Damn Computers : Briggs Vaughan Publishing : 9798988519003 : 29 Sep 2021 : Today computers are ubiquitous and number in the billions worldwide. They are programmed by growing millions of programmers covering all age groups for a wide range of applications never dreamed of when computers were initially invented. But it has not always been this way. Like the wild west of olden days, there was a time-long before the modern personal computer-when computers numbered in the hundreds and programmers were considered odd ducks delving in the mysteries of the black art of this new creation. The 1950s saw the rise of the vacuum tube machines, primitive as they were, infiltrate into the general scientific and business communities. Many of these monsters required custom air conditioners for cooling, and they ate energy with phenomenal gusto. Transistors were new and few machines of that time used them. It was toward the end of that decade that the author of this book stumbled into this new field. N