My first computer was something called a "MicroDaSys," hacked together by two guys in Hancock Park (LA) in 1979. It had a Z80 process that probably ran at like 2MHz. It had 32KB of RAM and two 8" 256KB floppy drives (one for the program, one for data). It cost like $3k but it ran a word processor called "The Electric Pencil," which could do bold, underline, italics, and, most importantly, rearrange blocks of text. I would have gotten an Apple II but the Apples were not yet capable of upper and lower case characters, and I wanted to publish a newsletter -- desktop publishing 10 years before its time. A couple years later I got an Osborne 1 (the first "luggable"), and around '85 I got a PCXT (10 whole MB of hard drive!).
Dave Delaney
· 1 year ago
Wow! That's awesome. Do you still have the newsletters? What was it about?
I wouldn't have called it "mine," but mine was also a TRS-80 Model I. We had a II, a III, and a 4P ('portable') after that, then finally a Mac 512k, which became mine when the Mac II came home. (Oh, and there was a TRS-80 Color Computer that was technically the first one that belonged to me, too. I once bought a game for it on audio cassette!)
Ran a BBS on that 512k (with HD20!), but never got permission to open it up 24/7, and of course a BBS that can't take calls all day is a BBS that never goes anywhere.
Driver49: Pretty sure we had Electric Pencil on the Model I or II. I was, err, a bit young to give a dang about word processing, though I did enjoy typing out BASIC games from the magazines.
Dave Delaney
· 1 year ago
Ha, that's great. My BBS was run at night and when my mum wasn't home. With only one phone line, I use to drive her and my brother nuts tying up the line constantly.
Oh man, the Computer Chronicles! I remember that show-- it was on public television, probably sometime just before Doctor Who came on..
My first computer was a DEC VT180. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VT180 My Dad worked at Digital Equipment and this was kinda sorta Digital's first entry into the Personal Computing field. It was a monster... and I taught myself how to write in BASIC. We even had one of those War-Games style coupler modems so my Dad could call into work from time to time from home and send in these amazing things called e-mails.
Dave Delaney
· 1 year ago
My friends Dad had a Mac (don't know which one). He introduced me to BBSing, but it was War Games that got me really interested.
I wouldn't have called it "mine," but mine was also a TRS-80 Model I. We had a II, a III, and a 4P after that, then finally a Mac 512k, which became mine when the Mac II came home. (Oh, and a TRS-80 Color Computer that was technically the first one that belonged to me... I once bought a game for it on audio cassette!)
kristent
· 1 year ago
My first computer was a Commodore 64 with a small TV as the monitor. I used to play "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?" and some game (don't remember the name) where you typed in the command/directive for a prince or knight. "Zelda" is the closest type of game I can think of, though. I loved the Com 64.
Dave Delaney
· 1 year ago
I remember a game called Ballyhoo, it's was a RPG that took place at a circus. I got frustrated with it though... Look Left, Look Right... Pick Up...
My first computer was an Apple IIc - in service for over 9 years and it still works. Reading @driver49's comment, I'm reminded, also, of my first DTP program called "Publish It" by Timeworks. The package said a mouse was not required, but it was, so that was another $99.00, and still a lot of physical cut and paste and kinkos. Modem was $595.00 and it never did do 1200 baud, only 300 baud. Compuserve, local bbs's. I have lots more stories about that first computer. One little tidbit: The computer came with a bunch of little sample files. One was a midi of a Mozart jiingle. A friend of mine was an elementary school music teacher. I showed him the computer, played the Mozart piece. He said, with amazement, "It has perfect pitch!" I said, "What did you expect? it's a computer,"
Rex Hammock
· 1 year ago
In April, 1984, I sold a car to purchase the first generation Mac.
Dave Delaney
· 1 year ago
Dang! Rex you are a serious ubber-geek. That's a good thing by the way :-)
Dave asked (via e-mail, can't find the comment here): "Wow! That's awesome. Do you still have the newsletters? What was it about?
It was called "Strange Times" and it was a lame attempt at a financial newsletter (log line from Billy Joel: "These are not the best of times but they're the only times I've ever known."
Published at the height of the Carter-era inflation, the first issue had a photo of a dollar bill going down the toilet. Seems even more appropriate now, huh?
And, yeah, I've still got the few issues I turned out around here somewhere. I still like the title, but I've never used it for a blog because somebody beat me to the domain.
My first one was a C64 I shared with my brother (and technically my sister too, but she never used it). And now I have a C64 emulator on my phone :)
Oddly, the first computer I had that was mine alone was my Powerbook, only a few years ago...
Dave Delaney
· 1 year ago
I shared my Commie with my brother, but he wasn't that interested in it. Then my parents bought him an Amiga, since I was always using the C64. I was so jealous :-) What's this C64 emulator for your phone? Got a link? What types of phone does it work on?
I had a Sinclair ZX81 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_ZX81), with 1K RAM. I couldn't afford the 16K add on. But then Christmas 83 Santa brought me a ZX Spectrum, with colour *and* a whooping 48K.
Still my favourite present ever.
vanhoosear
· 1 year ago
Mine was a TI, complete with an old skool tape drive. My first BASIC program was a "sprite" animation that used the letter 'A' to shoot letter 'I's at letter 'W's. I think I used asterisks for the explosions.
Ben Wilkins
· 1 year ago
My mom bought me a computer from a garage sale when I was in 8th grade. I can't even remember the name or brand of it, but it only took floppy disks (not the small ones... the 5" ones!) and it had a monitor that could only show different shades of green. Operating system? The almighty DOS! And of course, it had no mouse. I could play that awesome tank game if I put in a disk, and I could make funny pictures out of keyboard characters in DOS, but that's about it. I kind of wish I had kept it!
Dave Delaney
· 1 year ago
I hated using a mouse. I also hated Windows. I much preferred running everything in DOS.
First I played with was an Ohio Scientific Challenger 1P with a 20" TV for a monitor, and a Radio Shack tape recorder for data storage. 2K RAM ! Woo! :)
My own first PC was a Commodore VIC-20 with the tape drive and a 12" black and white TV monitor.
C.C. Chapman
· 1 year ago
For me it was the Vic 20 followed very quickly by the Commodore 64
Steven Fisher
· 1 year ago
My first computer was a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-99). I was 11 years old when I bought it. It was 1982. I remember saving up for a year with birthday money, christmas money and mowing lawns. I paid $200 at a Radio Shack. I later bought accesories over three years - first I got the "Peripheral Expansion Box" or PEB and slowly acquired a 5ΒΌ" floppy disk drive and controller, an RS-232 card comprising two serial ports and one parallel port, an acoustic coupler, a tape drive using standard audio cassettes as media, and a 32 KB memory expansion card.
I had it hooked up to a massive old TV with the wooden case - you know the ones that used to look like living room furniture.
I thought I was Matthew Broderick in War Games. But I was really just the nerdiest kid in three zip codes. There was no Ally Sheedy waiting for me and thankfully no Thermonuclear war to stop.
Then in 1985 I learned to play the guitar and discovered girls. You know where this is going.
I wouldn't return to computers for about 10 years when I finished college. Now I can't live without them but the TI-99 4/A holds a special place in my heart.
Dave Delaney
· 1 year ago
Nice buddy. It was similar for me. That Skate or Die game quickly became the real thing, when I finally bought a skateboard of my own... and went outdoors :-) Although I have very fond memories of my C64 disk drive status light suddenly turning green in the middle of the night. My ringer would be off, so that was the only sign that someone was using my computer. It blew my mind. I'd jump out of bed and enter Sysop chat mode to talk to the person. Fun days.
My first computer was a Cubic 99CT. It was the first talking computer that was built by Creative Technologies. It was pretty awesome. Back then I just needed to go to command prompt and type a simple message and Hoola....the computer speaks!
Hans
· 1 year ago
Mine was the C16. I think it was the predecessor or the cheap people C64 :-) It looked similar to the C64 and had 16kb RAM... it's so weird thinking about that computer now. It never did anything, it always took forewever to load games from the cassette, if I got it to work at all. I was 8 or 9 years old when I got it. Those guys that built the computers really must have had faith that they would some day be usefull...
Dave Delaney
· 1 year ago
C16! Wow, I never heard about that one. Yes, they've come a seriously long way, eh?
Cheers Hans. Great seeing you. Thanks again for the blocks.
My first PC was an 8K Commodore PET that loaded programs via cassette tape. 1980. My second PC was an IBM PC 64K with dual 5.25" floppies and an expansion chassis with a 10MB hard drive. Now THAT was styling!
Dave Delaney
· 1 year ago
Pet, ya I think I remember those. It's really like horse drawn buggies compared to sports cars, eh? :-)
All Comments
about?
Cheers,
Dave / www.davemadethat.com
Ran a BBS on that 512k (with HD20!), but never got permission to open it up 24/7, and of course a BBS that can't take calls all day is a BBS that never goes anywhere.
Driver49: Pretty sure we had Electric Pencil on the Model I or II. I was, err, a bit young to give a dang about word processing, though I did enjoy typing out BASIC games from the magazines.
With only one phone line, I use to drive her and my brother nuts tying
up the line constantly.
Cheers,
Dave / www.davemadethat.com
My first computer was a DEC VT180.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VT180
My Dad worked at Digital Equipment and this was kinda sorta Digital's first entry into the Personal Computing field. It was a monster... and I taught myself how to write in BASIC. We even had one of those War-Games style coupler modems so my Dad could call into work from time to time from home and send in these amazing things called e-mails.
but it was War Games that got me really interested.
Find me online: www.davemadethat.com
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circus. I got frustrated with it though... Look Left, Look Right... Pick
Up...
Find me online: www.davemadethat.com
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Find me online: www.davemadethat.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davedelaney
Blog: blog.davemadethat.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/davedelaney
It was called "Strange Times" and it was a lame attempt at a financial newsletter (log line from Billy Joel: "These are not the best of times but they're the only times I've ever known."
Published at the height of the Carter-era inflation, the first issue had a photo of a dollar bill going down the toilet. Seems even more appropriate now, huh?
And, yeah, I've still got the few issues I turned out around here somewhere. I still like the title, but I've never used it for a blog because somebody beat me to the domain.
--PS
Find me online: www.davemadethat.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davedelaney
Blog: blog.davemadethat.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/davedelaney
Oddly, the first computer I had that was mine alone was my Powerbook, only a few years ago...
Then my parents bought him an Amiga, since I was always using the C64. I was
so jealous :-)
What's this C64 emulator for your phone? Got a link? What types of phone
does it work on?
D
Find me online: www.davemadethat.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davedelaney
Blog: blog.davemadethat.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/davedelaney
Still my favourite present ever.
everything in DOS.
Find me online: www.davemadethat.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davedelaney
Blog: blog.davemadethat.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/davedelaney
My own first PC was a Commodore VIC-20 with the tape drive and a 12" black and white TV monitor.
I had it hooked up to a massive old TV with the wooden case - you know the ones that used to look like living room furniture.
I thought I was Matthew Broderick in War Games. But I was really just the nerdiest kid in three zip codes. There was no Ally Sheedy waiting for me and thankfully no Thermonuclear war to stop.
Then in 1985 I learned to play the guitar and discovered girls. You know where this is going.
I wouldn't return to computers for about 10 years when I finished college. Now I can't live without them but the TI-99 4/A holds a special place in my heart.
real thing, when I finally bought a skateboard of my own... and went
outdoors :-)
Although I have very fond memories of my C64 disk drive status light
suddenly turning green in the middle of the night. My ringer would be off,
so that was the only sign that someone was using my computer. It blew my
mind. I'd jump out of bed and enter Sysop chat mode to talk to the person.
Fun days.
D
Find me online: www.davemadethat.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davedelaney
Blog: blog.davemadethat.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/davedelaney
long way, eh?
Cheers Hans. Great seeing you. Thanks again for the blocks.
Cheers,
Dave / www.davemadethat.com
compared to sports cars, eh? :-)
Cheers Scott.
Dave
Find me online: www.davemadethat.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davedelaney
Blog: blog.davemadethat.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/davedelaney