Re: The Science Generations

[Dale Thorn <dthorn@gte.net>]

Timothy C. May wrote:
> At 1:12 AM -0800 12/6/96, Dale Thorn wrote:
> >Timothy C. May wrote:
> >> * Generation 3: The computer generation. The 1970s-80s, who grew up with
> >> Commodore PETs and Apple IIs (and some later machines). These are the "new
> >> pioneers"  of the 1980s-90s, the Marc Andreesens and the like.

[snip my text]

> My points were about the _children_ and what they were using when they grew up.
> (In fact, note my use of the phrase "who grew up with Commodore PETs and
> Apple IIs...")
> Indeed, in the 1970s I was using H-P 9825s and DEC PDP 11/34s, but the
> teenagers of that decade were, if they were fortunate and energetic, using
> PETs, Apple IIs, and the like.

I hope you find this interesting (or amusing):

When I worked at Olympic Sales in El Segundo (2/81 thru 3/83), Saturday
was the big shopping day for electronics goodies, and the Hughes, Northrop
etc. guys would pile in with their kids and have a good time pestering
the OS salespeople.

I made a lot of observations and notes, and one of the truly fascinating
was how, when parents would bring the kids in, the kids would be faced
with Commodores, Ataris, TIs, Apples, and HPs, all on and running [but
the non-HPs would almost always be running some video software (games
usually) and the HPs would have a text screen up], and the kids would
most often make a beeline for the HP-87s and HP-85s.  Particularly the
younger kids, say, 8 to 12 years old.

The argument at the time (as I recall) was that the parents were right
to steer the kids over to the Apples and Ataris, since they didn't cost
an arm and a leg. It it had been my dad, though, he would have forgone
the Apple until he could get the HP, which is a big part of the reason
I'm able to do what I do today.  More power to dads like mine (in spite
of failings here and there)!