Sunday, February 17, 2013

Nothing Was Impossible

Bringing technology to those who needed it most
by Bob L.

I want to tell the story of the outstanding people who ran the Orlando data center in the 1980s. What a phenomenal group—nothing was impossible! At that time, there was no Internet, but this staff pushed technology for telecommunications and the data processing capabilities to remote parts of the United States. The contract was with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In those days PCs weighed 30 pounds, and the communications baud rate was 300 bps. We were in hog heaven. Then through ever-changing technology came direct telephone lines and direct connection to the IBM 360s. Golly, what a change, and this was leading-edge! It was the best there was in the country!
I still recall those days and how proud I was to be associated with such a great group of people—always innovating, always improving and always there for the customer.