"640k"; "good software" (was: Byte Magazine: 18 Vintage issues, 1985-1986)

[Michael <see.sig@the.end>]

bmarcum@iglou.com wrote:
> 
> On 1999-08-04 rmk@toad.rmkhome.com said:
>    >:Great .sig material:
>    >:"Nothing would please me more than being able to hire ten
>    >:programmers and deluge the hobby market with good software."  --
>    >:Bill Gates, 1976
>    >So I guess Bill hasn't been able to hire ten "real" programmers yet.
> 
> Remember, this was 1976, long before "640k should be enough".  What year
> did he say that?  He's certainly deluged the market, and not just the hobby
> market.  Good software?  Somebody must think so, not that I'm defending it.
> 
> Net-Tamer V 1.08X - Test Drive

I got a new chuckle from the "640k should be enough" reminder.  I
recently acquired a beautifully preserved IBM PC/AT (an 80286 for you
youngsters who don't already know) that has a whopping 512K of RAM.  The
simple DOS proggies I put on it work just fine, but one of the Norton
utilites throws up because there's not enough RAM.

As for "somebody must think" Micro$oft stuff is good, certainly lots of
folks (try to) use it.  But not a week goes by that some 95 or 98 owner
doesn't knock on my door or ring my phone crying for help because of
some stupid thing Windows has done.  At a Staples store last weekend I
was talking to a customer who began to complain about his PC.  When I
told him he could alleviate many of his problems by using a different
operating system he just looked at me blankly; he _didn't_know_there
_are_ alternatives to Windows.

-- 
Michael
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