|
Q & A WITH BOB CRINGELY: CONTINUED
Hi Bob, Great Show. I was wondering if youy ever plan to cover the selection of the "Intel CPU"? This is a story in itself. Motorola had a chance to get the business but missed the mark. What would tbe world be like and where would Apple, Intel, IBM and Motorola be if the CPU was the 68000 and not the 8088.
This is an intrestring question when you through all the CPU
wars, AMD, Cyrex and others in the picture now.
I covered this in my book, but not in the show. Too little time.
Bob, I have a question totally off the subject... does Pammy actually exist? Also you looked good on the Tom Snyder show last night. Michael Williams Kansas City, Mo Yes, Pammy exists. And I was holding in my stomach on the Late-Late Show.
My question is simple... what about the Commodore 64 and Amiga? Oren Miller Wheaton, IL My answer is simple: no time.
I have three short questions: So why is Bill Gates, the undisputed king of stealing other people's ideas, so adamant about paying for Software? The Windows 95 help files are loaded with comments about software piracy. Bill is the richest man in America and got that way by people paying for software. Did Bill and Paul invent Basic or did they just adapt it for the Altair? BASIC was invented (and put in the public domain) by Kemeny and Kurz at Dartmouth around 1964. Also, is it true that Microsoft has to release DOS as shareware later this by court order from the Apple suit?
False, though Microsoft might do it anyway just to get out from under the requirement of having to support DOS.
Thanks to my cable company I missed some of the story, what I saw I thought was great , I hope it will be shown again soon, my "computer nerd" son would like to see it. Are you doing any more like it ? P Sotnick Boca Raton Fl Yes, more shows are in the works, especially if Congress raises the minimum wage.
Will Unix Overtake Windows NT as the best Internet and Networking OS? Lee C. Drinkard, M.D. Unix is already the best and most popular Internet OS. Netware is the most popular networking OS. NT is the challenger.
Great, great show!!!!! But, personally knowing many people who loved the Amiga and were very saddened by it's demise, why wasn't it included on your show?
Was the market share too small?
Yup. Hi First congradulations on your excellent documentary concerning the history of the personalities involved in PCs. Understanding that the three hour documentary did not allow for full coverage of the subject, I am wondering how you dismissed completely contributions made by other pioneers in the computer industry. You completely ignored Radio Shack's TRS-80, Fairchild the company that was basically a forerunner of Intel. Bally, Sinclair, Sun, Atari, Amiga, etc weren't even touched. I investigated Intel's web site and found it fascinating how the microprocess was first thought of, a 4004 chip that was 12 microchips. This was used for a calculator which you eluded to in your series. The thing that fascinated me and the angle I was surprise you didn't even talk about, was that a Japanese calculator company owned the rights to this microprocessor and the nerds at Intel had to buy it back from them. Perhaps you weren't going for a "Japanese-bashing" angle which I commend you for but I think it was in line with NERDS winning. I am also curious as to what happened with the NEXT computer which was surpose to be Steve Jobs big technological break through - was that the LISA? I did learn from you about the XEROX role in computers, although I did have the pleasure of playing with a XEROX c/pm computer, I never knew of the GUI influence. So now for my questions - 1. How did you make your editorial decisions on what to include and exclude from your show I made them all. Sue me. 2. Personally, do you like Steve Jobs and/or Bill Gates. You demonstated a clear respect and disdain for both of them, but do you think history will label them "good people" or mere "ruthless opportunists" Empire builders are always opportunists and hardly ever all good. 3. Is money the overwhelming goal, or do you feel that money was just a pleasant extra to these guys who really love their computers.
For Bill, money was the goal, because his father valued money. For Steve, money was the result and he LIKED the result.
Dear Mr. Cringely, As an ex-physicist and nascent self taught computer programmer who is looking for a niche where a few unknowns can advance without the stewardship of established giants, do you see any niches, obvious or otherwise, which seem to be waiting for somebody to pry themselves into. Is it realistic to think that Microsoft or IBM could find themselves dinosaurs within the next 20 years?
The reason I ask is that while the sucess stories
of companies like Microsoft, etc. were exhilarating,
they seem to be taking advantage of being at the
right place in history at the right time. Is this
time of creative explosion fresh, or is it just
following the impetus of the previous decades
momentum.
There are plenty of opportunities right now in network/Internet computing. Learn Java right now and you'll get a job or can start a company.
With all the major players, What happened to PAUL ALLEN? Nothing was said about him after the IBM deal? Also after watching the show he looked uncomfortable . How did Bill Gates come out on top with out PAUL ALLEN? EDDIE Bklyn, New York Paul Allen is VERY shy. In 1983 he contracted Hodgkins Disease and nearly died. He left Microsoft just after shipping DOS 2.0. A bone marrow transplant saved his life and he is today a successful investor in everything from NBA basketball teams to the Dreamworks SKG movie studio.
I have patents on a 360 degree film camera that is used to create Quick Time Virtual Reality. The camera creates a 360 degree view on a single piece of film instead of piecing together 12 or more frames as does Apple's "stitcher" software. This is much better for live action, i.e. people scenes. The camera is produced now in limited quantities, but I would like to license my patents to a company that can improve, produce and market the camera for the computer industry. Is there a place where I can post this info, or do you suggest that I go directly to an existing computer hardware company? Signed, nerd hopeful rick corrales los angeles, california Let me think about this one and I'll get back to you, Rick.
My understanding, is that Bill Gates and Paul Allen made the first computer language.How do they even start to design a language for just circuts, capicators, and transistors???? If you could answer, it will be most appreciated!!! Anonymous Microsoft BASIC was not the first computer language, nor was it even the first BASIC. It was the first language for the personal computer, though. They took the Intel 8080 instruction set and decided how to rewrite the BASIC instructions in 8080 code. Voila!
A really great show, Bob! Can you fill us in on a few more details regarding the death of Gary Kildall? He sure received "short shrift" in most of the computer publications when he died... or was he murdered?? I covered this several times above, I wanted to reach out and "choke" Tom Snyder for going off on a tangent with that DJ, wasting time he could have spent with you. You were a "good sport" to take that sort of treatment. What can I say? I was a guest. Now that the main players have been covered, how about some interesting stories about the application software gurus? ie. Alan Ashton of WordPerfect fame, Peter Norton, Philippe Kahn, etc. I've met most of the biggies at COMDEX where User Groups mingle with the big guys at the Desert Inn. I interviewed Philippe Kahn at his suite in Caesars Palace around 1990. What a character! He told me he helped airbrush the first ad for Turbo Pascal. I interviewed Philippe for the series, too, but caught him on a bad day. It was completely unusable.
Anyway, keep on hosting MORE of the same
sort of programs for PBS!
I've always enjoyed your Infoworld column and now the TV series. One thing I would like to know more about is the homebuilt aircraft that was in you garage. Looked like it might be a Lancair. Was this a prop or an unfinished project from the past? Richard Nelson Bethesda, MD Close, but no cigar. There were TWO planes in my garage. The larger was a Glasair. In fact it's #103, the oldest Glasair still in service (sort of). I flew it for 15 years, then took it apart to add all the new parts (tip extensions, larger rudder, etc.). Also in the shot is a Rand KR-1 I built in 1977.
Bob... Back around 1978, I interfaced my KIM-1 to the S-100 bus. Among other things that I patched together for that system, I bought a copy of the Microsoft 6502 BASIC interpreter (from an outfit called Micro-Z, as I recall). I was always very curious as to whether Microsoft actually supported the KIM-1 (the manual references the KIM) or whether the outfit that I bought it from supplied the KIM-1 specifics. While this is a bit obscure, do you have any insight into this? Also, how big was Microsoft in 1978?
Thanks a lot. I only caught the last 1.5 hours of
your show (didn't realize it was on) and it was
great. Now I may have to buy the videos to see
the early years.
Microsoft generally did all those ports, though I wouldn't swear to it. In 1978, Microsoft had fewer than 25 employees.
Bob, in your program, I was very impressed by your portrayal of Steve Jobs. Being only 17 now, I do not remember his glory days. Will he ever return to the computer industry in the same manner as when he introduced the Mac? Geoff DaCosta North Easton, MA I doubt it, but you never know with Steve.
I thoroughly enjoyed "Triumph of the Nerds" last Wednesday and I was curious about the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics Magazine featuring the Altair 8800. Has this issue become a collector's item and does it have any value in this regard? I have a copy and it is in excellent condition. Alan Feldman Phoenix, Az Yes, it is a collector's item. Hold it for another 20 years and use it to put your grandchildren through college.
In your excellent documentary you said that COBOL was the first real programming language. I believe that FORTRAN was the first. It came out in 1955 and was written at IBM. COBOL was first introduced in 1960 and was the product of the CODASYL(Committee on Data Systems and Languages) cCommittee. That committe was chaired by Grace Hopper.
I've been a professional programer for 30+ years and I believe I'm correct.
Lord knows, Ethan, that programmers with 30+ years of experience are never wrong. Here's the chart I produced in an earlier answer:
FORTRAN
1) What, in your opinion, is the future of APPLE? And what must they do to survive? I've answered that several time above.
2) What is the future of internet communications hardware? Will cable modems soon be commonplace? Is there anything faster than a cable modem, in a relative price range to a modem?
Cable modems are coming, as are ADSL modems, and the ATM set-top boxes will start to appear in 1997. All are plenty fast.
Hey Bob! Thanks for an INCREDIBLE series on the history of the computer. It was riveting from start to finish! OK. . .
I do desktop publishing on a i386-33 and Windows 3.1, PageMaker 5.0, FreeHand 3, Arts & Letters Grapics Editor and, while it allows me to do pretty much everything I want (except save time), I was wondering if you think it might be a good idea to jump to a Pentium Pro (or an Alpha AXP) running Windows NT 4.0 with all new versions of the mentioned software or should I stick to a Pentium and Windows 95? I must say that the 386 has served me well, but I'm not getting any younger!
Thanks for any comments you may have.
If you've got money to burn, jump to the Alpha, but the cost-effective solution is a Pentium and your current 3.11 apps. Put the extra money into RAM. And quick like a bunny ditch that 386.
Click here to read on . . .
|| Comments || Q & A With Bob || Bob in VDO || Nerds Home || PBS Online || |