Hello World

Dave and Nancy found the old computers while going through storage looking for children's costumes. At least, that's what they said they were doing. The two of them often find out of the way places to be alone.

     Dave hauled the computers up and showed them off. "I think maybe we can do a program about them," he said.

     Nancy stood beside him beaming. "A children's tech program. Technology of yester-year."

     I looked at the old, browning plastic and glass. The computers were Apple II's, probably purchased sometime in the 1980s. The big keyboard held most of the computing power, probably less than processing power than the table it sat on. On top of the keyboard was a small nine inch CRT monitor with separate floppy drives. "Do they even work?" I said.

     "Good question. Just about to plug them in," Dave said. "I used to play with these when I was little."

     Nancy said, "And even if they don't, we can display them. Put up some CDs and floppy discs, I bet I have an old iPod somewhere. See what other old technology we can find."

     "Like the magnifiers in the reading room or the microfilm readers," I said, hoping they would not try to move the hulking giants. We had up-to-date microfilm readers that hooked to computers, but we also still had the ancient "light and mirrors" model that were serviced by a single guy two hundred miles away.

     Dave had bent over and was fiddling with the wires in the back. He swore under his breath and stood up sucking a finger. He said, "Got bit. Little shock from the thing, but hey, the wires work."

     He flicked a switch on the rear of the machine, and it beeped. The monitor scrolled for a second, put out some snow, then a small cursor blinked on the screen. At the top, the screen in basic white on black was "APPLE II." Dave typed a few commands and the screen began to scroll the text "HELLO WORLD."

     "I even remember some basic commands. Apple Basic ha," Dave said with a grin. "Keyboard is still really nice."

     "What can it do?" I said.

     "No idea. Probably basic programs. I'll play around with it," Dave said.

     "I'm sure you'll find some great things for the kids," Nancy said.

     The text stopped scrolling. The cursor blinked for a moment. The screen went dark, then the text "HELLO DAVE" began scrolling.

     "I didn't tell it to do that," Dave said. He leaned over and struck a few keys, typing "HOME." The screen went back to the basic cursor. Dave moved a small lever on the disc drive, pulling out a floppy disc. The disc had a child's scrawl on it that read, "MY BEST FRIEND APPLE."

     "Oh wow," Dave said.

     "What's that?" I said. 

     Dave put the disc back in the drive. "It's a program I wrote a long time ago. I forgot all about that."

     "Wait, when you said you used to play with these, did you mean these computers?" Nancy said.

     Dave nodded. "Back when mom was the children's librarian. These computers were in the old building, on the first floor."

     I said, "Blast from the past, huh?"

     "You have no idea," Dave said. "I'll take it to the basement and get it cleaned up. Ready for prime time."

     Dave went around the desk to turn it off. Just before the screen went dark, I saw a message. "I MISSED YOU DAVE" scrolled before the little CRT screen went black with a small pop.

     "I'll help you carry it back," Nancy said.

     "Double check the wires, huh? Don't want any fire hazards," I said.

     "I'll check over everything with the air compressor and voltage meter. I'll take care of it," Dave said with his hand resting on the small monitor. Protective.

     I left him and Nancy to the machine thinking maybe I should tell the director. Then I shook my head. Dave was good at what he did, an expert with our computers. He didn't need his mother checking in on him.