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This was my first real home computer too. I had mine set up with permanent storage of course....tapes, lots and lots of tapes storing lots of lots of software. Most of it self written. I also had the little thermal printer. Didn't have the memory expansion pack, or the modem (they did have modems for them) though. I do remember how much I wanted them though, but it was hard to find the parts around here. I spend a lot of time programming my own simple video games, and text based games into it. Also wrote some more "practical" software such as a menu driven system (to pull software off a cassette), a simple database program, and checkbook balancing software...I tried to get my family into the "modern computer era" and help them computerize their business but that didn't really fly.

After it exploded (long story), I picked up a used CBM 8032 for practically nothing. This was said to be the business version of the old Commodore PET....but really just a PET renamed. It had disk drives (they came in a big, bulky, seperate unit you could fit a PC in today), 32K RAM, and 1MHZ processor! And I also got two (enormous) printers with it!

Typo: I meant TI-99. See here: http://oldcomputers.net/ti994a.html

TI-89 was my high school calculator... :)

My first system was a TI-99/4a that my dad got in the early early 80s (1982 or 1983). He's a EE and was doing some amount of microcontroller programming @ work, and thought this would be a cool toy computer. We had a tape drive hooked up so we could use the BASIC interpreter and run programs from tape... I remember typing in programs from magazines and even whole books of code ("BASIC games" and stuff like that, it's still sitting in my parents' basement), and getting hooked on programming that way.

We had some game cartridges too (Parsec, woo woo!), and my dad & brother & I all spent time playing those, but it was the idea that you could type in your programs and RUN them that amazed me. We got an NES later, but the idea of programmable computers stuck with me. Guess that's why I like using Linux/BSD/open-source operating systems instead of Windows. :)

We later got an IBM Model 8180 PC (with CGA graphics!) in 1985 that my mom used to run her own business, and a bastard 386 clone with a VGA card around 1991 or 1992. The first computer that was actually mine, all mine, was a Compaq Presario CDS 524 - all-in-one box, 14" monitor, 4MB RAM, Cirrus Logic VGA chipset with 512K VRAM - took it to college, and had all sorts of fun with it until I bought a Gateway Pentium Pro box a few years later.

My first computer was a Exidy Sorcerer http://oldcomputers.net/sorcerer.html and I used it to type up a school report about whale's. My father brought it home one day. We had it hooked up to a electronic daisy wheel typewriter from brother.

I still have the computer, with the (Very) large disk reader.

From then I went on to a zx-81, various MSX computers, a philips yes and than a "proper" PC.

Now I'm typing this on a Dell D800 widescreen (1920x1200) notebook.

My first actual computer (not counting programmable calculators) was a MOS KIM-1, a 6502 based single board with 1K of RAM, a 6 digit LED display, and an on board hex keypad. It was programmed in 6502 machine code (I still remember that opcode x2 where x=anything other than A crashed the processor). Bought it in 1976. Within 2 years, I upgraded to a PET 2001 with 8K of RAM, and that's where I first began to make money programming (I was 14 at the time). The PET came with Microsoft BASIC built in, so I can actually say I've got 28 years of experience with Microsoft products (and look what it did to me ;)

My first actual computer (not counting programmable calculators) was a MOS KIM-1, a 6502 based single board with 1K of RAM, a 6 digit LED display, and an on board hex keypad. It was programmed in 6502 machine code (I still remember that opcode x2 where x=anything other than A crashed the processor). Bought it in 1976. Within 2 years, I upgraded to a PET 2001 with 8K of RAM, and that's where I first began to make money programming (I was 14 at the time). The PET came with Microsoft BASIC built in, so I can actually say I've got 28 years of experience with Microsoft products (and look what it did to me ;)

For those wondering what the Aquarius was here is some linkage. I vaguely remember seeing one as a kid.

First, a good ol' KayproII. I don't know which I used it for more, to use WordStar, or to play Adventure. (http://oldcomputers.net/kayproii.html)

Next, a Mattel Aquarius. What? It is a computer and has games with Atari-style graphics right on my TV?!?! That Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game ate away a lot of my early childhood. (http://oldcomputers.net/aquarius.html)

My favorite, though, is an Epson PX-8. BASIC was preloaded, and had a 1000 page book full of sample programs and language syntax. It was what get me interested in software development. Had it until only a couple of years ago. (http://oldcomputers.net/px-8.html)

First, a good ol' KayproII. I don't know which I used it for more, to use WordStar, or to play Adventure. (http://oldcomputers.net/kayproii.html)

Next, a Mattel Aquarius. What? It is a computer and has games with Atari-style graphics right on my TV?!?! That Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game ate away a lot of my early childhood. (http://oldcomputers.net/aquarius.html)

My favorite, though, is an Epson PX-8. BASIC was preloaded, and had a 1000 page book full of sample programs and language syntax. It was what get me interested in software development. Had it until only a couple of years ago. (http://oldcomputers.net/px-8.html)

First, a good ol' KayproII. I don't know which I used it for more, to use WordStar, or to play Adventure. (http://oldcomputers.net/kayproii.html)

Next, a Mattel Aquarius. What? It is a computer and has games with Atari-style graphics right on my TV?!?! That Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game ate away a lot of my early childhood. (http://oldcomputers.net/aquarius.html)

My favorite, though, is an Epson PX-8. BASIC was preloaded, and had a 1000 page book full of sample programs and language syntax. It was what get me interested in software development. Had it until only a couple of years ago. (http://oldcomputers.net/px-8.html)

Mine first cmputer was an Atari 400 that my dad bought in 1981. He could do programming on it, and I could play video games (Star Raiders was the sh!t). I wrote my forst program in BASIC that year too.

10 PRINT HI
20 GOTO 10

I can still hear the screech of loading programs off of cassette tape.....good times.....

I had the Timex Sinclair 1000, which was the North American Version of the ZX-81. 2K RAM, 3.25MHz. I would program text adventure games as a crazy long series of if-then-goto statements. At the end of the day, my father would make me turn it off. No permanent storage -- poof, gone. It was awesome.

I had the Timex Sinclair 1000, which was the North American Version of the ZX-81. 2K RAM, 3.25MHz. I would program text adventure games as a crazy long series of if-then-goto statements. At the end of the day, my father would make me turn it off. No permanent storage -- poof, gone. It was awesome.

the Timex Sinclair 1000 was my first. Black and white TV output, no lower-case characters, a membrane keyboard, and a whopping 16 kilobytes of memory made it a wonder that I didn't move to a shack in Montana and foreswear all technology.

It's doubly surprising since my second computer was the ill-fated IBM PCjr (which, to be fair, was a decent computer once the infamous chicklet keyboard was replaced).

ZX Spectrum: 256x192 (8 color bits per 8x8 square)

Commodore 64: 320x200 in HiRes mode

Apple II: 280x160 (according to http://oldcomputers.net/byteappleII.html)

Modern phone SonyEricssofn K608: 176x220 (256k colors) (http://www.mobile-review.com/phonemodels/sonyeric sson/sonyericsson-k608-en.shtml)

Modern phone Nokia 3230: 176x208 (64k colors) (http://www.mobile-review.com/phonemodels/nokia/no kia-3230-en.shtml)

Screen resolutions are approximately the same. Sure, there are more colors now.

It will be more like Compaq Portable.

This looks like an updated version of the original TI-99/4a computer, with the modules upended.
http://oldcomputers.net/index.html

Fortunately; TI eventually decided to put all the periphials in a single case, the P.E.B., ending up with a computer system that looked a lot like a modern PC.

It just reminds me of the TI-99/4A expansion slot with a string of peripherals: see the second picture on this page. Luckily, TI also had a Peripheral Expansion Box where you could put your stuff in.

Next!

The TI-99 http://oldcomputers.net/ti994a.html was heavily stackable.

If you need them, wear them. Your eye muscles will fatigue if you don't. If you're vanity is against the the glasses then go out and drop 400 clams on a pair of 'hip' ones from a specialty store. If nothing else they can help with your geek-cool persona. (There is such a thing right?) Since you are younger get your prescription checked regularly since your vision is going to change.

Ideal lighting is typical living room. Diffuse, somewhat lower light. Basically set up some floor lamps without any being in your direct line of sight. Adjust your brightness as appropriate and avoid having it too bright. I've noticed that most non-mac monitors are WAY to contrasty and people tend to have the brightness turned all the way up. Typical computer lab lighting is horrible and not to be emulated.

As you get older your corneas will get harder and your distance vision will actually start to improve (at the cost of your near vision of course). It sounds like the poster is too young for this... but others sound like they might be experiencing this.

But what do I know... My first machine was an Atari 800. Which seems to mean that I am way too old.

It was done in 1983, you can get one for about $50-$100 on Ebay. See:

http://oldcomputers.net/sx64.html

The original laptop!

I think the article's author is pretty new to computers. Wow! I can boot any computer from something I carry around! I think I know what USB flash drives are. I generally prefer this, or at worst this.

You kids these days, you have it good! Back in my day we had to lug "portable" around, uphill both ways! And we liked it!

What is the "Osbourne Effect"? Is that where you can't understand what the hell someone is saying, for various reasons (slurred speach, illogical conclusions, etc)? Yes, a reduction of that is really needed here at slashdot.

A cool thing for Apple, would be to reduce the Osborne effect, where people don't buy your existing product because you've pre-announced something better.

I started out using a Kaypro II luggable writing some pretty crappy MBASIC (learned entirely from the reference manual). My first PC was a Packard Bell 486SX w/ 4MB of RAM (upgraded to 8MB for Windows 95).

I took this approach: I started fooling around with computers when I was 10 with my dad's KIM-1 (http://oldcomputers.net/kim1.html), moved up to BASIC on an OSI Challenger 1P (http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp? st=1&c=813), wrote some simple programs, a game, etc.

When I went to college in 1984, I had the fortunate realization that I was there to get an education, not just job training, and that it might be the last opportunity of my life to spend most of my time studying what I wanted just because I wanted to study it.

So I studied English Lit., a subject I truly enjoyed. It isn't, however, where I want to make my living.

After I graduated, I learned very quickly that employers value what you can actually do more than what degree you have, so I found work in IT based on the 10+ years of experience I had doing that kind of work (as a hobbyist).

As a result of layoffs, I've had a new job every year since 2001, felt the ever-mounting pressure to put in more hours on the job, etc. But I still like what I do, and I'm happy with the way I got here.

DOS 3.3 was the first MS OS I understood, so much so that, when the first DOSSHELL came out, I asked why would someone need that? I jumped on the NT technology because, when it first came out, it was well documented, (vis a vis my experience) and it allowed a whole new playing field. When NT 4 came out MS moved Video and Printer drivers from User mode to kernel mode. This was, IIRC, about the time Bill Gates had his vision of the PC integrated multi media household. I believe the PC version of Windows has persued this vision of multimedia OS to the point of having become in WinXP an ugly, bloated kludge, but it does, as much as possible, deliver in an ugly way, as a backward compatible multimedia OS.

Win 2K was the last OS to maintain the promise that Win New Technology brought with it. Win XP saw the culimnation of MS' effort to integrate Win95/98/ME with some of the benefits of NT, but the end result is an all and everything everyman's stew meant to satisfy the cravings of the masses.

I run WinXP on a web box for multimedia but thanks to the lessons gleaned online (/.:) I'm moving on to a *BSD, or one of the upcoming microkernel OSes to do research.

The IBM 5100 was good enough for John Titor, so buy one now!

The first program I ever wrote was on a VIC-20. That just brings back memories.

The first program I ever wrote was on a VIC-20. That just brings back memories.

S'truth! It'd be awfully lumpy!

No chance. It's financial suicide to make such an announcement.

They had a computer, the Mattel Aquarius. However, the Juicebox has enough power and storage to be an Enterprise Server for a LAN of Aquariuses. (If they have LANs.)

It has all been tried before...

Type it out in plain text/ascii and format it properly when you get home and u/l the files to your real computer via it's RS-232 serial port. 16 + Hour battery life on 4 AA batteries that you can find anywhere. Full sized keyboard, small form factor. There have been many a journalist/writer who swears by one of these for use in absolutely primitive/harsh 3rd world conditions. These little suckers are apparently very tough and tres retro. Wired had an article about the TRS 100/102's and other old/obsolete but still serviceable computers.

Some of the lower memory versions are avaiable /near-mint/used/refurbished starting at $75.

Or check out E-Bay, found a few going really cheap right now:

• Model 100's
• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=74947&item=5197944964&rd=1

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=1247&item=5199719083&rd=1

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=74947&item=5200179003&rd=1

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=74947&item=5201521879&rd=1

  Model 102's

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=4193&item=5200512388&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=74947&item=5200683165&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

• http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ca tegory=74947&item=5200683165&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

DaveC

Yes, Intel and AMD publish info on their processors--this is exacly why they are successful. There have been proprietary processors in the past as well. They are not common knowledge because they were big flops. The IBM PC model 5150 that spawned the architecture we use today was NOT the first PC that IBM made--that honour goes to the IBM model 5100. Why was it a complete flop? Well, IBM did NOT release detailed specs for the processor of the 5100, or any of the hardware for that matter. They kept the instruction set and everything secret! Non-IBMers could only program it in high-level languages!

FYI open SOFTWARE isn't very new either--in the early days where computing was a more purely scientific/academic endeavour coders tended to share their code with relatively few restrictions. When computers became popular and commercial software got proprietary--the GNU movement was actually reactionary in a sense--a desire to return to the early days of true sharing and collaberation.

There appears to be an analogue situation happening with PC hardware. In the 70s there was little effort put into protecting designs--Intel and AMD are just following that legacy with their CPUs. The Homebrew club members proudly showed off their clever designs. Computers even came with schematic drawings (even pre assembled ones)! By the 80s hardware vendors started going down the proprietary path (encrypted Atari7800 cartriges, The Macintosh, IBM's MCA bus, etc) until we have absurdities like ATI and NVidia GPUs, "soft" modems and wireless chipsets and so on that you cannot make work without proprietary information.

Open ANYTHING isn't new...it's just the relisation that success of an idea is ultimately limited or impossible in an environment that is too closed.

Oh, and you might not want to talk about FPGAs becasue they're "uncompetitive"--that is not the point--I personally HAVE obtained HDL code and configured an FPGA and "RAN" that code for far less than $1000. Could a pre-fabbed ASIC be obtained cheaper? absolutely...probably for one tenth the cost and far less trouble...but it is unmodifiable. I can take a RISC CPU core and other bits and pieces and make my own customised design for next to nothing...almost as easily as making custom software apps. The arguments about TCO of MS vs GNU are continually shot down for software--the same can be said about hardware...there are far more important benefits to open-ness than just the cost factor once you've achieved a certain critical barrier-to-entry.

Wasn't that a flop?

Well finally!!

A machine worthy of replacing my Compaq Model 1.

http://oldcomputers.net/compaqi.html ...about the same price too!

A 19" laptop...a laptop computer that may violate the size requirements for aircraft carry-on luggage...not that's progress!

Nah. This is old news.
http://oldcomputers.net/kayproii.html
http://oldcomputers.net/

Proving once again how far behind the times Dell really is... :)

A 19" laptop...a laptop computer that may violate the size requirements for aircraft carry-on luggage...not that's progress!

Nah. This is old news.
http://oldcomputers.net/kayproii.html
http://oldcomputers.net/

Proving once again how far behind the times Dell really is... :)

Positive effects: Lots of innovation, as hackers create their favorite add ins. And more consumer choice, as people refrain from buying all those stupid bundled features that nobody needs.

Negative effects: Lots and lots of kludgy crap. I mean, think back to what it was like when ISA bus systems were still new. IRQ conflicts, flaky hardware, confusing documentation. It's goten a lot better with PCI and Plug-and -Play. But there are still a lot of problems only a professional geek can solve. The thought of dealing with that short of shit every time they make a phone call is not something most consumers would go for!

That brings back memories. A couple of friends of mine had [Timex] Sinclairs. My first computer was an Atari 400. It also had a (much larger) membrane "keyboard", jazzed up by little ridges which ringed each keyspot. But it was still murder trying to type. In fact, you really couldn't; you just mashed away. It truly sucked, especially since writing, and getting my touch-typing together, were among my goals at the time. Once I scored an Atari 800, with something resembling a real keyboard, I was much happier--although AFAICR the choice of word processing programs still sucked.

That brings back memories. A couple of friends of mine had [Timex] Sinclairs. My first computer was an Atari 400. It also had a (much larger) membrane "keyboard", jazzed up by little ridges which ringed each keyspot. But it was still murder trying to type. In fact, you really couldn't; you just mashed away. It truly sucked, especially since writing, and getting my touch-typing together, were among my goals at the time. Once I scored an Atari 800, with something resembling a real keyboard, I was much happier--although AFAICR the choice of word processing programs still sucked.

Since you can't feel the keys, you have to be looking at the keyboard to use it. The last time I had to type on such a keyboard, with no "tactile feedback", was on an old Timex Sinclair 1000.

It was neither a fun nor pleasant experience.

You need a Compaq Portable II

Oh, so YOU'RE the SlashDot reader who've had sex?? ;-)

Anyway, it says that 94% of all people questioned gave their pet's name. I'm sorry, I don't buy that 94% of the population have a pet. They didn't sell THAT well:

http://oldcomputers.net/pet2001.html

Lots of jobs, there.

It has been my observation that it takes a lot of time, and a certain knack, to work with computers, and the hardware. (I certainly don't know nearly enough, but I keep at it).

I started out with an ADAM computer, and although I did upgrade it some, I mostly wrote software to run on it. I added the disk drive, and that was a great time-saver.

According to the ADAM website linked above, it did not have an 8086 processor, but note the speed, of nearly 4 MHZ.

I remember writing a program that would figure out how long it would take a bank to compound an account to a million dollars, it they started out with one hours pay at the then minimum wage, and deposited the money in a simple saving account.

ADAM figured out it would take around 1000 years, and I used the "step" smartbasic item, to have the progress of the calculation displayed on the screen.

How long did ADAM take to do the calculation? Less than 10 minutes. Remember, we are blazing along at nearly 4 MHZ cpu clock speed.

So, with no internet to look at yet, that's what we did with computers. There was a modem available to connect to bulletin boards, but I didn't get into that then.

On your post, garcia, I agree with the part, especially, about spending the time necessary to learn. (or not spending the time to learn). Today we have Windows machines with hidden source code, not giving the owners of the PC's a chance to figure it out. And so many PC's shipping with Windows, too.

If the owners wanted to, where would they start?

Exhaustive nothing; they left the Dynalogic Hyperion off the list. Remember the Hyperion?

I had a CompaQ Portable "sewing machine"; the guy in the office next to mine in grad school had a Hyperion: amber monochrome monitor instead of the ubiquitous green, two 5-1/2" floppy drives and still 7 lbs lighter than my machine. Came with a nifty padded carrying case too! But I wasn't complaining ... the CompaQ meant I didn't have to spend all night at my office! (Thanks again, Leo.)

I still own a Hewlett-Packard HP-110. I used one back in the late eighties to perform calculations for phase-matching cables based on electrical length. The built in Lotus 1-2-3 and a lead-acid battery were plusses at the time (I still like a lead-acid battery over the junk they make batteries out of now.)

Here's a brief description.