Re: First computers . . .

[CUTjefbla@bconnex.net (Jeff Blakeney)]

On Tue, 02 Jan 2001 18:00:54 -0600, Cat Fud <catfud@mailcity.com>
wrote:

>dev.null@personal.information.com wrote:
>> 
>> While reading about the bad-old-days of computing I came across the statement
>> that, "it is well known in the computer science field that programmers tend to
>> think of the first machine they ever used as being one of the most interest-
>> ing."  And I am curious, how many of you started out on an Apple II?
>> 
>> The Apple II was probably the third computer I used, but I am most fond of it
>> because it is the one machine that I spent a lot of time learning how to
>> program.  (The first two were more like toys, the C=64 and VIC-20.)
>> 
>> Byron.
>
>	The first computer that I used was an Apple IIe in grade school about
>'80 or '81 (I forget if I used a computer in kindergarden). 

My first experience with computers was when I entered grade 9 in the
fall of 1981.  At that time there were only computer classes for grade
11 and up students and only those students who were in a computer
class were allowed into the computer room.  I guess my math teacher
saw some potential in me (I had around a 98% average in math :-) and
he used to take me into the computer room until everyone got used to
seeing me there so that I could come and go as I pleased.  I borrowed
a programming text about Waterloo Structured BASIC from the computer
science teacher, read it and returned it.

I started using and programming Commodore PETs in that computer room.
Mostly programming as there wasn't much software and I couldn't afford
very many disks.  :-)  I quickly switched over to the TRS-80 Model I
that was sitting in the corner because no one ever used it.

The first computer I owned was a TRS-80 Colour Computer that my
brother and I got for Christmas either that year or the next.  I had a
fair bit of fun with that computer but having to use cassettes was a
little annoying.  :-)

I actually had plans to purchase a TRS-80 Model III at the end of the
summer of 1983 if I got the summer job I wanted but my father ended up
being posted to Lahr, West Germany (just plain old Germany now :-).

My older brother moved out before we moved so I traded him my half of
the Colour Computer for his half of our Dungeons & Dragons stuff.
When I got to Lahr, I hung out in the computer department of our local
store (conveniently located right beside the high school :-) and came
VERY close to getting a Commodore 64 until the day the Apple IIe
arrived in the store.  I had heard a couple goods things about the
Apple II before I had moved to Lahr but had no idea what they were
like or what they could do.  I bought some Apple II related magazines
and played with a system in the store.  I ended up asking my parents
to buy me a system and I'd pay them back.  I gave up my allowance for
this and the first pay cheque I got from my summer job the next year,
mostly went to pay off the computer.

The system, an Apple IIe, unenhanced with only 64K, a Monitor // green
screen, 5.25" controller and single Disk ][ floppy cost me DM3600
(appoximately $1500 CDN at the time).  It was purchased on the 22nd of
October, 1983 (oddly enough, the birthday of my older brother who I
had given my half of the Coco to :-) and I still have the first disk I
formatted with it but who knows if it still works.

The only other thing, other than software, that I bought for that
machine was an Extended 80 Column Card clone.  This is why, in the
fall of 1988, I upgraded that machine to a IIgs for $600 CDN.  Over
the next few years I added bits and pieces to my IIgs to get it so
that I could actually run IIgs software on it.

It wasn't until 1994, when I started working with that same older
brother mentioned above, that I really started dealing with IBM
compatible machines.  I ended up using my brother's old Dell 386 and
later went through a few 486 machines (mostly processor upgrades)
until I got to my current Pentium II 233 machine.

>	I also have collected up some other computers and game machines from Goodwill:

Same here.

In addition to the 6 IIgs, 2 IIe, 1 Laser 128EX, 2 Laser 128, 1 II+
motherboard, 1 non-working II+ compatible and a Spartan (II+
compatible marketed for use with the C-64) that I have collected over
the years, I now also have an Amiga 500, Atari 1040STe, Atari 520ST,
Atari 2600, TRS-80 Colour Computer 2, Commodore 64 and a Mac IIsi.  I
used to have a Nintendo but gave it to my nephew when his died and I
also used to have a PDP-11 main frame with hard drive and removeable
disks but it was FAR too large, noisy and power hungry so I scrapped
it.

I may have forgotten something but this message is long enough as it
is so I won't feel bad if I did.  :-)

 Jeff Blakeney - Dean of the Apple II Unversity on A2Central.com