When did you get your first computer and what was it?
- Thread starter Kyle
- Start date
Probably a Tandy 1000 circa 1984.
My friend at the old AOM computers (Hi Tim!) gave me a 286 that could barely accommodate DOS and taught me how to use it (as far as it could be used, that is).
Next up was a Mac that was fun for creating newsletters, writing columns, and not much else. It came with some Apple community similar to AOL but getting on the real internet was a challenge, not that there was a whole lot to see.
Once we started Somd.com David insisted I get a real computer so I could work. I want to say it ran Win95. And another friend hooked me up with a Mac Powerbook so I could show prospective clients what the internet was and proof their websites.
Next up was a Mac that was fun for creating newsletters, writing columns, and not much else. It came with some Apple community similar to AOL but getting on the real internet was a challenge, not that there was a whole lot to see.
Once we started Somd.com David insisted I get a real computer so I could work. I want to say it ran Win95. And another friend hooked me up with a Mac Powerbook so I could show prospective clients what the internet was and proof their websites.
In the late 80s, early 90s, I inherited the old file server from Raley Insurance Company. My brother used to do some work for them and he accepted it as partial payment. It's a 386 with a push button to boost the bus from 8 to 16mhz, if I remember correctly. It's in the attic waiting for me to pull it out, dust it off, and install a new fan in the PS.
Edit: I also believe it has a whopping 150mb hdd.
Edit: I also believe it has a whopping 150mb hdd.
Last edited:
Clem72
Well-Known Member
I was a member of a two local computer "user groups" in the bay area and I wasted a lot of money on early kit computers like the Altair 8800 as we got a "deal" from the manufacturer if we purchased as a group, and we could troubleshoot the MANY issues we had building and using them together. I say wasted because like my bowflex I spent more time assembling them and getting them working than I ever did using them. I didn't seriously start using a computer for daily activities until I got an IBM 286 (I want to say 8mhz).
My father had one of those programmable HP Calculators
We had a Heathkit H-89 running CP/M
I used a Time Share Basic Terminal in High School that dialed into a Mainframe at PG Community College over Acoustic Modem
When I came home from the Military in 1988 Mom had a Mac Plus
My 1st Computer was a Commodore 128
We had a Heathkit H-89 running CP/M
I used a Time Share Basic Terminal in High School that dialed into a Mainframe at PG Community College over Acoustic Modem
When I came home from the Military in 1988 Mom had a Mac Plus
My 1st Computer was a Commodore 128
That was it!
Grumpy
Well-Known Member
I got a 386 sometime in the early 90s, bought it from a store up in Rockville, upgraded to an Acer in mid 90s, then a Dell Pentium in early 2000s and another Dell in 2014(this one I am using). Looked at getting a new one last summer but looked like all were pretty much 'build your own', everything ala carte. Got distracted by other things and never looked again.
Grumpy
Well-Known Member
Worked at NASA/Goddard for 10 years running various IBM 360 and HP computers, left in early 80s when they finally upgraded the 360s to a 308x system. PCs had just become a thing when I left Goddard.
I bought a used 8088 off an ad in the base newspaper at NASJAX. The ad said it came with hundreds of dollars worth of software. I thought that was a good deal. Until I realized later that you could easily copy all the files.
No hard drive, dual floppy disks. Boot disk. Then run a program and save data to the B: drive.
WordPefect, Lotus 1 2 3 & dBase III+ got me started and hooked. Did some programming with QBasic.
Iterations, loops, if, then, else, do while, X = X + 1. Once someone explained how it worked, it made more sense. It was downright brilliant. I think the best tool available at the time to become a better programmer was the debugging tools. You can step a line at a time and check variable values as you go along. It sure helps when you get a value that you didn't expect. It was a lot more efficient than staring at a print out of your program trying to figure out where the bug lies.
No hard drive, dual floppy disks. Boot disk. Then run a program and save data to the B: drive.
WordPefect, Lotus 1 2 3 & dBase III+ got me started and hooked. Did some programming with QBasic.
Iterations, loops, if, then, else, do while, X = X + 1. Once someone explained how it worked, it made more sense. It was downright brilliant. I think the best tool available at the time to become a better programmer was the debugging tools. You can step a line at a time and check variable values as you go along. It sure helps when you get a value that you didn't expect. It was a lot more efficient than staring at a print out of your program trying to figure out where the bug lies.
Clem72
Well-Known Member
Spam Spam Spam Humbug
Clem72
Well-Known Member
My Favorite ... many hours spent at the post library
I was always an RPG fan, but I think my favoite C-64 game was this one: