Computers have evolved a great deal since we saw the first giant supercomputers with the processing power equivalent to today’s small desktops. However while the notion of something like TRON happening in real life where a person could be transformed and transported into a computer (a “user”) is far from reality, we’ve still come a long way.
TRON concept in real life
Earlier this week, the folks over at TNW have been compiling and posting old computer tales. A little anecdote that was posted today was especially interesting. It spoke of a 10 year old kid who got lost inside a compute in the 1950s. This was of course during the era where computers were as large as homes:
“In 1950, I was 10 years old, visiting the Michigan State University campus. The computer was on the ground floor, turned off, with the door open. It was perhaps half the size of a gym, with many rows of cabinets taller than me. I wandered up and down the rows looking at the vacuum tubes until I got bored. By then I couldn’t see the door, and didn’t remember how to get back out. I was literally “lost in the computer”. So I continued wandering, eventually found the open door back out, and left.”
Ok so it isn’t exactly TRON but the we are guessing that is as real as it can get, for now.
