I just read that some of the first CAD software ran on computers with only 64KB of RAM

Found this on a tech history blog last night. They were talking about early 80s systems like AutoCAD 1.0. It's wild to think people drafted entire buildings on that. My current setup has 32GB, which is like 500,000 times more memory. Makes you appreciate how much the tools have changed, even if the basic job is the same. Anyone else come across a fact like that that puts the old days in perspective?

2 comments

2 Comments

moore.joel5d ago

The Apollo guidance computer that landed on the moon had just 4KB of RAM. Engineers literally wove the software by hand with wires through magnetic cores. It makes that 64KB CAD machine look like a supercomputer in comparison. We've traded raw constraint for pure power, but sometimes I wonder if that limitation forced a clearer kind of thinking.

patchen5d ago

Used to think more power always meant better tools, but this made me see the value in limits. When you only have 4KB, you can't just throw code at a problem. You have to understand it perfectly and write only what's needed. That kind of focus is a skill we've lost.