Submission + - The Way We Were (ricketyclick.com)
djmoore writes: "James Fallows at The Atlantic has abandoned his typewriter for an interesting new technology: computers suitable for home use and costing less than $5000. Fallows uses an already obsolete SOL-20, but Apple and Radio Shack's offerings are popular, and IBM recently introduced a more efficient model that works on sixteen "bits" at a time rather than the usual eight.
Best hardware advice: avoid slow, unreliable tape recorder storage. "I think you're cheating yourself if you get anything less than two double-density 5-1/4" drives, which together should be able to store 400K or more of data....The top of the line among storage systems is the hard disk...each one stores a prodigious amount of data, from two or three on up to several dozen megabytes."
Best software advice: "A DOS called CP/M (for Control Program for Microcomputers)...has become the industry standard....you should be wary of any machine or any program that won't run CP/M.""
Best hardware advice: avoid slow, unreliable tape recorder storage. "I think you're cheating yourself if you get anything less than two double-density 5-1/4" drives, which together should be able to store 400K or more of data....The top of the line among storage systems is the hard disk...each one stores a prodigious amount of data, from two or three on up to several dozen megabytes."
Best software advice: "A DOS called CP/M (for Control Program for Microcomputers)...has become the industry standard....you should be wary of any machine or any program that won't run CP/M.""
