Everybody’s memory goes back so far. I was feeling whimsical tonight and gathered some of my visits down memory lane.

I remember that computers required floppy disks to boot and run. Before the hard drive, opening your word processor might take four flips, with long waits inbetween.

I remember that the dot matrix printer screamed like a banshee, but produced the most elegant, typed reports. Every science lab, every English paper.

I remember the internet at 2400 baud, when it was just a collection of BBS numbers in Santa Clara Valley.

I remember bringing a Linux box to college, installing an open source version of Microsoft Office, and not needing to insist that the results were just as good.

I remember programming Java for the first time in Taiwan at Tunghai University. I took a class on Servlets and was introduced to user interface programming.

I started as a user programming engineer and was terrible at it. I discovered that hacking can be just as rewarding as developing, but mixed the two up at several points along the way.

I still think the “private cloud” is bunk. If you run your own cloud, you’re inside the cloud. The whole point of the cloud metaphor is the subscription you give for its services, without any need for understanding its inner workings. If you run the inner workings, you are the cloud. Stop hogging the metaphor for your own devices.

I remember when I could type a password without a cloud of windows rising up to obstruct my typing.

Some other time, I’ll tell you about the computer that slapped me.