* Posts by Still Confused

3 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Jun 2019

10 PRINT Memorial in New Hampshire marks the birthplace of BASIC

Still Confused

FORTRAN first, but then BASIC

FORTRAN was the first programming language I learnt (at university in 1970). It was Waterloo FORTAN (WATFOR), a limited version for new students, that stopped after 1000 lines of execution so infinite loops didn't bring the whole system to a halt. We wrote the programs on forms that were punched by the operators and the results returned by a print-out wrapped around the punch cards. If we needed to resubmit with corrections, we could punch our own cards.

My first job involved an in-house system called PROCALC, basically FORTRAN with tweaks that ran live - but could be used to submit FORTRAN programs to the batch system. I learnt BASIC in 1976 when I needed to use a Varian micro for a project I was working on - I was handed the instruction book and let loose. That computer, like the previous one, interfaced via a teletype but also had a screen which could be used for the results. Essential for my project as I was working on a system for pattern recognition - limited capability in 32kB of RAM, but it was a start.

My favourite BASIC was the BBC variant (on my Electron - now back in its original box in my attic) - the ability to insert assembler directly into teh program gave it a lot of additional power; the assembler was compiled on the first pass, even though the rest of the program was interpreted. Allowed me to write screen grab routines to some weird printers, and to modify games (typed in from magazines) to access a co-pro. Who remembers the "tube" - allowed the program to run on one 6502 while the graphic processing ran on another. I had a maze game that, in the magazine had wire-frame walls, but ran with solid, shaded walls on my Electron, and with smoother motion. Rubbish compared to today's systems but not bad for the 80's.

Why are fervid Googlers making ad-blocker-breaking changes to Chrome? Because they created a monster – and are fighting to secure it

Still Confused

Re: Or, simply...

I use Adguard on my Macs and don't get bothered by ads - actually, I get surprised by how many ads there are when I use somebody else's browser. But then, neither do I use Chrome. Safari gets a lot of flack but it's never given me any bother, other than the occasional site that still insists on IE (at which point, if I need to view that page, I fire up my Win10 VM). More often than not, though, I just move on.

Oh, and my default search engine is DuckDuckGo - despite it's naff name. I don't know if it delivers as thorough a search result as Google (or Bing) but, again, it's not Google.

Nope, we're stuffed, shrieks Apple channel as iPhone shipments enter a double-digit spiral

Still Confused

Have you seen how much a Ferrari costs?

I sometimes wonder why so many people complain about Apple prices and go on to say their [insert alternative brand/model here] is much better and cheaper. They've bought what suits their purpose. It's a bit like moaning about the price Ferrari charges for one of their cars and then commenting that their [Ford/Toyota/Fiat/VW/etc] meets all their needs much better and at a much lower cost. Similarly, Rolex or Timex? If all you want is something to tell you the time, get a Timex [or...]; if you want to make a statement and what may well be an investment, a Rolex may come into consideration for you (alongside Tag, Omega, etc).

Any commercial business will (probably should) set their prices at what the market will bear to give them the optimum profit. If that means a higher mark-up but lower sales numbers, then that's what they should do; others will decide that a low mark-up and higher sales better suits them. If Apple want to compete on market share then they'll need to lower their prices; the success of the SE suggests a lower price increases sales but a lower price across the board might be counter-productive.

I think Apple products are expensive and would like them to have a lower sales price (I'll avoid wanting them to be cheaper as that implies lowering standards) - I'll only buy if they meet my need and the overall cost to me is less than the alternatives.