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Ask Slashdot: What Was Your First Home Computer?
We've recently seen stories about old computers and sys-ops resurrecting 1980s BBS's, but now an anonymous reader has a question for all Slashdot readers:
Whenever I meet geeks, there's one question that always gets a reaction: Do you remember your first home computer? This usually provokes a flood of fond memories about primitive specs -- limited RAM, bad graphics, and early versions of long-since-abandoned operating systems. Now I'd like to pose the same question to Slashdot's readers.
Use the comments to share details about your own first home computer. Was it a back-to-school present from your parents? Did it come with a modem? Did you lovingly upgrade its hardware for years to come? Was it a Commodore 64 or a BeBox?
It seems like there should be some good stories, so leave your best answers in the comments. What was your first home computer?
Use the comments to share details about your own first home computer. Was it a back-to-school present from your parents? Did it come with a modem? Did you lovingly upgrade its hardware for years to come? Was it a Commodore 64 or a BeBox?
It seems like there should be some good stories, so leave your best answers in the comments. What was your first home computer?
...VIC-20. Purchased at a garage sale for $20. Later I upgraded to the C-64... and even later an Amiga 500. These days, computers can do anything and the primary difference between my current Windows 7 Pro machine and the next PC i buy will be the horrible Windows 10 UI. But back in the 80's and 90's every new computer was different and NEW and EXCITING. I miss that feeling. Much like my first run through Ashron's Call.
Actually, my first home computer was a slide rule, both at home and at work. But when they became available I bought a Commodore 64 with a floppy disk drive and a printer. Used it for everything, especially word processing (what a relief being able to easily correct my typing mistakes before sending a letter) and even had a little database program for all of my genealogy research. What a big aid to organization that was! On weekends my son used it for games, and for re-writing those games. He already knew BASIC (by absorption I guess) so I learned it too. And I got a cartridge for the C-64 that enabled me to send and receive AMTOR digital signals with my ham radio transceiver.
Meanwhile, at work, I was doing assembler language (PAL) on a DEC PDP-8 for data acquisition and processing in a small lab. Those were the days!!
A little later I bought an 80286 for home. Today you can buy three or four computers for what I paid my my '286.