These standards allow devices to be developed by anyone and work interchangeably as they followed a specific standard in their creation. Take for example the creation of an ATM. The various parts that make up the ATM can have many hands involved to create it. However, when your finger touches the touch screen your request is processed. This is because the standards set in place provide required inputs and outputs as well as quality standards in development.

In many industries who use an assembly approach, having quality standards are a must in order to do business. An organization is created to determine the standards and modify them over time. This governing body is what is used to enforce the rules it set out and thereby keeping the organization a recognized and respected standard across all industries.

The traditional “smoking break” has turned into an internet escape as people take various breaks in the day to search the web and find something interesting to do. From reading the news to participating in racing games, the internet provides an outlet for anyone to escape for a little while and find whatever it is they are looking for.

Every day more sites are popping up containing games, riddles and contests to keep people looking busy while at their desks or pass the time at home. With the growth and acceptance that the internet has received you wonder how long it takes before more athletes stop playing games and take up the events in the virtual world.

At any rate, when I had my few precious minutes of computer free time, I always asked for the Print Shop floppy disks. I marveled, each time, at how many different things I could create. Having grown up learning Basic programming and going to sleep-away camp for Basic, it was simply amazing to me that I could print up banners and pictures with the words I wanted on them—without having to write 100 lines of programming without errors. Oh how I don’t miss those gigantic programming books. As an 8 year old without keyboarding skills, typing in all the lines for a single game could take me all afternoon, only to get an error message and spend several more hours hunting down my errors. I will say this, though—when I occasionally stuck with a program long enough to find all the bugs and get it to work, it didn’t matter how lame the game was. The satisfaction of getting it to run put me on Cloud Nine!

I recently bought a very capable graphics card for my current desktop PC for around four hundred dollars.  I’m talking 256 MB of video RAM, supporting millions of colors, while effortlessly rendering high definition 3D graphics.  Back in the days of monochrome computing, the Hercules Graphics Card sold for five hundred dollars!  Even more surprising, that price was considered very competitive.  The affordability led to this product being considered the display standard, and was found in the majority of IBM compatible personal computers at that time.

The resolution possible with the Hercules Graphics Card was 720×350.  The models that followed this card included the Hercules Graphics Card Plus (which allowed user-defined fonts) and the Hercules InColor Card (offering a sixteen color output).

This printer greatly improved the quality and speed of printing available to personal use seeking consumers.  As far as quality, this printer was capable of 360 dpi.  At this level, the output rivaled the quality of far more expensive laser printers.  Regarding speed, users were treated to performance equaling 180 characters per second.  Not only was this faster than its dot matrix predecessors, it was also much quieter.

Since this system was aimed at personal use, it printed on A4 size paper.  The most important technical aspect of the printer was the print head.  It did not use heat (like other models of the time) and never needed to be replaced.  As such, cost effectiveness was also a big selling point for this unit.

Due to the unique heatless print head, Epson was afforded flexibility in its ink formulation.  The options available served as a precursor to the possibility of inkjet color printing.  In fact, this model directly led to Epson’s first color inkjet printer the following year.

Being a long time arcade and console gamer, I was no stranger to this form of user input. This experience caused me to be rather picky when it came to buying my new device. Many models seemed flimsy and lacked the features I required. However, one model stood out above the crowd: the Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro.

The 3D Pro was both digital and analog. The digital mode addressed drift issues that were typical in older analog designs, but this mode required software that did not support most DOS based games. The controller offered eight buttons, a hat switch (great for changing views in flight simulators), and a throttle slider. Additionally, the stick itself twisted to support yaw controls in select games. Since this model was fully programmable through Windows based software, it was an excellent choice for all genres of games. However, I found it most effective when I found myself in a virtual dogfight.

The early years of mobile computing actually offered a lot of features we would probably like to see in more modern hardware.  For example, the battery life on the Macintosh Portable reached an amazing ten hours!  Even with the most conservative energy settings, it is difficult to find a contemporary system offering half of that battery life.  Of course, with the sealed lead-acid design of the Macintosh Portable’s batteries, the system did suffer from a nearly sixteen pound weight statistic.  That is a far cry from the new MacBook Air’s three pounds!

Unfortunately for Apple, this model was not a commercial success.  The primary complaints addressed poor viewing ability in low light conditions and long term battery issues.  Regardless, the company’s efforts in this early model led the way for the future of mobile computing.

Out of the box, the Apple IIc Plus ran at 4 MHz and ran 8-bit Apple II software. The speed was user adjustable to 1MHz, primarily for the purpose of running older software such as games. The onboard memory was a dedicated 8 KB static RAM buffer. An expansion slot permitted a 1 MB memory upgrade.

This computer was only produced for a two year run before being discontinued. After ending the Apple II line, the company focused on it Macintosh line, which was originally introduced in 1984.