Data compression History

[DH]

LHA formally LHarc/LHX/LH - Was this the first data compression utility

Was this the very first data compression utility (created in 1988 by Haruyasu Yoshizaki) for home computers and was the Amiga the first computer platform to use it???

I would like to think so, as I cant find any other compression utilities dated before this one. Maybe I'm wrong but the thought of this one being the first makes the Amiga really special indeed, 'cause this baby probably gave birth to all the others in the world. If this is so, then this would make the Amiga even more special as it gave rise to Data Compression, period, perhaps.

[Dizzy]

No the c64 also had programs for compression

http://www.cs.tut.fi/~albert/Dev/pucrunch/packing.html

[TCD]

Don't know if it was the first, but according to Wikipedia the Lempel-Ziv compression is from 1977.

[DH]

Originally Posted by Dizzy

No the c64 also had programs for compression

http://www.cs.tut.fi/~albert/Dev/pucrunch/packing.html

Damn! Thought I was onto something there. You've just blown the whole idea into turmoil From ZX81, Spectrum, Enterprise, Amstrad C464 and C64 the A500 was the first I knew that used data compression utilities

Hmmm. 1977 looks like the start. No Commodore Amiga's around then

But what about commercial data compression utilities, or even free ones?? Surely I'm onto something there, ones for the home user not for the programmers.

[DH]

Maybe I should of called this thread 'What was your favourite Data Compression Utility for the Amiga'

Edit: btw. You guys are all on BROADBAND 'n' I'm not, you lot can check more pages of google in 1 minute than I can in 30 mins

[Dizzy]

well you need a good internet compression

[alexh]

The idea RLE (Run Length Encoding) compression for textual data must date back 100's if not thousands of years

How come you're not on broadband? You live out in the middle of nowhere? Broadband is now so much cheaper than dialup.

[Dizzy]

Well he is the only one of use who is real Retro

[cosmicfrog]

wonder if DH is on a 14k modem on his a500 now that would be retro

I`m sure you can get broadband up north hell i can`t get channel 5 but i get broadband
if you choose you provider right whats £10 a month , talktalk and tisacli spring to mind
if only i wast locked into aol for another 10-12 months I`ld be savein

lets face it youve really got to sway the missis then , well you can guess

what to find out what compression can do for you do some searchin for pkzip yes that pc util we love to hate well i do

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PKZIP

[exoticaga]

Try this one has prices much better than dial-up.
I have not tried it, have nothing to do with the isp. Search the uk broadband forums, to see if its a good isp or not.

[Codetapper]

Originally Posted by alexh

Broadband is now so much cheaper than dialup.

That is a big generalisation I'm afraid! It might be true in the UK, but certainly not in New Zealand, Australia, probably all the pacific islands etc. You can get unlimited dialup for about $10 a month, vs $30 for the cheapest nastiest broadband.

I would never go back to dialup, but dialup is certainly cheaper in many parts of the world sadly!

[StevenJGore]

I`m sure you can get broadband up north

Yes you can, we've also just recently got piped water, sewage, and electricity!



Steve.

[TCD]

Yeah, but I think in the UK the broadband access should be not (much) more expensive than dial-up. Since he can use broadband from time to time it is interesting to know how much the difference for DemonHellraiser would be

[alexh]

Originally Posted by Codetapper

In New Zealand, Australia, probably all the pacific islands etc. You can get unlimited dialup for about $10 a month, vs $30 for the cheapest nastiest broadband.

Very interesting.

In the UK the cheapest (non offer) Broadband is £6.49/month which is about $15.75 AUD. The cheapest unlimited dialup I could find was £8.99

[DH]

I'll put you guy's out of misery

I call it dial-up but it isn't really, I only call it that 'cause it's damned slow, I get 115kb/s speed and it costs me 5 quid a month and has unlimited downloads. It's, lets just say, like a broadband dongle but it isn't, plug it into your computer and away you go. I love it, cause it's so cheap 'n' I don't need BT to come in and demand any line rentals either

Tell you what! I'd rather use this than have no internet at all and one day I'm sure in the near future, I will get broadband, just need to convince the wife it's a good thing and not completely full of filth 'n' pervs that pray on the unsuspected newcomer

[TCD]

Originally Posted by DemonHellraiser

Tell you what! I'd rather use this than have no internet at all and one day I'm sure in the near future, I will get broadband, just need to convince the wife it's a good thing and not completely full of filth 'n' pervs that pray on the unsuspected newcomer

Okay now I see Best of luck with convincing your wife

[Photon]

Originally Posted by DemonHellraiser

Tell you what! I'd rather use this than have no internet at all and one day I'm sure in the near future, I will get broadband, just need to convince the wife it's a good thing and not completely full of filth 'n' pervs that pray on the unsuspected newcomer

Ask your wife to describe her perception of the Internet...? Strange. :/

I don't envy your prospect, but wish you luck. Be convincing!

[OddbOd]

Originally Posted by alexh

The idea RLE (Run Length Encoding) compression for textual data must date back 100's if not thousands of years.

Good point, variable length encoding can be dated to 1838 (Morse) so presumably the idea was not new then, though finding an application for it probably was.

The first general purpose archiver for home computers that actually saw widespread use was Thom Henderson's ARC. The PKZIP page on Wikipedia correctly points out there were many compressors written prior to ARC but they weren't widely used.

[DH]

Ah! So this was the mother of all archivers, I suppose

[DH]

Originally Posted by Photon

Ask your wife to describe her perception of the Internet...? Strange.

In one word '' she don't like it.