I had a vague idea that such a button existed but I didn't know which one it was... and I was terrified of pressing the wrong buttons, I really thought the whole thing would crash or blow up or something, if I did...)

They didn't offer anything computer related back when I was in school, that I can recall? Only typing class, but I didn't take that since I wasn't involved with either at the time. I didn't get into computers until 1990/1991, but have been using them predominantly since, with it being sometimes around 95% of my regular duties. ... I believe the only art-related programs back then were Harvard Graphics and possibly Paint? ... I actually used Harvard Graphics in 1992/93? to put together a United Way Poster requested of me by my office, that actually came in second place in the Country. ... Lost out to a little 6 or 7 year old, who did a finger painting!

I also did a lot of IT work for my entire department for many years, until the IT folks decided to shut everything down and made their department sole administrators over everything. (apparently someone shared admin passwords with some other folks (to make it easier on them I guess?) and after some major screw-ups, they decided to keep everything within their office and we no longer can do pretty much anything.) Makes more work on them, but they feel it's safer.

I must be so old, we had no computer lessons at all, they weren’t even really known about by the common folk in the late 60’s/70’s

Well, I was born in 1965, so the only thing I can recall in that time-frame resembling a computer, was an Etch-A-Sketch.

Yeah i’m 1963 and etch a sketch was the newest new tangled puter

was that those toys were you drew something with a "stick" rather than pen, and then could wipe the whole thing and draw again? We had those too.... when I was very little

Shush you
it wasn’t a stick it was a screen filled with sand I think & you turned 2 dials to make horizontal & vertical lines and occasional random directional wiggly lines