On Nothing Much
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Teletype Machine Like the One I Used
Punched Card
Punched Tape
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Tweet Versus Haiku Some folks are surprised to hear that I have an information technology background because I no longer make a living in the field. When I first learned to program computers, there were no monitors, keyboards, mice, or other modern input devices. You entered information, both programs and data, into the computer using a teletype machine, punched cards, or punched paper tape. There were no hard drives, removable floppy discs, magnetic tape, optical discs, or solid state drives. Information storage was on punched cards or paper tape, and readable output was sent to a teletype printer. There were no graphical user interfaces, drop-down menus, icons, double clicking, or online help. Programs were written in BASIC (an acronym for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) and run one at a time in what was called "batch mode" on simple time-sharing systems. Computer rooms then were noisy because of the constant mechanical chattering of the teletype printers and punch machines, and a bit grimy because of the paper chads and dust all about. I've no doubt that young ones today, never exposed to the early glory days of computing, regard this as the time of geezer tech. We've come a long way since. Electronic data storage, multimedia interfaces, touch screens, wireless connectivity, voice recognition, integrated global positioning systems, internet browsing, email, instant messaging, text messaging, and pod casts. And that's just my cell phone. The newest IT fad is tweeting, which confounds me. Twitter is a web-based service that combines social networking (what we used to do at the water cooler before water came in bottles) and micro-blogging (what we used to do in journals and diaries when books were sold in stores). It allows people to send "tweets" - terse text messages limited to 140 characters. What folks say to one another in this short form escapes me. Although I heard on the radio the other day that someone has published a compilation of tweets, each of which provides a synopsis of one of the great books of English literature. I think that's funny because of the contrast between the lofty and the humble. And its the ultimate in Cliff Notes. Today's tweets are
a lot like yesterday's Haiku poetry. Both are concise distillations of
thought, and highly structured. Yet there is a major difference. I sense
that one is intended to be blithe and the other profound. But which is
which? It's like Shakespeare, I guess. Or as simple as BASIC. Anyway,
here's my tweet versus haiku. |
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Watergate Tweet 100 colonial brick
homes in North Old Town |
Watergate Haiku fishpond melts . .
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Brian
Lam On Nothing Much is a periodic feature of this website that considers life about us. I wish to thank those of you who are reading these postings and sending me notes of encouragement, gentle criticism, or otherwise. |
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