Inspired by Robbie the Robot

Has it only been 12 years since Post Database was first published? It seems like a lifetime has passed. We have seen so many changes in the IT industry, from PC's to the Internet.

Who knows what will come next? But before we examine that question, let's look back at how it all started.

Even when I was growing up back in the 1950's it seemed that computers were a part of our lives. Some of you will remember that wonderful movie, "Lost in Space" that featured Robbie the Robot, complete with flashing lights and a weird metallic voice.

Most of the time he seemed vastly superior to us poor humans. At other times poor Robbie was just a dumb tin can that frustrated everyone. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

That was my inspiration. But it wasn't until I joined the Royal Australian Air Force back in the early 60s that I actually got to work on computers. These weren't the powerful machines that sit on your desk today. They used punched cards, were dumber than your desktop calculator, and took up a huge air-conditioned room.

We used them to encrypt and transmit secret military messages: All very hush-hush. We also used other special encryption computers that we programmed using switches on the front. What a time-consuming job that was. But that was the start of my computer career.

I came to Thailand in 1978 and bought my first PC in 1982: a Commodore 64. It was an amazing machine. It used an ordinary cassette tape to store data, which was very slow. But it was possible to edit video tapes, write music, and program great graphics.

I bought it from a German who was leaving Thailand after completing a consulting job. He didn't want to bother carrying it back home. Lucky me!

At first I just played games. The Commodore had a good range of sophisticated games, even then. But I grew increasingly curious to know how it worked, so I bought some programming manuals and started teaching myself BASIC programming. It wasn't long before I was writing simple programs with moving characters and sound.

That still wasn't enough. I knew there was a future in computers and that programming them was just a start. It wasn't easy to make a living from PC computers at first.

However, that soon changed. It didn't take companies long to start buying PCs. Despite this, very few people knew how to use or maintain them, so I set up a company and started offering hardware and software maintenance contracts.

We moved to an office in Soi Ekamai and were soon selling hardware and software as well. At last I was making a living from the computer business.

Meanwhile I hired a Thai programmer who worked on mainframe computers at a well- known airline to come in and teach me database programming two or three times a week. We had a lot of fun and within a few months we started developing a mail merge program we called 'BusiMerge'.

This was way before Microsoft released their first version of Word. It used a dBase III database and was compiled into an executable file using Clipper. Once it was compiled, it would run on any PC. We sold over 200 copies of BusiMerge to companies in Bangkok.

About that time, the Post Database made its appearance and I noticed that no one was writing about databases, despite its name. So I talked to Tony Waltham and offered my services. From then on, I wrote a column called 'dBasics' about database programming and the IT industry.

One of the earliest Bulletin Board Services was run by the Bangkok User Group. It attracted a lot of visitors, so I set up 'Imagen BBS' and it, too, soon became very popular. The War on Virus (WoV) and Post Database BBSes followed soon after.

Each one provided lively discussion boards where visitors could talk about anything that struck their fancy. Apart from discussions, we were able to learn new computer techniques from each other, and compare the merits of various hardware and software solutions.

Since those heady days, the computer industry has gone through many changes, each one more exciting than the last. These days I run a Pentium 500 with 60 meg of RAM (I really must get more soon), with one 6 gigabyte and one 20 gigabyte hard disk.

The large hard disk is partitioned 2/18 GB, with Windows installed on the smaller partition. That way, I can upgrade Windows any time without having to format the whole hard disk. In addition, we have an ISDN line in the office which gives us super fast access to the Internet through our LAN.

So what does the future hold?

The Toys

First PC, a Commodore 64 and cassette drive in 1982 and the computer now used is a 500 MHz Pentium PC with 60 MB of RAM and two hard disks, 6 and 20 gigabytes in size. Online to BBSes here in the 1980s before setting up his own Imagen BBS, migrating to the Internet in the mid-1990s, translating his expertise in running the bulletin board into web site management. Now on-line to the Internet using ISDN.

New smaller devices will enable us to communicate wherever we go. Our household appliances will get smarter. Just imagine telling your radio, "Switch on and find FM 95.5." Or telling your fridge to call the service centre to replenish its cooling gas. We have already seen many of the things we called "Science Fiction" 30 years ago come true.

We have wrist watches with a small TV screen and built in 2-way radio, just like Dick Tracy used. There is no limit to our what our imaginations can bring into being. I'm sure that the Post Database will be right there telling you all about it in another 12 years.