Tom,

I think it's just become fashionable to be a self-righteous bitcher
against "Them"!

Hans .... yes you are right ...it's easy to bitch at the fellows who for
what ever reason made things the way they are. If all the other systems
were that good then by golly we all would have them and their inherent
faults. I think it is base envy of those that brought what ever to the
unwashed masses that gets some upset and made a whole bunch of money in the
mean time. I was hooked when ever I saw those old "kits" back in the 60's
but couldn't afford the freight. The first computer I ever had a hand in
working with was a Burroghs (sp?) in 1965 which was used by the Port
Vue-Liberty school district for payroll. We managed to get to use the unit
with the guidence of the "special math" instructor. It used pins in sets of
3 per step in a program ...K-1-1 et al. and the problem was that the darn
exponent had "floated" and had to be reset within the program lest all was
lost. The Commodore units of the early 80's provided my impetus. Again
look what 2K $ got you then ... and now ...all at the expense of those
"greedy" risk takers.

Take care ...Tom Popovic KI3R Belle Vernon Pa