So, when can I replace my textbooks?
In planning my upcoming lessons, I decided to look through my textbooks some more. Here are a few lovely quotes from a chapter of the drafting book entitled "The CADD Workstation."
"A typical microcomputer has a cycle rating of 25 to 66 MHZ."
Keep in mind that you're probably reading this on a computer running at at least 2 GHz or so. That's 2000 MHz or more. And CAD requires a better computer than average to run well. Those of you who are my age may never have owned a computer that slow, if you didn't have computers at home from an early age.
"Most CADD programs depend on large amounts of memory for storage of a large number of instructions from the CADD software. In addition, a very large drawing might require a considerable amount of memory. Most CADD programs require a minimum of 4 MB of RAM to maintain effective productivity."
4 MB. 4 MB. Can I cry now? The Tandy I grew up with, which is the very first computer I can remember (note to my mother: Yes, I know I used the Color Computer before that. But I don't really remember it) had more than that. I wouldn't really consider a computer with less than 512 MB for even general internet/word processing/email/playing solitaire usage. That's what my little laptop has, and Pro Desktop doesn't run all that well on it.
The "Disk Storage Devices" section is pretty entertaining as well.
"Diskettes are circular pieces of film coated with magnetic particles, and enclosed in a cardboard or plastic jacket. They are available in 3.5", 5.25", and 8" sizes. Diskettes measuring 5.25" and 8" are generally referred to as "floppy disks," whle the 3.5" version is called a microdisk."
8" floppies date back to the 1970s. I've never even seen one, except in pictures. They're certainly not particularly available. I haven't even seen a 5.25" floppy in a store in years, although at least I used to use those.
"Hard drives can store from 40 MB to over 1 GB of data."
And modern hard drives can store 500 GB of data.
The mouse shown in "Cursor Control Devices" is a two button mouse, naturally. And the description states that mice may have more than one button.
Wow... I really hope I get to replace textbooks soon...
"A typical microcomputer has a cycle rating of 25 to 66 MHZ."
Keep in mind that you're probably reading this on a computer running at at least 2 GHz or so. That's 2000 MHz or more. And CAD requires a better computer than average to run well. Those of you who are my age may never have owned a computer that slow, if you didn't have computers at home from an early age.
"Most CADD programs depend on large amounts of memory for storage of a large number of instructions from the CADD software. In addition, a very large drawing might require a considerable amount of memory. Most CADD programs require a minimum of 4 MB of RAM to maintain effective productivity."
4 MB. 4 MB. Can I cry now? The Tandy I grew up with, which is the very first computer I can remember (note to my mother: Yes, I know I used the Color Computer before that. But I don't really remember it) had more than that. I wouldn't really consider a computer with less than 512 MB for even general internet/word processing/email/playing solitaire usage. That's what my little laptop has, and Pro Desktop doesn't run all that well on it.
The "Disk Storage Devices" section is pretty entertaining as well.
"Diskettes are circular pieces of film coated with magnetic particles, and enclosed in a cardboard or plastic jacket. They are available in 3.5", 5.25", and 8" sizes. Diskettes measuring 5.25" and 8" are generally referred to as "floppy disks," whle the 3.5" version is called a microdisk."
8" floppies date back to the 1970s. I've never even seen one, except in pictures. They're certainly not particularly available. I haven't even seen a 5.25" floppy in a store in years, although at least I used to use those.
"Hard drives can store from 40 MB to over 1 GB of data."
And modern hard drives can store 500 GB of data.
The mouse shown in "Cursor Control Devices" is a two button mouse, naturally. And the description states that mice may have more than one button.
Wow... I really hope I get to replace textbooks soon...