On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 01:56:16 -0500, Silvan wrote:
mark wrote:

the bulletin boards I dialed up way back then. Remember how frustrating
it was to get the constant busy signal on the really popular ones?

Yeah, and the really schmootzy ones had two or three phone lines.

Back then the only real-time chatting you ever did was with the sysop.
Sysops could never type worth a damn.

Hey now... I could always keep up with the 300 baud modem, y'know.

I find the same is true more broadly of the general population now that
instant messaging stuff is abundant. I never have been able to adapt to
real-time. I don't IRC or ICQ or AIM or blah blah blah because I can't
stand to sit there for 45 minutes waiting on the putz on the other end of
the line to finish a sentence.

It's different with IM though, because you don't see what they're typing
real-time, like you did back in "the day" on BBS's and like with Unix
'talk'.

Wow, now there's a thought. Best non-woodworking thing you ever bought.
Has to be the Microsoft Natural Keyboard from 1991. I forget how many
millions of words I've typed on this thing, but it's up there. Hrm.
4,500,000 as a very, very conservative estimate. It might be up to three
times that.

They do make good hardware. They should stick to their strengths, but
sadly they feel like they need to do OS's also.

Dave "you read about Bill's BSOD at the CES again, right?" Hinz