GENWiki

Network Working Group S. Greenfield Request for Comments: 1300 Ziff-Davis

                                                         February 1992

                    Remembrances of Things Past

Status of this Memo

 This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
 not specify an Internet standard.  Distribution of this memo is
 unlimited.

Discussion

              When Shannon was a river
                 and Turing was a car
              When Banyan was a tree
                 and buses travelled far

              dBase was where you ran to
                 after you hit the ball
              Often we were ANSI
                 RISC aversive not at all

              Windows were for looking out of
                 in a Tandem, two could take a spin
              Bridges were for crossing
                 a frame was to keep pictures in

              A semi-conductor was a maestro
                 not in the big time yet
              A port you sought in a storm
                 fishermen used a net

              Woody Guthrie sang of "My LAN"
                 WAN was a despairing mood
              LATAs were for high places
                 menus featured food

Greenfield [Page 1]  RFC 1300 Remembrances of Things Past February 1992

              If a cursor used four letter words
                 a sensor cut them out
              The sight of a mouse in an office
                 was sure to raise a shout

              Haloid perfected photocopying
                 and thereby made a hoard
              Then came Japanese competition
                 and its "ox" was gored

              Frequency was measured in cycles
                 Hertz referred to multiple pain
              Modem was a harvesting command
                 for bringing in the grain

              Modelling was at fashion shows
                 bauds were ladies of the night
              Prompting was helping actors
                 contesting for resources, a fight

              Walking and chewing gum concurrently
                 requires considerable skill
              We called it multi-tasking
                 and by gosh we always will

              We had no electronic calculators
                 just slide rules by Keuffel & Esser
              I am still a true believer
                 Keufel & Esser war besser

              Chips were used for gambling
                 von Neuman was a pup
              Monte Carlo a place to visit
                 squaring the circle ... well, we gave up

              A Sprint was less than 880
                 a relay was a team
              Greene was just a color
                 breaking up AT&T a dream

Greenfield [Page 2]  RFC 1300 Remembrances of Things Past February 1992

              Coherent was applied to speech
                 not a spectral line excited
              Multi-media meant prose and song
                 and Noel Coward was knighted

              Cerf was found at the beach
                 a Rose was a Rose was a Rose
              Jobs were to look for
                 and Gates were to close

              "2B" was an elementary school class
                 and "D" a failing grade
              A router was a tool
                 a server was a maid

              Lotus was a flower
                 adobe was a brick
              Postscript was an afterthought
                 joy a popsicle stick

              We called a plotter a CAD
                 a token ring a sham
              A buffer was for buffing
                 a male goat was a ram

              The best noise supressor was ... ssh
                 we knew little of egos and ids
              For archival storage and encryption
                 we looked to the pyramids

              Now in accordance with Greenfield's Law
                 in voice both loud and clear
              Here's to exponential growth in memory
                 & operating speed next year.

1. -srg

Greenfield [Page 3]  RFC 1300 Remembrances of Things Past February 1992

Security Considerations

 Security issues are not discussed in this memo.

Author's Address

 Stanley R. Greenfield
 Ziff-Davis
 One Park Avenue
 New York, NY 10016

 EMail:  0004689513@mcimail.com

Greenfield [Page 4]