• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Most important landmarks in computing history

So, does anyone know of any technological advances or software breakthroughs originally achieved under influence or lack of sleep? Surely a lot of recent demos and probably games have been developed under such state, and I've read stories about development of computers in the 80'ties where the team worked night and day.
 
Heh, heh, heh. These days do seem quite staid when compared to the wild days of the BBS or free-nets. Possibly some inhibiting factor of big HD posterity.

But back to the thread.

Gates did back then what he continued to do ever since, like most others, including Jobs. Steal. Even Lotus was founded on code from a couple of canadian Northern Electric programmers who lost their 10 year suit only on a questionable technicality. He was still damaged by the loss of his Basic code (see his famous advertisement regarding it) and never recovered psychologically. Quick and Dirty Dos was a rip-off from CP/M and Gates jumped at IBMs sponsorship.

Big Blues entry into the personal computer market was the kicker. Kildall recognized the challenge but CP/M had a vast catalogue of applications and he saw himself a giant-killer. Gates was a small-time player with only MSDOS Basic and a traffic-control program IIRC.
DEC also entered the fray with it's Rainbow but quickly withdrew.

Jobs also saw the threat and retreated into zealously defending his GUI turf. Compaq jumped onto the IBM bandwagon by doing a safe legal clone. IBM had immense clout with the business community and played the game perfectly for the last time. Thier history since the has been mismanagement in the personal computer market. The PS/2 fiasco for example. MSDOS became a monster which eventually overwhelmed even Big Blue.

DR still had some entries including GEM but Apple managed to cripple that. MSDOSs' early enties into the GUI sweepstakes were pretty pitiful when compared to most existing platforms like the ST using GEM, Amiga, Coco's OS 9, not to mention Apple. The difference was the IBM clout with big business and government. Big Bucks.

When Jobs was forced out of Apple he developed what was the best computer, Unix-based OS, and GUI ever. The present Mac system is really just an upgraded Next-Step OS.

IBM and MSDOS joined forces to develop OS/2 but then split and even IBMs clout couldn't rescue it from the obviously inferior Windows behemeth which had become comfortable with millions of users. Like the popularity of a Big Mac hamburger despite it's questionable nutritional value or quality. Anyone who has ever used Caldera's DRDOS can recognize it's superiority to MSDOS.

MSDOS Windows may have standardized the personal computer but it is questionable whether that has been a positive thing. Many more promising developments have been savaged by it's ravishing power, as illustrated in the court investigations, but now buried by the pro-corporate Bush administration and put on the back shelf.

This is why so many of the cogs in the IT world have so enthusiasticly embraced Linux.

Lawrence
 
Last edited:
carlsson said:
So, does anyone know of any technological advances or software breakthroughs originally achieved under influence or lack of sleep? Surely a lot of recent demos and probably games have been developed under such state, and I've read stories about development of computers in the 80'ties where the team worked night and day.
Click to expand...

Have you seen the book Where Wizards Stay Up Late? It's all about the formation of the I-Net, and the people involved. An Amazon search should turn up a reasonably-priced copy (sorry, I borrowed the one I read from the local library).

--T
 
mbbrutman wrote:

> No more late night posting ;-)

Must confess - I've done a little bit of that. Most people
think I write like a drunken geezer - sometimes I wonder what
the h£!! I've written! ;-)

Sorry about the mixup. :-(

CP/M User.
 
carlsson wrote:

> So, does anyone know of any technological advances or
> software breakthroughs originally achieved under
> influence or lack of sleep?

Well I don't think anyone has researched this properly - but
the main reason I'm drawn to this site (apart from being a
long-time member) is all because of the Internet - for me it's
an addiction - I've been addicted to it since I first started
using it in 1996! It's all about the atmosphere - you come
here - have a chat - have a good time. Perhaps it's a soothing
way and a way to do stuff most of the day - and just forget
about all your other troubles?

> Surely a lot of recent demos and probably games have
> been developed under such state, and I've read
> stories about development of computers in the 80'ties
> where the team worked night and day.

Sounds fascinating - has anyone got a story which confirms that?

CP/M User.
 
I usually goto bed at 3:00 or so, I believe I have some posts somewhere that are just stupid I made at 2 or 3...lol
If I look hard, I have made some at 4am...that were bad too. I gotta goto bed earlier..lol, but then I have to wake up earlier, when absolutely nobody is posting.
Anyway, back to topic.
Uh, I also believe the creation of microprocessors spurred unprecedented developement in the computer world.
 
alexkerhead wrote:

> I usually goto bed at 3:00 or so, I believe I have
> some posts somewhere that are just stupid I made at 2
> or 3...lol
> If I look hard, I have made some at 4am...that were
> bad too. I gotta goto bed earlier..lol, but then I
> have to wake up earlier, when absolutely nobody is
> posting.

Sounds like you need to be one of those Night Shift
Workers! ;-)

CP/M User.
 
CP/M User said:
alexkerhead wrote:

> I usually goto bed at 3:00 or so, I believe I have
> some posts somewhere that are just stupid I made at 2
> or 3...lol
> If I look hard, I have made some at 4am...that were
> bad too. I gotta goto bed earlier..lol, but then I
> have to wake up earlier, when absolutely nobody is
> posting.

Sounds like you need to be one of those Night Shift
Workers! ;-)

CP/M User.
Click to expand...
\
LOL, good idea. I wish I could do customer work in the wee hours of the night. Mean customers wont even wake up for me to fix their comps. errr.
 
alexkerhead wrote:

> LOL, good idea. I wish I could do customer work in
> the wee hours of the night. Mean customers wont even
> wake up for me to fix their comps. errr.

Theorically the pay should be good - as long as they pay
Overtime! :)

CP/M User.
 
CP/M User said:
Carlsson said:
Surely a lot of recent demos and probably games have been developed under such state, and I've read stories about development of computers in the 80'ties where the team worked night and day.
Click to expand...
Sounds fascinating - has anyone got a story which confirms that?
Click to expand...
Bil Herd made a couple of posts on Compuserve 1993, here collected into one read. It is the amusing story of how Commodore 128 came to life, and it sounds like some people on the design team didn't sleep much at times.

http://www.ffd2.com/fridge/chacking/c=hacking17.txt (at the very end)

I'm sure that other teams working towards impossible deadlines took similar approaches, but the question is whether a true landmark can be achieved if you work under intensive stress.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top