Most Popular
1500 questions
38
votes
4 answers
What motivated stack being invented originally?
In the very early days (the earlier the better! Babbage maybe?) when something like a stack was developed, what motivated it originally?
I am aware that these days it makes many features possible, such as function pointers and impossible-to-predict…
BipedalJoe
- 829
- 3
- 10
38
votes
4 answers
How did "Ballblazer" pull off fast, smooth, first-person, solid-model 3D on Atari 8-bits?
I remember the first time I saw Ballblazer, the 1984 game, running on a friend's Atari 800. The split-screen 3d graphics and fast action blew my socks off.
Looking back, I get the impression there are some advanced 3d graphics techniques that…
Brian H
- 60,767
- 20
- 200
- 362
38
votes
20 answers
Was there a retro computer susceptible of being damaged only by issuing instructions at it?
The question 'Can a USR command damage a ZX Spectrum?' has led me to wonder if there was once a microcomputer that could actually be damaged by software.
More specifically:
Is there a case that a microcomputer, using its default shipped hardware…
mcleod_ideafix
- 18,784
- 2
- 70
- 102
38
votes
6 answers
Why couldn't early C compilers handle variable declarations between statements?
In modern C, you may place variable declarations between statements:
do_something();
int x;
x = something_else();
However, older C compilers required that variables are declared before all statements:
int x;
do_something();
x =…
DrSheldon
- 15,979
- 5
- 49
- 113
38
votes
4 answers
What caused older computer fans to be so much louder than they are today?
I had one of those bulky IBM 486 PCs in the mid-1990s. Desktop form factor. I think it was probably made somewhere in 1992. It made a lot of noises, pleasant ones to me, such as mechanical hard drive ones, or the floppy disk station doing "its…
C. Perhacs
- 381
- 1
- 3
- 3
38
votes
3 answers
What did AOL use for pre-web GUI client?
AOL was a big early Internet service provider, and of course by the late nineties, the most popular Internet protocol was the web; most users spent most of their Internet time in a web browser.
But if you go back a few years before that, say before…
rwallace
- 60,953
- 17
- 229
- 552
38
votes
6 answers
Are old versions of Windows at risk of modern malware attacks?
On my answer to a previous question (Can I run Windows 98 and games from the same era on an AMD Duron CPU?) I finished with a warning about using Windows 98 on the Internet, which received the following comment:
Windows 98 it so old that most…
Aaron
- 2,384
- 2
- 16
- 26
38
votes
6 answers
Why did early arcade games use vertical displays?
Surprisingly many early arcade games, such as Pac-Man, Galaxian and Galaga, mounted their displays vertically, in portrait rather than landscape orientation. (From the perspective of the electronics, that means the displays were drawn sideways.) I'm…
rwallace
- 60,953
- 17
- 229
- 552
38
votes
8 answers
Why does UNIX ed not have a prompt by default
The line editor ed in UNIX/Linux has a "command mode" and an "insert mode" and there is no visual way to tell which mode you are in. However, there is a -p option that causes it to display a prompt when you are in command mode, which is very…
JoelFan
- 2,117
- 2
- 15
- 18
37
votes
6 answers
Why does the Cray 2 use 400 Hz power, and why generate that from motors?
This Cray sales brochure details on page 4 that the Cray-2 uses 400 Hz power, and generates this from motors.
400 Hz power from motor generators
I'm not sure that in 1986, the state of the art used 400 Hz as a frequency for timing the signals and…
Omar and Lorraine
- 38,883
- 14
- 134
- 274
37
votes
7 answers
How did Apple fail to tap the business and scientific markets?
Currently reading an excellent book called Blue Magic: The People, Power and Politics Behind the IBM Personal Computer, which is just what it says on the tin; highly recommended to anyone who wants to know the corporate politics behind the…
rwallace
- 60,953
- 17
- 229
- 552
37
votes
3 answers
Were the dungeons in Legend of Zelda designed to fit together?
As can be seen in the image below, the dungeons of Legend of Zelda fit quite well together.
Were they designed to be, or is this just a coincidence?
Does this make them easier to store, with the empty spaces used for caves for instance?
SQB
- 501
- 1
- 5
- 10
37
votes
6 answers
What was the purpose and history of the C64's special keys?
I never had a Commodore 64 but I've always been curious what the purpose and history of some of the special keys were. In particular:
C=
Run/Stop
Clr/Home
Restore
I'm mostly used to the standard ASCII keyboards from the era and whenever I had sat…
bjb
- 16,259
- 46
- 141
37
votes
7 answers
Why did older computers and OSes use UPPER case instead of lower case?
Memory constraints in ye olden days meant that text-mode display adapters had room for either upper or lower case, but not both. Why was this universally uppercase and never lowercase?
I remember reading that some programmer felt that if someone…
MonocleRB
- 481
- 1
- 2
- 8
37
votes
9 answers
Why was USB 1.0 incredibly slow even for its time?
USB 1.0 is from 1996 and has a transfer rate of up to 12 Mbps.
I think it's extremely slow even for its time. Because here are two similar standards from the same time which are much faster:
IEEE 802.3u is the fast ethernet spec from 1995.
Even…
zomega
- 5,362
- 4
- 25
- 52