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Your mentor must have worked with Bill Gates. He was the one that wrote
the BASIC code for the Altair. I actually remember the Altair. You
bought the kit at Radio Shack, and had to put it together yourself.
We've come a long way since then, heh?
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+kperkins=stinsonmoheck -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+kperkins=stinsonmoheck -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
On Behalf Of Al Geist
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 3:40 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: New Poll Question
Joe Malin wrote:
>I was a professional programmer before the first microcomputer came
>out. I wrote Basic for the IMSAI 8080; my brother sold them.
>
>
I started on computers in the Navy (I joined to avoid the draft). In
the beginning we entered the program using two 16-switch banks and an
enter button. Then we got an octal tape reader...about as close to
heaven as you could get in those days.
I started writing in '76 on an old IBM Selectric. Our output was on an
IBM Composer and then we got a Comp Jr. I was writing HW and SW manuals
using VI on a PDP-11/70 and a WANG WP when the first PCs came out (IBM
and MACs). Our graphics were done by a highly creative draftsperson or
with an 8x10 view camera. The guy who was my mentor wrote the manual
for the Altair system (including the BASIC programming guide). As much
as I dislike XP, I'll never, ever go back to MS-DOS 2.11.
I've been writing ever since although not always as a TW.
--
Al Geist, Geist Associates
Technical Writing, Online Help, Marketing Collateral, Web Design, Award
Winning Videos, Professional Photography
Office: 802-658-3140
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