For me it was Basic on the Aster (CP/M), and not much later the c64. However, I remember getting really 'drawn in' after getting the 'feedback' of what my programs did.
There's nothing that gives more feedback than Lego Mindstorms robotics; even the old sets (cheap second hands) will allow a very simple (GUI) start, and allow an upgrade path (NQC for example) which could later lead to *nix hacking.
I think the article is right on the money, for now. I also think the people visiting slashdot may not be the same demographic group compared to the one mentioned in the article. I guess we can be considered 'early adapters'. Where Joe Average still feels his main reason for having DSL is not having to worry about the minutes he has to pay for (and I remember that sentiment, it's been a few years though), we have already gone beyond that point and discovered that broadband gives us more possibilities. The fact that we may be a bit more computer literate won't hurt. 'Us geeks' have the toys and the knowlegde to fill the broadband, but just wait a year, or possibly even less and the learning curves will be even less steep, the software will be more user friendly and the 5Mbit digital camera will be cheaper than today.
I say that broadbands selling point makes sense. It made sense for the early adapter who helped develop the market, and in the near future it will make sense to the average user who could care less right now.
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To check if the Bios supports virtualization (from windows): http://www.servercare.nl/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=23
For me it was Basic on the Aster (CP/M), and not much later the c64. However, I remember getting really 'drawn in' after getting the 'feedback' of what my programs did. There's nothing that gives more feedback than Lego Mindstorms robotics; even the old sets (cheap second hands) will allow a very simple (GUI) start, and allow an upgrade path (NQC for example) which could later lead to *nix hacking.
I think the article is right on the money, for now. I also think the people visiting slashdot may not be the same demographic group compared to the one mentioned in the article. I guess we can be considered 'early adapters'. Where Joe Average still feels his main reason for having DSL is not having to worry about the minutes he has to pay for (and I remember that sentiment, it's been a few years though), we have already gone beyond that point and discovered that broadband gives us more possibilities. The fact that we may be a bit more computer literate won't hurt. 'Us geeks' have the toys and the knowlegde to fill the broadband, but just wait a year, or possibly even less and the learning curves will be even less steep, the software will be more user friendly and the 5Mbit digital camera will be cheaper than today. I say that broadbands selling point makes sense. It made sense for the early adapter who helped develop the market, and in the near future it will make sense to the average user who could care less right now.