CeBIT — Kicking me into the Technology Industry 1987
Things I always wanted to share — How I’ve got established
A very long time I ago, I started in the Technology Industry — I would say in the mid eighties while still at school. It happened that my home town is actually Hanover (in German written Hannover), which also happens to be the home town of CeBIT — the worlds largest computer show.
I was a happy BBS and on-line data communication user from the first hour. BBSes (called Mailboxen in German) like Aqcuila, HannoverByByte, Guro/Gubo, Compaed, and the first networked BBS via Z-Net like OLN and others.
CeBIT is the biggest Computer Fair in the world and it happened in my home town. How great is that? I used the time to visit it very early on. It split in the early eighties from the Industrial Fair — also the largest in the world and also in Hanover.
I used to get a journalist entry card via a local town news weekly and managed to attend all the press conferences. Very cool! I ve met all the top guys — didn’t do anything to me, other than forming my views!
At the time Atari ST and Commodore Amiga (a Mac Knock-off, but cheaper) were very popular. I used to be a die hard Atari fan and had an Atari ST myself. At one of the press conferences Jack Tramiel was talking and people were begging him literally not to swing fully into the MS-DOS camp, but keep driving the ST — we know what really happened.
In a bar around his hotel he was talking to some of us nerds and promised a free Atari ST for anyone finding a bug in his Operating System TOS — easy and yes, he did send a few free STs.
At another CeBIT there was one hall to become a “youth exchange place” and a manager from a weapons manufacturer run that project. The funny thing was, whenever I asked a question about it, I was hushed away and wasn’t meant to keep digging. They even called my little town paper to drop my journalist card — that made me join the IG Medien Union — members are automatically acreddited. Never found out what the fuss was all about though.
At one time, I wrote my own Pre-Internet Browser BBS Type of Application. It used multiple windows and basic graphics. For the introduction of ISDN in Germany the government wanted to show examples of new data communication options in Germany — so my app was showcased on the CeBIT.
I was there manning the stand for 5-6 days and some friends covered for me the other 2 days or so, when I had to go back attending University. It was interesting, I got to know many people. Think without the Internet going to these shows was very important. On the first day of the show I had some issues with the demonstration platform and had to re-compile the code around opening hours. The head of that project just commented “That’s the way its supposed to be” and another “oh’ you are already compiling!”
Now don’t laugh. At IBM and Microsoft it was the same. OS/2 could’t be shown until day 2 or 3 because the boys — you guessed it — were still compiling the code!
Met some interesting people from QNX. One of the Operating Systems (next to C64, TOS, MS-DOS, Windows, Linux, and MacOS) I developed in. The core app was a lite RDBMS, which was the engine for a Real Estate Property pacakge I wrote for my family business (and others). This was just pre-Windows area and QNX made it easy running many users across terminals.
Great people at QNX and also got to know people at Norhtern Telecom through this. With founders of both I actually started an IT Company, which created Internet Access and the first sites in Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar and that over 20 years ago. In effect these contacts and starting this company, got me to Asia in the first place.
I worked as an intern at a Computer and SI shop in Hannover. Someone stole a new laptop and wanted to sell it there, clearly it was a demo model and we managed to call the police and got the guy arrested … just another story.
It used to be great fun. Sadly such exhibitions now are only sales and the people behind the products aren’t there anymore. No Jack Tramial sending computers around the world.
