S06.E07: A Tougher Nut and a Note on File

[Bethany]

14 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

At about the time of this episode (1992-1994), I got my second computer, which was for school while I was a newly single mother working part time with 3 kids at home. It still had no internet access, but it had a color monitor. It was second-hand, running Windows 3.1. The first evening I got it set up, my kids (ages 4-14) had to fend for themselves for dinner because I was obsessively doing this in Paint with the mouse:

We got our first home computer around that time as well.  My husband and I were both using computers at work and up to then had felt no need to have one at home.  What convinced us to get one was that our children were starting to use them in the classroom (nothing compared to usage today of course but it was starting) and we didn't want them to be at a disadvantage.  Of course mainly the computer was used by me for Mah Jong (I got really really good) and by our kids for computer games - anyone else remember Reader Rabbit?  Is that still around?  As you say, no internet.  It would be years before my husband (an engineer - or as latter day Sheldon would say an Oompa Loompa of Science) would use it at home.  

I remember actually having plans not unlike Sheldon's, well except not a shared database, of putting all my books online.  That did not last long.  

[Sarah 103]

1 hour ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

Of course mainly the computer was used by me for Mah Jong (I got really really good) and by our kids for computer games

I had totally forgotten about computer games. Computer games were already going strong well before the intenet and would have probably continued to exist without the internet. I had a solitare addiction in 5th or 6th grade to the point where I had to delete the program. I remember some Wishbone games that I enjoyed, and something that was like a Dog Encyclopedia. I also remember playing Math Blasters (which I hated, but my parents thought it would help my math skills), and Type to Learn (because my parents knew how important typing was going to be for me).

[aemom]

On 11/11/2022 at 10:32 AM, Elizabeth Anne said:

Also any kind of database that was up and running at that time would still only have been accessible to a limited number of people.  If the internet hadn't gone mainstream (which didn't happen until mid 90s)  most home computers would have been expensive doorstops IMO.

I graduated from university with a Bachelor of computer science in 1992, and I was using my computer to write programs for school.

Sometimes I used my modem to connect to the UNIX system at 300 or 1200 baud to run my programs. 

I had an email account through school but nobody else I knew had one, so I basically just emailed other students.

I also played some awesome computer games.

So depending on what was going on in your life, your computer might have been very useful without the internet. 

[Browncoat]

I bought a computer in grad school, in about 1988 or so.  It was pretty much a fancy word processor for me -- no internet or e-mail, and since it was a Mac, no internal hard drive.  Word came on one floppy disc, and I had to get an external floppy drive to save my thesis to a second disc (the Word disc had to be inserted in the computer to be used).

It was 1993-4 before I got internet -- it was AOL, and I had dial-up.  I spent a lot of time in chat rooms, since there wasn't much else going on that I knew about anyway.

[shapeshifter]

2 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I bought a computer in grad school, in about 1988 or so.  It was pretty much a fancy word processor for me -- no internet or e-mail, and since it was a Mac, no internal hard drive.  Word came on one floppy disc, and I had to get an external floppy drive to save my thesis to a second disc (the Word disc had to be inserted in the computer to be used).

It was 1993-4 before I got internet -- it was AOL, and I had dial-up.  I spent a lot of time in chat rooms, since there wasn't much else going on that I knew about anyway.

Pretty much the same, except I bought a post-grad student's IBM PC without a hard drive when it was 4 years old for $100, so about the year of this episode. 
But Sheldon got a new computer, not a 4-year-old used one, right? I mean, we've never seen him put a floppy in to boot it.

[kwnyc]

I had my first home computer in the mid-80s, and got on the 'net in '94. And it was pretty much BBS, a lot of college students, and mostly male. When they were invented, I joined AOL, Prodigy and CompuServe!

I think one of the running jokes of the series is that Sheldon comes up with MANY of the platforms/apps we use daily, that others would come up with years later. Though he does grow up to win a Nobel Prize, so it's not like he didn't achieve his ambitions!

[Katy M]

15 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But Sheldon got a new computer, not a 4-year-old used one, right? I mean, we've never seen him put a floppy in to boot it.

We saw him using floppy disks when he got the virus.  It would take up a lot of time to show all the minutiae every time.

[Bethany]

21 minutes ago, Katy M said:

We saw him using floppy disks when he got the virus.  It would take up a lot of time to show all the minutiae every time.

We also see him start his mortal enemy list on a floppy disk.  This gets referenced on BBT when the disk fails: "Well, whoever was in charge of quality control of the Verbatim corporation in 1989, congratulations - you just made my mortal enemy list."

[Tattooeddancer]

On 11/11/2022 at 7:48 AM, BitterApple said:

If Mandy has a college degree, why is she working as a waitress? 

I have a double major in Psych and Communication and I bartend for a living because it pays for my luxury uptown apartment *shrug* (not to mention I use both majors daily lol)

I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I'm not here for Georgie and Mandy as a couple. Good friends and coparents? For sure. But if they end up as a couple when Mandy clearly has not been interested in him for a while, it will be too much "he's a good guy, he's so charming, and he does nice things for you so if you don't hook with him you're a bitch" for me.

[kay1864]

Anyone else notice Bazinga! on the wall behind Sheldon at the comic book store? (Although I think the B was cropped out)

[leighdear]

How can a TV show that is NOT "RuPaul's Drag Race" manage to have all of the absolute bitchiest women ever assembled onscreen?

I just don't get it.