Subj : Re: Miss.RvrDamBreach-Davenpt To : Barry Martin From : Nancy Backus Date : Tue Dec 17 2019 02:17:48 -=> Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 06-Dec-2019 09:45 <=- NB>>> There probably wasn't any way of knowing how much things would actually NB>>> expand, just like we've discussed about the expressway systems growing NB>>> like Topsy and needing room that just isn't there... BM>> Part of the now-outdated thinking is back then didn't have the BM>> capabilities nor the considerations. Move stuff across the country? BM>> By rail, of course! IIRC the interstate system was more for quick BM>> movements of troops and Joe Public got to travel as a side benefit. NB>> It wasn't just for troop movement... I think it was somewhat a vision NB>> for needing to move large amounts of people/goods in the event of an NB>> emergency, but not really thought of as a system for everyday travel NB>> until it was well into development.... BM> OK, I don't recall the 'large amounts of people/goods' but makes BM> sense. Fortunately haven't seen that with war but have seen when Mother BM> Nature gets mad. Also useful for when something large explodes or burns and spews toxins... BM>> As for Bill Gates' alleged statement, seems like all of the BM>> high-ranking people of the companies around then and now heavily into BM>> computers made some statement about they (computers) will never be used BM>> by the average consumer. NB>> Hindsight is so much more accurate than cautious foresight.... ;) But NB>> the business computers obviously needed more capability than that NB>> original small amount, even from early on.... :) BM> True. As for the capacity of the business machines, probably the BM> thinking was along the lines of mine early: was relatively easy to BM> flip floppies ==> pull out one floppy, insert another. They did hold a BM> lot of data, or at least by the considerations of that time. BM> For fun a quick bit of Googling (to use activate their floppies!) BM> 1 TB = 754297.03126098 floppy disk (3.5", HD) BM> = 2744116.61398 5.25" DD floppies BM> So I'd need close to three million of my old floppies. That's a lot BM> of flipping!! Indeed....! Makes a lot of sense why larger capacity storage was developed, with tape drives, zipdisks, and all... ;) And other forms of moveable hard disks.... ;) BM>>> Anchor a carrier in the Atlantic, run some ferries between the new BM>>> floating airport and land.... NB>>> Now that's a creative concept.... ;) BM>> Once in a while I come up with something good! NB>> Not sure how it would be implemented, though.... ;) BM> Plus doesn't seem like it would work all that well for non-coastal BM> sites. Just think of the mess that could happen, had there been such set up in the middle of the Mississippi Ruver.... ttyl neb .... History never looks like history when you are living through it. --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F * Origin: Tiny's BBS - http://www.tinysbbs.com (454:1/452) .