I got involved in computing as a result of my father's career in the business. From the time we moved to Oregon from Alaska in 1967 through retirement at the end of calendar year 2002, he worked at the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). In the late 1960's and early 1970's, BPA had a Control Data Corporation 6400 and an IBM 1401 in the main computer room. He'd take me to work on the weekends, where I could boot up the CDC 6400 and play games.
When I arrived at Gresham High School in September, 1970, I found that my locker (#995) was located across the hallway from the computer "lab" (room 50). I heard the characteristic sound of a Teletype Model KSR 33 (shown at the left in this photograph).
Like many people, I worked throughout my college years. I worked at the Sears store in Corvallis, where I did nearly every job in the store except manage the place. I started there by fetching packages for catalog customers. They would come to the counter with their receipt, and I'd go get the package and ring up the sale. I'd also help customers place orders. It was a step up when I was moved to the garage (it would be far too charitable to describe it as an "automotive department"), where I installed tires and batteries, moved freight, and delivered appliances. After mastering this work, I was made a commission salesman, which was (and perhaps is) extremely rare for a part-timer. I sold nearly everything in the inventory -- merchandise that had to be installed was the best, because the commission was higher.
The first computer I used at Oregon State University was a PDP-12 (configured in a way similar to the one shown here).
One of my experiences at OSU was attending the First West Coast Computer Faire, which was held during the period 15 - 17 April 1977 in San Francisco. Professor Ted Lewis packed students in two university vans, and we drove to the big city to see the faire.
I left Sears in 1977 for a job with a small "software" company, General Information Systems, Inc. At GISI, I programmed a Datapoint 2200.
-- Jeff Wilson
Last updated Saturday, 15 March 2003 11:33:26 -0500