tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post5655815488738889821..comments2024-03-28T08:06:43.198-04:00Comments on The Silicon Graybeard: Buggy Whip Makers Sue To Stop Horseless Carriage SellersSiGraybeardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-10720447862014633452017-12-07T22:40:11.568-05:002017-12-07T22:40:11.568-05:00Most of the people my age (I'll admit to being...Most of the people my age (I'll admit to being over 65)don't like to read on the computer. I love it. I have carpal tunnel and reading on the computer pretty much lets me read as long as I want without the pain of holding a book in front of me. Carrying my phone around and reading from it is better than carrying around a book and a spare.<br />Regards Quizikle's 1952 calculator, make that a warehouse sized calculator and it would be the right size for 1952. My current phone has 64GB of memory. My first store bought computer had 1MB of ram and 40 megabytes of hard drive. My phone has 1600 times the memory of my computer. Back in the 1960's IBM had this wonderful product called the IBM 360, a computer. The amazing thing at the time was that it had 360 kilobytes of memory. Do any of our modern electronics use vacuum tubes? Not that I know of. I talked to a guy recently who has to buy tubes for his classic radios from a specialty manufacturer. I used to test Cathode Ray tubes for a company who was building some of the first computer photo type setters. They used the CRT to etch the lead to make the print. They also used actual core memory. Big boards with wires strung through toroids called "cores" that would hold a magnetic charge if you ran juice through one set of wires and could be read by another set of wires to give you your on off digital signal. That's where the term "core memory" came from. Oh wait, does anyone still use that term?KK6LOPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07431701030188343194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-56294015341074162542012-05-14T16:34:21.171-04:002012-05-14T16:34:21.171-04:00Well, I can still buy a slide rule (http://www.ope...Well, I can still buy a slide rule (http://www.opentip.com/Custom-Orders/Slide-Rule-p-2685385.html), buggy whip (http://www.amazon.com/Abetta-Buggy-Whip-Black-66/dp/B002HIX7P8), manual typewriter (http://www.timeclockzone.com/scrittore.html), and paper books galore - so it appears to be more an issue of lost "market share" - now you know we can't allow that competition stuff.<br /><br />I suspect that 1952 calculator the size of a pickup load probably didn't have the umph of a junior high schooler's $9 Wal-Mart calculator (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sharp-Scientific-Calculator-EL-501XBGR/16671278)<br /><br />QQuiziklenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-64704439366594946222012-05-14T02:15:05.704-04:002012-05-14T02:15:05.704-04:00I agree."Establishing a floor" was meant...I agree."Establishing a floor" was meant as supporting an industry or market, as opposed to crushing it with a "ceiling" that allows no growth, just in case I wasn't being clear on that. <br /><br />"Level playing field" is simply another way of giving everyone a gold star, or a black beret, or redistributing the wealth until everyone has the same amount (which can never happen, except for perhaps a pico second, after which there wouldn't be an economy anymore).<br /><br />Of course, there never is, has been, or will be a "level playing field". There very people suggesting it are the ones who make certain they exist far above whatever "level" they are trying to sucker or force some of us into accepting.RegTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-52778880250670085032012-05-13T21:01:12.413-04:002012-05-13T21:01:12.413-04:00You said, These cretins just can't allow the m...You said, <i>These cretins just can't allow the market to work to establish a floor, instead of a ceiling.</i> I swear that one of the red flag warning phrases today is "level the playing field". That never means anything good for regular people. <br /><br />In this case, they think Amazon has an unfair advantage because they don't have to keep inventory (which is taxed) and they don't have the property taxes of brick and mortar stores. But the fix should be to not tax the brick and mortar stores, not to make Amazon pay more money!<br /><br />Same thing with the (worn out) "Warren Buffet pays less tax than his secretary" meme. It would help us all out if they cut the 35% income tax to match the 15% dividend tax, but they really just want to take away the lower rate for dividends (and destroy investment in industry). <br /><br />"Level the playing field" is the modern, long version of BOHICA.SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-76314438509326977992012-05-12T22:53:33.735-04:002012-05-12T22:53:33.735-04:00I read so much, I seldom buy a book - unless it is...I read so much, I seldom buy a book - unless it is so good I know I will want to re-read it numerous times, as well as loaning it out. Since Kindle and other formatted ebooks have become readable on my Mac laptop, I have bought a dozen or so. John Ringo, Michael Z. Williamson, Francis Porretto, Matt Bracken (OK, I already had his paper versions as well ;-) - the list goes on.<br /><br />These cretins just can't allow the market to work to establish a floor, instead of a ceiling.<br /><br />I remember when many of us carried slide rules in high school (dating myself here - I had my dad's old Keuffel and Esser). When Hewlett Packard came out with what I believe was the first commercially available electronic calculator, it sold for $350, IIRC. It sure didn't seem at that time that it was going to be a popular device, except perhaps with scientists and engineers.RegTnoreply@blogger.com