It was really good for its time--I looked up its specs recently, and it was downright sophisticated. It had SMS, and *13* ringtones!
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Fond memories
- Thread starter MoodyBlues
- Start date
Your memory matches mine. (I'm not sure if that's good or bad.
)What I'd give for one of my uncle's 1960s-era pagers. How did those things work, anyway?
Wow that's when phones also started getting much smaller till we got the flips if my memory serves me. Think you may have caught Voicestream on their final year or close to it.
I also remember having these in the 90s. Sheesh, we come a long way...
I didn't use Voicestream too much, maybe 2 or 3 calls to mum and dad during the week, because international roaming was quite expensive at that time. I also remember seeing Cingular in NYC. Never had a pager myself though.
@mikedt Me to on the pager thing. As far as I was concerned they were for doctors only.
That Sony-Ericsson phone worked great as a modem with a PocketPC. Provided you didn't mind looking like Doc Oc from Spiderman with the belt case for your PocketPC, coiled over the ear headphone wire plugged into that, and the the modem cable plugged into the phone in your shirt pocket. Those phones were seriously small!
That Sony-Ericsson phone worked great as a modem with a PocketPC. Provided you didn't mind looking like Doc Oc from Spiderman with the belt case for your PocketPC, coiled over the ear headphone wire plugged into that, and the the modem cable plugged into the phone in your shirt pocket. Those phones were seriously small!
GameTheory
Android Expert
I actually had to look this up. Didn't know pagers went that far back. It turns out they were invented in the 60s. They seem to have used walkie talkie and car radio tech for communication.
I remember when cell phones weren't affordable, pagers were the main means of communication until about the mid 90s. Everyone was attached to their pagers like we are today with our mobiles.
Milo Willamson
Android Expert
Same here, I still listen to Pink and Sabbath to this day, I am at that age of where I listen to mostly a ton of great stuff of that classic rock generation, and still eat my pizza too. Ah fangled popluar t.v. shows.. I like to stick with a few and watch them eevery so often, like to savor them instead of rush through the dvds.That's an interesting observation, and I think you always have more affinity for your own youth, and what happened then. I don't have a clue what's going on with modern pop culture. I don't even have much awareness of who today's 'famous' people are. What are the current music trends? I don't know. I'm not into Ed Sheerin (couldn't sing you one of his songs), or any other popular bands of today. I'm still listening to Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath.
But I would think that young people are more interested in current stuff, and will tend to remember these celebrities as they get older. This also applies to popular TV shows of the day.
It seemed almost magical to me at the time.
I think he called it his beeper.
I hadn't thought about that in ages. In my head, we jumped from landlines to smartphones! Not really, but hopefully you get it.
GameTheory
Android Expert
Oh yeah, the advancements in comms and computing then were magical.It seemed almost magical to me at the time.
What impressed me was how reliable pagers were on such old tech. They never missed a page and was probably why they became the standard for doctors.
Yeah they called them both beeper or pager though they were different. My memory is fuzzy on them, but I think the beeper didn't receive text messages like the pager. I remember mine just beeping and showing me the number to call.I think he called it his beeper.
It does feel that way. Pagers/beepers were like stop-gap forgettable devices that became an annoyance when people started sending you 911 for just about everything.I hadn't thought about that in ages. In my head, we jumped from landlines to smartphones! Not really, but hopefully you get it.
Thinking back on it now, @GameTheory, I really don't know if my uncle's pager did anything but beep.
There was no need to show who was calling--it was the hospital where he was on staff, nor any message--it was an emergency, else they wouldn't have called. As I said before, I'd love to get my hands on one now!
There was no need to show who was calling--it was the hospital where he was on staff, nor any message--it was an emergency, else they wouldn't have called. As I said before, I'd love to get my hands on one now!
GameTheory
Android Expert
The Tandy 1000 was my pc in the 80s, though my memories of it weren't fond. I wasn't into PCs that much then. I really got into them in the late 90s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandy_1000 (Cat not included
)
Around 2005 I had a hp laptop. Was at my computer geek friend's home and I was complaining about windows. He grabs a CD that says "Knoppix" and hands it to me. He said it's linux and that I should install it when I got home. He said I would love it...
Sure frickin did!!! The cube desktop effect made my jaw drop! Been using linux ever since. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandy_1000 (Cat not included
)Around 2005 I had a hp laptop. Was at my computer geek friend's home and I was complaining about windows.
He grabs a CD that says "Knoppix" and hands it to me. He said it's linux and that I should install it when I got home. He said I would love it...Sure frickin did!!! The cube desktop effect made my jaw drop!
Been using linux ever since.
Been using linux ever since.
It's amazing that things we've been able to do on *nix, for DECADES, still can't be done on window$.
My helper has been straightening up the garage. I need to remember to ask her to look for a 3.5" diskette, dated 1991, with Linux v0.1 (*if* memory serves) on it. I'll definitely post a pic if it turns up.
My path was:
Commodore VIC-20 -> Commodore 64 -> Tandy Xenix -> SCO Xenix -> Coherent (a UNIX clone) -> Linux
At various points I had the great displeasure of using DOS and window$. Ugh! I'd be baffled by something and ask how it's done, and was told "you can't." WTF? What do you mean there's only one desktop? I can't schedule jobs? I can't run more than one program at a time? I can't drop out to a shell while editing a program to test it? WHAT?!
GameTheory
Android Expert
I'm intrigued...
Is it a linux OS on it, or just the linux kernel?
If it's the OS, were you able to actually run that live from a diskette?
v0.1
As per my previous post, not gonna lie... Hardware compatibility was a little rough on linux till about 2010 mostly with wifi and graphics. I've said it before and will say it again, for me linux really hit it's stride in 2012. That's when it truly became rock solid on all fronts.
Honestly...I don't remember. But that was 28 years ago...I'm doing great, now, if I remember what day it is.
I don't know. I just don't remember. I don't think it could be run live like we can now, pretty sure I had to install it. I may let my friend Google refresh my memory. I can't believe that I don't remember, but I just don't.If it's the OS, were you able to actually run that live from a diskette?
v0.1
For me, there was no choice, because I could not tolerate window$. Its lack of built-in tools, its constant BSODs/rebooting/reinstalling, its slowness, its ugly and non-customizable UI, its lack of security, its lack of features...you get the idea!
So I dealt with buying computers with 'winmodems' in them, paying the 'window$ tax,' manually installing and configuring WiFi drivers, etc.
I kept running into the dreaded Broadcom/BCM43XX/ndiswrapper thing which, frankly, sent many wannabe Linux users running back to window$. Some of them wrongly blamed Linux, when in fact it was computer manufacturers threatened to be cut off by Micro$oft if they didn't use win-only hardware. It was the Linux community who came together to provide solutions for every M$-generated problem.
I keep almost everything, so I still have all the files referenced above, for the Broadcom issue, and I think I also have step-by-step instructions I wrote, which I would give people who needed help.
It's definitely come a long way since its days of mandatory command-line tinkering, but Linux is still leaps and bounds ahead of window$.
GameTheory
Android Expert
Oh no worries, I'm just being lazy. I can google it later.Honestly...I don't remember. But that was 28 years ago...I'm doing great, now, if I remember what day it is.
I don't know. I just don't remember. I don't think it could be run live like we can now, pretty sure I had to install it. I may let my friend Google refresh my memory. I can't believe that I don't remember, but I just don't.
For me, there was no choice, because I could not tolerate window$. Its lack of built-in tools, its constant BSODs/rebooting/reinstalling, its slowness, its ugly and non-customizable UI, its lack of security, its lack of features...you get the idea!
So I dealt with buying computers with 'winmodems' in them, paying the 'window$ tax,' manually installing and configuring WiFi drivers, etc.
I kept running into the dreaded Broadcom/BCM43XX/ndiswrapper thing which, frankly, sent many wannabe Linux users running back to window$. Some of them wrongly blamed Linux, when in fact it was computer manufacturers threatened to be cut off by Micro$oft if they didn't use win-only hardware. It was the Linux community who came together to provide solutions for every M$-generated problem.
I keep almost everything, so I still have all the files referenced above, for the Broadcom issue, and I think I also have step-by-step instructions I wrote, which I would give people who needed help.
It's definitely come a long way since its days of mandatory command-line tinkering, but Linux is still leaps and bounds ahead of window$.
Your memory is not so bad. Seems on par with mine which a consider decent. I call it selective memory.
I only remember the important stuff and whats made an impact in my life.I see you know your stuff. Them broadcom/bcm were sometimes a nightmare. There was also the occasional graphics that needed fixing from a live CD.
M$ was as dirty as they come. Glad US hit them with an antitrust.
Well I'll let this get back on topic. I had a good dose of nostalgia for one day.
Yeah, it could be challenging, even for those of us who cut our teeth at the UNIX command line. But worth it! So gratifying once you saw the WiFi light light up.
I couldn't resist, so I looked for the Broadcom files I mentioned; they're in two subdirectories. Note the date-named directory they're in:
2007...ah, the good old days, when getting Linux to work actually TOOK some work.
I still have my pager from way back when. It's a Motorola PageMart. It did not display messages just the number to return a call. I started my computing on an Atari 400. It had no ram and no memory. You could, and I did, add a tape drive that would save a program that you had written. Basica was the language.
My first real PC was a 386 20mhtz machine running Dos 3,11A . It had a whopping 2 megs of ram which I doubled which maxed it out and a 100 meg hard drive. It came with a 1200 baud modem which opened a new world to me. It wasn't long before I was a sysop at my local college's BBS and was a moderator on a few ILink echoed mail news groups. The college had access to the NET.... having an EDU address. I feel very privileged to have roamed the net back in the eighties.
Another fond memory was trading music on the net. Back before there were MP3 files we traded wave files. An entire song was always cut into thirds and being a wave file they were mono. Anything larger than a third of a song was way too large to safely transfer. I ran across a guy that was making MP3 files.
There was only one player for the file. They were STEREO.. viola! I had to learn how to make them and play them. JT was the guys handle and he taught me how to make a MP3 . They were 16 bit files and took about a half hour to turn a single song into a MP3 but it was stereo and sounded great for a file over the net. I did not father the tech but I was on the ground floor of the technology. Very lucky I was that guy at that right time.
Very fond of those memories. The PC and the world it opened.
My first real PC was a 386 20mhtz machine running Dos 3,11A . It had a whopping 2 megs of ram which I doubled which maxed it out and a 100 meg hard drive. It came with a 1200 baud modem which opened a new world to me. It wasn't long before I was a sysop at my local college's BBS and was a moderator on a few ILink echoed mail news groups. The college had access to the NET.... having an EDU address. I feel very privileged to have roamed the net back in the eighties.
Another fond memory was trading music on the net. Back before there were MP3 files we traded wave files. An entire song was always cut into thirds and being a wave file they were mono. Anything larger than a third of a song was way too large to safely transfer. I ran across a guy that was making MP3 files.
There was only one player for the file. They were STEREO.. viola! I had to learn how to make them and play them. JT was the guys handle and he taught me how to make a MP3 . They were 16 bit files and took about a half hour to turn a single song into a MP3 but it was stereo and sounded great for a file over the net. I did not father the tech but I was on the ground floor of the technology. Very lucky I was that guy at that right time.
Very fond of those memories. The PC and the world it opened.
My path was:
Commodore VIC-20 -> Commodore 64 -> Tandy Xenix -> SCO Xenix -> Coherent (a UNIX clone) -> Linux
At various points I had the great displeasure of using DOS and window$. Ugh! I'd be baffled by something and ask how it's done, and was told "you can't." WTF? What do you mean there's only one desktop? I can't schedule jobs? I can't run more than one program at a time? I can't drop out to a shell while editing a program to test it? WHAT?!
"Tandy"...as in Radio Shack? They did a Xenix system? Tandy was what Radio Shack called their stores in the UK, until they all closed in about 1999.
A friend of mine had some Tandy "PC" once, the thing wasn't even IBM PC compatible, even though it was supposed to be.
Yep, Tandy as in Radio Shack.
It was a Tandy 6000 with a Motorola 68000 chip, running Tandy Xenix.
That was most likely a TRS-80. I don't recall any personal experience with those.
Just FYI, Radio Shack shut down all its US stores in the recent past. Although I rarely shopped in them, they were my quick, go-to stop for adapters and obscure batteries. I really hate seeing the demise of so many long-time brick and mortar stores.
Yep, Tandy as in Radio Shack.
It was a Tandy 6000 with a Motorola 68000 chip, running Tandy Xenix.
That was most likely a TRS-80. I don't recall any personal experience with those.
Just FYI, Radio Shack shut down all its US stores in the recent past. Although I rarely shopped in them, they were my quick, go-to stop for adapters and obscure batteries. I really hate seeing the demise of so many long-time brick and mortar stores.
Some Radio Shacks survived the great fall. My local shack is still in business. It is the go to spot for ham gear and repairs and enjoys a very large patron base for that reason.
Then I was misinformed!
I'm going to have to investigate this a bit. I know for sure that the RS ≈1 mile from my house--where I'd been going since moving back here--closed. It was super convenient, and its employees could always point me to exactly where my needed part was. Now I wonder if any other locations stayed open.
Yep, Tandy as in Radio Shack.
It was a Tandy 6000 with a Motorola 68000 chip, running Tandy Xenix.
That was most likely a TRS-80. I don't recall any personal experience with those.
Just FYI, Radio Shack shut down all its US stores in the recent past. Although I rarely shopped in them, they were my quick, go-to stop for adapters and obscure batteries. I really hate seeing the demise of so many long-time brick and mortar stores.
It might have been branded as "TRS-80" I can't remember, I think Tandy used that marque all for their computers in the 80s, even their pocket ones made by Sharp and Casio, long after the original TRS-80 with a Z80 CPU was discontinued. I used to have a TRS-80 Model 100 portable, but it was actually a Kyocera with 8085 CPU.
This was in 1990, I know they were selling it as a PC with DOS, and something called Deskmate. But it wouldn't run any of the PC ham radio software my friend wanted to use. In the end he returned it for a refund, and I built him a PC instead, that would run all PC software.
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Impressive collection!Tiny tech
I broke the rest.