How did you think computers worked when you were a kid?

Nathan22587

I used to think computers were boxes with souls inside of them. My philosophy was that the soul(s) inside of it was the operating system. Different user accounts were different "computer souls".

soul soul soul.

SomeGuy

I dunno, but I thought "computers" always had to have those big spinning tapes and would talk. (Shut up Cortana! Shut the fuck up and die! SMASH SMASH SMASH!) :P

But "Soul" is certainly one way to think of the software, firmware, or even hardware design of a system. In many ways a programmer makes his design part of him. And those designs mirror the programmer's preferences and desires.

The movie "Tron" put an interesting spin on that where the "programs" were anthropomorphized in the likenesses of their "users". If you spent enough time sitting in a dark room in front of a late 70s/early 80's terminal connected to a multiuser system, you would really be able feel where that all came from.

Most modern software and hardware is soulless though, being design by large comities, built by cheap scheming Chinese, or hacked together by outsourced mindless India automa.

Nathan22587

In some way it makes me think about scp-079. It's a tale about a person who tried to develop artificial intelligence, but gave up on it. but the computer actually gained sentience

[Excerpt from scp-079 web page]
SCP-079 is an Exidy Sorcerer microcomputer built in 1978. In 1981, its owner, who is unknown (deceased), a college sophomore attending ███, took it upon himself to attempt to code an AI. According to his notes, his plan was for the code to continuously evolve and improve itself as time went on. His project was completed a few months later, and after some tests and tweaks, he lost interest and moved on to a different brand of microcomputer. He left SCP-079 in his cluttered garage, still plugged in, and forgot about it for the next five years.

It is not known when SCP-079 gained sentience, but it is known that the software has evolved to a point that its hardware should not be able to handle it, even in the realm of fantasy. SCP-079 realized this and, in 1988, attempted to transfer itself through a land-line modem connection into the Cray supercomputer, in an unknown location at the time. The device was cut off, traced to its present address, and delivered to the Foundation. The entire AI was on a well-worn, but still workable, cassette tape.