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Larry
Krieg
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Larry Krieg's take onComputers and the Internet
Getting Started I first started using computers back in 1967, when I was at the College of Wooster. Wooster has this crazy idea that every undergraduate should do some kind of major research ("Independent Study") in their senior year, and a couple of warm-up projects in their junior year. One of my junior I.S. research projects was a study of "phonetic symbolism" - do sounds, apart from words, have meaning to people - and if so, does it make a difference what their native language is? I had a bunch of American and overseas students take a 30-minute test in the language lab, where they reacted to sounds and filled in a lengthy multiple-choice form. That was the fun part. Then I realized I'd have to analyze the results. I sat down with the 1967 version of a calculator and worked for several hours. Then I paused and calculated how long it would take to finish the project using this method: several years. So I took a computer class, which in those days meant a programming class in Fortran II. We used a small IBM mainframe - I believe it was an IBM 1604. After our orientation, we would sign up for time on it, either to punch cards or to actually run them. It could only handle one concurrent task. To start the machine, you loaded a deck of cards about two feet high - the operating system - and typed a machine-language code (16 base-ten digits) on the typewriter. (This typewriter had actual typebars, like a manual typewriter, and when the computer got really excited they would jam up.) When the operating system had been read in, you loaded another two-foot deck of cards: the Fortran II compiler. When that had been digested, you could load the two-inch stack representing your program and its data. This may sound like a hassle, but I loved it! The computer was in the basement of Galpin Hall, the administration building, and was used during the day. So we students had to sign up mainly after 5 PM and on weekends. I remember going through the spooky, echoing semi-darkness of the deserted admin building and letting myself in with a special key to the sanctuary of the computer room, with its bright light and smell of machinery and punched cards. It even left a smell on us when we came out, and my girlfriend (now wife) Martha could always tell when I had been there. At first, I was incredibly confused by it all. The idea of how to write a program eluded me for the longest time. The book (I still have it in my office!) was confusing. The programs were largely math-based, and math had always been an arcane form of necromancy to me. But one day, after beating my head repeatedly against one particular program, the idea penetrated, the lightbulb went on, and programming became a fascinating game for me. I've enjoyed it ever since, though the frustration with a program that doesn't work right is still intense.
Computers NowNow computers are my living and my primary hobby. I'm reminded of my neighbor, who works for GM a long drive away from here, and as soon as he gets home he puts on his old clothes, goes to his garage, and starts messing around with one of this several cars. I teach people how to use computers at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, and I own five computers at home. Before you gasp at that number, I should add that only two of them work: the 486SX-33 that I'm using now, and the 286 a couple of yards away that my son Ian uses occasionally for BASIC programming. The other three are in various states of disrepair, too expensive to fix and too old to be worth it. The best way to find out about my professional computer life is to visit my Instructional Web Site at the College. Check out... |
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