Post by sean1981 on Oct 21, 2012 13:31:21 GMT
Technical changes
I was just reading a story on my E reader when a call came in on the same tablet, indication that there was a telephone/video call waiting. It turned out to be a friend on another continent wanting a chat and this was so easy on the hand held device which does not even have wires attached.
That made me think of how things have changed in the last 40 years let alone the last 60 or 70. Back in 1970 I had to ring the operator ( zero back then) and request a call to the continent. This would take 15 or 20 minutes for the GPO to find a line and get back to me; the operator would then say, ' hold on UK caller, I will try your continental call.' If we were lucky we would get a clear line and chat briefly since the call could cost £8 or £10 for the three minutes when pips would be heard to warn you of the time and cost. Back then it was quite a cost out of the weekly wage.
Around the same time I found myself working in technical sales and needed to design engineered products quite a lot. Many of the formulae from my technical College days were needed (they did come into their own, though we did wonder when at college) and we had a slide rule and a pencil to do the job. One benefit of the slide rule was that you always kept the decimal point in mind and so never had a 'ten times out' result, something that happened later when calculators came out and operators just believed the answer.
Quite a few years went by using these simple tools and our brain of course, then someone came from Derek Hart in Keighley, with a 'calculator' (£100 plus it cost) which meant we were able to put away some of the log tables, slide rules etc and move into the modern world. Some of us still used a slide rule in one had while talking to customers and their needs with the other, that continued even to the present day.
One colleague had a digital watch that required you to press a button to see a bright red display!! Everyone though it was wonderful even if it took two hands to see the time, and there was a friendly bet placed to the effect that within 5 years we would see a calculator in the form of a watch and this would cost less than £10. The bet was won when Casio produced just that piece of equipment.
Computers were still a long way off back then, though we were ready for them when they came in their first, reliable form. BBC/Acorn Electronics had some good equipment and developed a basic programming language which we were able to use. I think we leave it to the professionals these days.
John
I was just reading a story on my E reader when a call came in on the same tablet, indication that there was a telephone/video call waiting. It turned out to be a friend on another continent wanting a chat and this was so easy on the hand held device which does not even have wires attached.
That made me think of how things have changed in the last 40 years let alone the last 60 or 70. Back in 1970 I had to ring the operator ( zero back then) and request a call to the continent. This would take 15 or 20 minutes for the GPO to find a line and get back to me; the operator would then say, ' hold on UK caller, I will try your continental call.' If we were lucky we would get a clear line and chat briefly since the call could cost £8 or £10 for the three minutes when pips would be heard to warn you of the time and cost. Back then it was quite a cost out of the weekly wage.
Around the same time I found myself working in technical sales and needed to design engineered products quite a lot. Many of the formulae from my technical College days were needed (they did come into their own, though we did wonder when at college) and we had a slide rule and a pencil to do the job. One benefit of the slide rule was that you always kept the decimal point in mind and so never had a 'ten times out' result, something that happened later when calculators came out and operators just believed the answer.
Quite a few years went by using these simple tools and our brain of course, then someone came from Derek Hart in Keighley, with a 'calculator' (£100 plus it cost) which meant we were able to put away some of the log tables, slide rules etc and move into the modern world. Some of us still used a slide rule in one had while talking to customers and their needs with the other, that continued even to the present day.
One colleague had a digital watch that required you to press a button to see a bright red display!! Everyone though it was wonderful even if it took two hands to see the time, and there was a friendly bet placed to the effect that within 5 years we would see a calculator in the form of a watch and this would cost less than £10. The bet was won when Casio produced just that piece of equipment.
Computers were still a long way off back then, though we were ready for them when they came in their first, reliable form. BBC/Acorn Electronics had some good equipment and developed a basic programming language which we were able to use. I think we leave it to the professionals these days.
John
