I have to say that I'm completely jealous of Stefan Didak's own computer workstation at this house.  Check out this puppy...6 monitors (9 if you include the laptops).  I have a hard enough time focusing on one monitor at a time:

Those are pretty nice displays, but check this one out:  Quad video with 42" Plasma flat screens hooked to a Dell Server and online video cameras for 4 angle viewing of remote and autonomous robots!  This guy gets a 360 degree live video view from a webbrowser.  Just totally insane!

Retro Computing - We've Come Along Way!

If you haven't been paying attention, I have been posting some cool old school Amiga and Commodore Vic-20 things over at TonyRocks.com.  Looking at that stuff brings back memories of better days...the days before parents got their first email address.

This is my first computer, the Sinclair.  This ad cracks me up because you can build your own computer for about 80 bucks.  Heck, that thing could hardly be called a computer.  1 k of RAM and a black/white screen.  I had to save programs on a cassette player with no directory structure. In fact I had to record my voice to announce what program I was going to save.  Pretty crazy indeed!

I eventually got a new Commodore Vic-20 to replace this gem.  I actually still have the original machine and the user manual.  Yes, total geek, I know.

Now on to the first commercially available windows platform.  No, not from Apple and not from Amiga, but from Xerox.  Yes the awesome company that brought you the copy machine.  What is amazing is that the window operating system on this Xerox looks 100% better than Windows 3.1 and the original MAC OS.  Not too shabby for being designed in 1978.

I didn't know Mike Brady was in to computers?!

And now for my closing.  How about this old advertisement for the TRS-80 Color Computer (COCO)?  I don't know which is uglier, the computer itself or the kids in the ad? OH man, definitely the kids.  Yikes. 

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