I miss the dungeon
When I was in college, email was still relatively new to the mainstream. Writing term papers still happened on Brother "word processing machines," those huge typewriter variants that had built-in 3-line LCD screens on which to review your work. I never owned one, since I knew they'd be obsolete soon (if they weren't already).
I had a computer I'd bought specifically for college, and it was awesome. However, getting internet access in my dorm room was pretty effing frustrating. We had to dial in to a modem pool, and hope there was a line still open. Of course, it was only a telnet dialup connection, so there was no graphical web. Until, of course, we figured out that you could run telnet to dial up, make the connection, run a script on the server to start a PPP tunnel, force-quit the telnet app (yes, this was an actual step in the process), and start up a proprietary PPP control panel to complete the "tunnel," and then fire up Netscape or Mosaic. Yep. Mosaic. And I think they were also putting 1/2-hour limits on connection times, so all this had to be repeated often.
Before the PPP solution came about, I had to trudge my way up to Snygg Hall to visit "the dungeon." There was a big basement computer lab in Snygg, which was completely unlit except for the glow of the screens shining on the coffee-saturated students. The PCs were always filled, but you could pretty much always get a seat at one of the old and decrepit Mac Classic II's, or Sun SparcStations. I don't know why, but that dungeon always held a lot of appeal for me. The other labs on campus were just too well-organized and well-lit.
I was just reminded of all this while I was walking the dog, checking my email and posting to facebook from my iPhone. I don't miss the old days...but I do.
I'm very, very curious about what obstacles today's college students have to overcome. I don't want to be that grumpy old man who says "in my day, things were harder than you'll ever know." They probably weren't. But it's hard to imagine.
I had a computer I'd bought specifically for college, and it was awesome. However, getting internet access in my dorm room was pretty effing frustrating. We had to dial in to a modem pool, and hope there was a line still open. Of course, it was only a telnet dialup connection, so there was no graphical web. Until, of course, we figured out that you could run telnet to dial up, make the connection, run a script on the server to start a PPP tunnel, force-quit the telnet app (yes, this was an actual step in the process), and start up a proprietary PPP control panel to complete the "tunnel," and then fire up Netscape or Mosaic. Yep. Mosaic. And I think they were also putting 1/2-hour limits on connection times, so all this had to be repeated often.
Before the PPP solution came about, I had to trudge my way up to Snygg Hall to visit "the dungeon." There was a big basement computer lab in Snygg, which was completely unlit except for the glow of the screens shining on the coffee-saturated students. The PCs were always filled, but you could pretty much always get a seat at one of the old and decrepit Mac Classic II's, or Sun SparcStations. I don't know why, but that dungeon always held a lot of appeal for me. The other labs on campus were just too well-organized and well-lit.
I was just reminded of all this while I was walking the dog, checking my email and posting to facebook from my iPhone. I don't miss the old days...but I do.
I'm very, very curious about what obstacles today's college students have to overcome. I don't want to be that grumpy old man who says "in my day, things were harder than you'll ever know." They probably weren't. But it's hard to imagine.