In the beginning….

My daughter suggested I write a blog about how I got into computers.
My fascination with computers goes back a long way.

The 1960s

The world of computers was very different, over 40 years ago.
Today everyone takes for granted having their own computer, or at least
access to one, at work, at school, at the library, etc. to check email,
look up information, chat with friends, download music, check the stock market
and a million other things. It was nothing like that, back then.

In the 1960s and earlier, only governments and large companies could
afford the multi-million dollar mainframe computers systems, that were,
at the time, the only type of computer that existed. Few people ever say a computer,
except in movies, much less had access to one. No one could even imagine that
a person would own a computer for personal use.

The first computer I saw was at a friend’s workplace, somewhere circa 1963-1965.
The computer (Honeywell, I think) was like something out of a Sci-Fi movie;
flashing lights, lots of switches, spinning tape drives, noisy card readers,
sorters and other high tech (for the 60s) equipment.
I remember thinking, this is SO cool, somehow I have to get into computers.

Then fate, actually Uncle Sam, intervened. I was drafted into the U.S. Army in December 1965.
I had basic training in Fort Dix, New Jersey, followed by Wheeled Mechanic school (trucks, jeeps) also Fort Dix and Tracked Mechanic school (M60/M60A1 tanks, M113 Armored Personnel Carriers) in Fort Knox, KY. Trucks and tanks, no computers at all for me… yet.

U.S. Army M60A1 Main Battle Tank

The Army send to me to Germany, instead of Vietnam, because they needed tank mechanics more in Europe then in Vietnam. I was stationed in Kirch-gons, Germany (aka The Rock), Company B, 2nd Battalion, 33rd Armor, 3rd Amored Division. Nothing much to say about my 18 months in Germany, other then I got to hate the smell (diesel) and noise of the Tanks and I learned to love Germany beer, which I still do.

At the end of my tour of duty in Germany, which was also the end of my active duty, I got
the usual re-enlistment pitch that everyone gets. “We can offer you training for any job
you want, if you re-enlist”, said my company commander. “What are you interested in”?
After thinking for only a couple of seconds, I said, “I want to learn computer programming”.
“Oh, we can’t offer you that”. That was the end of the re-enlistment pitch. I had not
forgotten computers.

When I got back home, November 1967, I then had G.I. Education benefits available to me.
In 1968 I signed up for a Computer Programming and E.A.M. (Electornic Accounting Machines) course, given by the Electronic Computer Programming Institute of Boston. It was a one year
course, covering E.A.M. equipment (card punch, card readers, card sorters, etc.)

IBM key punch

  

80 column punch card

and programming in R.P.G. (Report Program Generator), IBM assembler and IBM COBOL (Common Business Oriented Langauage). I enjoyed the course immensely and passed with flying colors. With my certificate in hand, I started looking for a job as a computer programmer.

I quickly learned, and I don’t think it’s any different today, companies want experience
more then certificates. It was a real “Catch 22″, if you have experience you can get a
job, if not, you can’t. I got the same results with every application and interview I
had for about a year.

Finally, in late 1969, I had an interview at Sears Roebuck in Boston. I wasn’t offered the
programming job I applied for, but they did offer me a trainee position as a computer operator.
The money was less then I was making at my current job (ouch), so I talked it over
with my soon to be bride. Our wedding was set for April 1970, so taking a new job
with a pay cut, a few months before our wedding, didn’t seem like the greatest idea.
She had faith in me and said, at least it would get my foot in the door.
I started my new trainee computer operator position in January 1970.