On 15/04/2011 1:51 PM, Invisible wrote:
> On 15/04/2011 13:34, Stephen wrote:
>> On 15/04/2011 11:55 AM, Invisible wrote:
>>> Then again, back in the 1980s, how many home users had experience of
>>> computers?
>>
>> All of them or they wouldn't be users :-P
>>
>> Most people I knew who bought a home computer then had experience of
>> them from work.
>
> Really? Interesting... I'm not old enough to know, but I didn't think
> that was actually the case in the 80s.

 From my memory. The very first time I heard anyone outside of work 
talking "computer speak" was in 1996 when I overheard two women talking 
about a C:\ drive, in the street. Slatterns! ;-)

>
>> A question I was often asked was "Why do you want an computer and what
>> can you do with it?"
>
> Now *that* is a question worth asking!
>
> The possible answers include:
> - Play video games.

There weren't any then. Text games or wireline graphics.

> - Type letters without having to retype the entire thing if you make one
> tiny mistake.

Most people used pen and paper. Most people could not type and the ones 
that could probable learned how to at commercial lessons or typing classes.

> - Store large amounts of information without filling your filling
> cabinet. [Assuming you write the software to load and store this stuff
> and don't mind waiting 2 hours for it to load off cassette tape.]
>
I don't think that there was any need back then. Paper ruled!


You probably don't realise how much things have changed just in my 
lifetime.
Cars were for the rich, children could play in the street without fear 
of getting knocked down. But collecting number plates (I don't mean 
ripping them off cars) had just gone out of fashion but adults thought 
that it was a suitable hobby. Ballpoint pens were banned in schools, we 
used dip pens. (That changed when I went to high school). The first 
check book I got cost 1/2d per check for stamp duty. People used to go 
out to the airport to see planes taking off and landing for 
entertainment. Foreign holidays were unheard of for most people.
Now if Larry Hudson is about I'd like to hear how things have changed in 
his lifetime.

>>> Today, if you buy a new PC, you don't get a manual at all.
>>
>> Every laptop I have bought has come with either a CD/DVD manual or a
>> manual installed on the HDD.
>
> Really?

Yes, the ones I've bought. This one is number six. My first was bought 
around 1997.

>
>> You don't get a manual with a toaster or an electric kettle and that's
>> what home computers are now a days, white goods.
>
> Actually, usually you *do* get a manual with toasters and kettles, even
> though you don't need one! o_O
>

Yes, plug it in and clean with a damp cloth but not at the same time.

>> Outside of this group* I don't know anyone who uses a computer at home
>> for anything other than email, Skype, browsing the internet or
>> downloading books, films, music, or porn.
>
> What, you don't know any gamers? ;-)
>

Only you. My brother-in-law plays some sort of fantasy football game but 
that is a solo thing, I think. I don't play games myself I'm not any 
good at them.

>> * And we are special (I know because I went to a special school) ;-)
>
> Vehraaay thpesshul. :-P

You got the reference (I thought that the language may have changed).

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

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