Welcome to The Electric Current Rundown podcast episode number 71.

I’m your host Phil Defiance, and I’ll always say I’m here to encourage the spread of intriguing knowledge that can spark fires in the minds of those seeking inspiration and truly improving the world.

And what I’m going to be talking about in this episode includes a quick programming announcement and explanation.

Then I’m going to talk about a history of computers.

Then I’m going to talk about how to eat and drink fewer microplastics.

So to talk about a quick programming announcement and explanation, I mean, if you’ve been watching my show for a while, or for a couple months, maybe since I’m in my sixth month now, maybe just a couple months.

But either way, I mean, you know that I’ve been trying to stay on schedule of like Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

But through the last couple weeks, maybe three weeks now, I haven’t exactly been on target regarding that schedule that I’ve been trying to upkeep.

And well, regardless, thank you.

I have to say, because a lot of you have stuck with me, despite the fact that I’ve been off of schedule.

So I really do appreciate that.

Like my audience hasn’t really shrunk, despite the fact that I’ve been posting off of schedule.

And that whole situation is due to the fact that I’ve been doing some experiments in the technologies of my store website.

And I’m going to bring those, I mean, those technologies that I’m like fully incorporating into my store.

I’m going to bring those same ones into my podcast website too.

I mean, by that point, it won’t be an experiment anymore.

It’ll be just things that I fully understand.

But yeah, I mean, these things have been really hard to like really do, you know.

So because of that, I’ve been really focused on getting that done.

And because of that, I’ve been going off a little bit on schedule, you know.

So because of that, I haven’t been posting on schedule.

So really, I really do appreciate the fact that so many of you have stuck with me despite that, yes.

But okay, I mean, those ongoing works will actually continue for the next couple weeks at the most, maybe less than that, but at least another couple weeks.

And then after I’m done, I’m gonna be back on my normal schedule of Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

But until then, bear with me.

And I really respect the fact that many people have.

So thank you.

But either way, okay.

So now I’m gonna switch topics to a history of computers.

So well, I mean, this was based on a list of topics I could talk about on my podcast and it said, well, talk about a history of something.

So I mean, I thought about something that I already know a history of and that’s computers.

I mean, obviously, I am a computer programmer amongst other things.

So well, being a computer programmer, I actually have done some research in computer history.

So it’s something I can go off on the top of my head with.

So here I go.

I mean, well, computer technology is actually funny because I mean, a lot of people think like, I mean, computers were really invented in the 1930s.

I mean, people that know anything about computer history probably know about that.

But actually, if you really want to go a little bit more back, and we’re not talking about like a standard computer, I’ll talk more about that in a moment after this quick break.

But okay, so on this quick break, I’m going to say at plainbowl.com, we have an expanding catalog of high-quality clothes and consumer goods.

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So, okay.

I mean, yeah, well, it really goes back to like something around the 1800s or maybe 1790s, 1780s, because yeah, that’s shocking, isn’t it?

So like, I mean, I told you, I did my research, and you can check it out.

I’m not making this up.

Because in England, around that time, like maybe the late 1700s or so, maybe, I mean, around the turn of the century of the 1800s.

So in between the 1780s and the 1800s, there was in England, some serious scientists that actually created a machine.

And it was like steam operated.

And this machine was like nothing invented ever before it.

It was like the earliest thing that resembles a computer in the modern, the modern sense, like it’s like craziness.

Like, and I mean, it was capable of doing certain operations that are pretty advanced for technology of that far back.

I mean, that’s like, think of that, like the late 1700s.

I mean, it was basically a primitive computer.

I mean, what it did was like advanced functions, really advanced for that time.

It was like doing really advanced things.

So it was actually shocking when you think about it, that computer-type technology really goes back that far.

Like in the mid middle days of the industrial revolution, because really that began in the 1650s.

And obviously the industrial revolution lasted all the way till like about the 1890s.

So I mean, the 1790s or so, that’s the middle of the industrial revolution.

But either way, I mean, that’s a long time ago.

That’s like 240 years ago or so.

Like, can you imagine?

I mean, that’s kind of shocking, isn’t it?

But it’s true.

I mean, take a look into that.

I swear it’s true.

But yeah, well, that wasn’t really an advanced machine, though.

I mean, it was nothing compared to anything that you would qualify as a computer in these days.

But it definitely was like the earliest thing that resembles a computer anyway.

And then, well, I mean, nobody really did any work on anything like that for a long time after that.

And that machine, or maybe there were two models.

I think it was one model, but it may have been two, but I’m sure it was at least one.

And I mean, that one machine was like it when it comes to that whole thing and that scientist.

And nobody did anything like that for about 100 years, until around the 1870s or maybe 1880s, somewhere around there, when the company that is now known as IBM, also like in long form, that’s International Business Machines, they ended up creating the first calculators.

And those things were like, I mean, like machine calculators.

Of course, I mean, you could also say that if you go even further back, the Chinese claim that they were the ones that created the first computer with abacus devices.

Yeah, well, I mean, the thing is that those things aren’t real computers, they’re not machines, they’re not operated by any form of power.

I mean, with a British work that I just quoted or mentioned, obviously that ran off of steam power, which is a form of power like electricity.

And then you got with today’s machine computers, you got electricity, like just pure electricity coming out of wires, out of the ball.

But like, I mean, those abacus devices from the Chinese, that was not electrified, that was not powered.

It was just a simple manual analog device.

So I mean, that’s not really a computer, but I mean, the Chinese want to say that it kind of was, but it really wasn’t really.

But OK, either way.

OK, so I’m going to continue on on that topic and then switch topics as I finish off this episode after this quick break.

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But OK, I mean, to finish off on that topic.

Yeah, I mean, yeah, the Chinese got that.

I mean, they say that was just an analog device.

And I mean, the British, they had like a really primitive device.

And then you go to IBM.

I mean, it’s a calculator.

It’s not really a computer.

But I mean, IBM does say, like, oh, we were the first ones to create an electrified computer, because it was the calculator.

And those things were gigantic.

I mean, the original electrified calculators.

And that’s how I got on to the Chinese topic, because that thing was also a calculator, but a pure analog one.

But I mean, the first digital calculator, which was like the first form of computer-like technology in electrified form, that was around the 1880s by IBM.

And the thing was massive, like the size of a cabinet, like a large cabinet.

And yeah, I mean, think of that.

I mean, because today you can get, like, calculators that are, like, tiny, like this small, probably.

I mean, yeah, obviously, right?

I mean, with, like, tiny little digits.

So, like, just thinking about that.

And they’re, like, paper thin.

But nobody even really uses that, except for some people that don’t really like computers, because those people even exist, right?

And they want to get their numbers right, because they got a company.

So, I guess, for people like that, yeah, of course.

I mean, that’s why they’re still being sold.

But, yeah, think of that.

I mean, you’re thinking of cabinet-sized calculators from the 1880s, 1890s.

And then today’s calculators are, like, tiny little cards of paper in size.

But, okay, that was really the first electrified machine.

And then, okay, then nothing really happened until the 1930s.

But that’s when it comes to the hardware.

Now, computer technology is not just hardware, though.

Then there’s software.

And guess what?

The funniest thing is that you think that they wrote software after the advent of the actual hardware, or the machine, the hardware machines?

No, that’s not true.

Take a look into that, too.

Actually, they started writing software for the future machines that they knew they were going to create one day because they knew that they didn’t have it yet, like the hardware technology just yet, but they knew that they were going to create it.

So because of that, they were already creating the concepts and computer languages for the software even before the hardware was created.

And they started doing that around the 1890s or around the year 1900, like around in between 1890s to the year 1900, maybe 1910.

In that course of that, like 10, 20 years right there, in that range I just said.

And so they were already, they already had the software ideas already ready for when it finally came about, like the hardware technology.

And that was in the 1930s, because I guess it had a connection to the Manhattan Projects.

I mean, the Manhattan Project, where they created the nuclear bomb in America in the 1930s and 1940s.

I mean, in between then, like in that decade.

They obviously must have been creating the computer technology as a, like, a related project, because they were realizing that, hey, we could create bombs that can destroy the whole world.

But why not?

Let’s also create, like, advanced machines to move the world ahead.

So, like, I mean, it was like they were considering two possibilities.

Maybe we might just blow up the whole world and life just ends.

Or maybe we’re not going to die and instead we’re going to move human civilization forward with advanced technology.

So they created two paths.

That’s what it looks like, I mean, in hindsight.

I mean, I was in around back then, obviously.

I was more in the 80s.

But I’m just looking at it from an outsider’s perspective, like, decades later, or almost a century later at this point today when I’m 41.

But either way, I mean, that’s just like a little bit of comments.

But either way, I mean, the fact of the matter is by the 1930s, they created the first computer, like, real computer, like, I mean, by today’s standards.

I mean, the earliest thing that was ever even comparable to today’s computers, that was in the 1930s, and that was in Manhattan, or around, yeah, yeah, that’s right.

It was a New York City block, and like some secret building, like, or actually, I’m not even sure if it was New York City, but I remember reading that it was literally the size of a New York City block.

So it may have not even been in New York City, but I do know that it was the size of a New York City block though.

That’s 100% for sure, and you can look into that too.

And I mean, so those early computers in the 1930s were pretty advanced for that time, but like, I mean, nowhere near as advanced as today’s, but like they were hugely advanced technology, and America was the first one that ever created it.

And it was humongous.

Like, I’m not exaggerating.

The machine was the size of like an entire floor or two of a city block.

I mean, that’s gigantic compared to today’s machines.

I mean, look at what I’m doing right now.

I’m recording a podcast episode in a cell phone.

I mean, today, cell phones are basically miniature computers.

So that’s what it is.

Today’s computers can fit in your hand, literally.

That’s what an iPhone is, and that’s what I’m recording with.

And yeah, then you got laptops and even desktops.

I mean, those things are still tiny compared to the city block.

But either way, by the time it was the 1960s, because obviously they kept on experimenting on it and advancing on it.

And within that course of 30 years from the 1930s to the 1960s, the size of a computer obviously decreased in size.

And by that time, by the 1960s, it was like the size of a room instead of a huge city block.

And I mean, obviously, the hardware capabilities had proceeded to become more powerful by that point.

And then, I mean, they advanced on the software methods.

Then by the 1980s, 20 years later, the size of a computer had, I mean, actually, how am I skipping a decade?

1970s, a computer was the size of a office desk, like a large one.

So it went from a room in the 1960s to office decks in the 1970s.

And it was really heavy, like extremely heavy still, even though it shrank in size.

And of course, it advanced in capabilities and software methods.

By the 1980s, the size of the computer was like almost the size of a computer today, a desktop computer, just a little bit bigger.

So really, I mean, since then, the sizes haven’t shrank too much.

Like maybe, I mean, it depends because you can get it like a miniature computer, like a desktop.

So those ones are probably like one quarter of the size of the 1980s machines.

But regardless, it’s not just about size.

I mean, since the 80s, like, I mean, 80s was like the advance, sorry, the advance of the Microsoft systems and even Apple, or advent, yes.

But I mean, because there was Microsoft DOS, which I’ve used in the 80s till the 90s, and I even used DOS’s versions of Microsoft Office myself.

And of course, there was Apple.

So it was that big competition between the two, even though DOS was the big hitter for a long time, even though Windows 1.0 and Windows 2.0 were around, but nobody was really using them that much.

DOS was, for whatever reason, much more popular.

But then again, that was when it comes to the Microsoft-based systems, and Apple with the GUI-based systems was also popular.

But Apple kind of fell off a little bit, but they weren’t really falling off, really.

But, I mean, by the time Windows 3.1 came around, Windows was gaining ground, and Apple was losing a little bit of ground, and Microsoft DOS was rapidly, like, deteriorating.

Nobody was really using it.

I mean, it just started happening around Windows 3.1.

People were slowly switching from DOS to Windows, but Windows 3.1 was pretty ugly and pretty hard to use.

I mean, it was more so comparable to Apple systems.

But then suddenly out of nowhere in the year 1994, the late part of 1994, right before 95 came around, Microsoft Windows 95 came out of nowhere with a start button and other good features, but mainly the start button and the taskbar, which really changed everything.

And then all of a sudden, boom, Windows became the number one, and there was nothing that really contended with it.

And then after that, there’s been things like Linux and a minor comeback by Apple.

But when it comes to the desktop slash laptop markets, obviously Windows dominates till today, ever since Windows 95 till all the way till now.

But I mean, people do use Linux and people do use Apples and Chromebooks and things like that.

But I mean, when it comes to desktop slash laptop market, they really still, regardless Windows rules.

But I mean, then again, you got tablets, which really started to become more popular around the year 2010.

And then also there’s smartphones, which really started advancing in technology.

And people started using them as like mini computers, like I am right now with this video that I’m making for this episode, which is one of its many functions.

But like I mean, people started using smartphones as like, you know, substitutes for computers, at least for part of their computer usage, while they still use their desktop slash laptop for their main work.

But then they use their, I mean, their smartphones for other forms of work.

And I mean, that really started around the year 2010 as well or around 2008.

But really things started moving in that direction around 2012.

And regardless, I mean, either way, I mean, that’s basically the whole story.

And actually, I spent a bit more time talking about that than I thought I would.

But okay, so I’m just gonna finish off this episode switching topics to how to eat and drink fewer microplastics.

And I just have to say, I mean, like, it’s ridiculous when it comes to plastic.

I mean, at the same time, drinking microplastics is not a good thing.

Because obviously it’s bad for your health.

But at the same time, I mean, there’s a side to that whole situation in relation to the fact that they’re trying to fight climate change in this way and that way.

And these are one of the ways.

And I’m not just talking about consuming plastic into your internal body.

I’m talking about, like, the fact that they don’t want you to, like, have shopping bags, all to save the earth.

I mean, that’s another aspect of this whole situation.

And honestly, like, when it comes to consuming microplastics into your body, I think that that’s not a good idea, and something you should be avoiding generally.

But at the same time, I mean, when it comes to shopping bags, I definitely disagree with what they say.

I mean, I don’t really think that shopping bags are really that bad for the planet, and it’s, like, ridiculous.

I mean, cotton bags are, like, charging 33 cents here in Canada or 35 cents.

Some places, like Walmart, are charging, like, one to three dollars for a shopping bag.

I mean, this is absurd, because back in the day, I mean, not even that long ago, like, five years ago, the plastic bags were literally free, and now they’re, like, charging 35 cents, 50 cents, 90 cents a buck, three bucks for a cotton bag?

This is an absolute scam.

So I don’t really agree with that at all, but when it comes to microplastics, I can see the point.

And one of the things I’m going to reference, I’m going to reference others in the next episode is water bottles.

Water bottles are, like, one of the main contributing causes of microplastic intake into the body by people, because a lot of people do drink bottled water.

But, like, I mean, it is kind of bad, but it’s not the worst.

There’s other bad ones, worse ones.

But, I mean, just drinking one bottle of water can bring into yourself, like, 250,000 parts or particles of that stuff into your body.

So obviously you want to avoid that.

But okay, I’ll continue talking about that aspect as well as others on my next episode.

So that’s the end of this episode, episode number 71 with me, your host, Phil Defiance.

And I’ll always say that I’m here to encourage the spread of intriguing knowledge to spark fires and to spark fires in the minds of those seeking inspiration and truly improving the world.

I messed up on that one because, I mean, I was kind of annoyed that I took 22 minutes on an episode that was like supposed to be 10 minutes.

But either way, well, till next time, have a good one.