Microcomputer Memory Lane...

Oct 15 05:28 UTC 2000

I can't believe how quiet this conference has become!

In an attempt to kick of a thread (however shortlived, =o) I
am going to pose a question:  What is your first memory of
using a computer?  Although this is the "Micro Computer"
conference, I don't think we're likely to swamp it even if
we include mention of minicomputers or other things.

I'm pretty sure the first computer I ever programmed
(possibly the first one I ever saw) was an Acorn BBC. It was
very common in Britain because it was used as part of a
government programme to get computers into schools... even
the tiny village school I went to.  The first machine I ever
actually owned was a Sinclair ZX81 (1Kb RAM, 5 chips -
inluding the Voltage regulator! =o)  I think they were sold
in the U.S. as the 'Timex 1000'.

So, share your reminiscences in an attempt to awaken this
conference!

response 2 of 21:

Oct 15 13:03 UTC 2000

First experience was either with the mainframes at UM Physics (thanks to a
friend with a professor for a dad), or with friend's Apple ][s.  Both were
about the same time, I think (same friends, mostly).  

response 4 of 21:

Oct 15 19:35 UTC 2000

The high school's brand new TRS-80 Model I level I with all of 4K of memory.
I overflowed that memory with the first program I tried writing for it. It
was later replaced with a Model III with 16K.

Programs were saved to cassette tape; and you saved a program several times
on the tape if you wanted a good chance of getting it back into the computer.
A couple of years later I got a Model III, it being the only thing I was
familiar with at the time. I thought it a good deal to find memory for it at
a buck a kilobyte and filled out the rest of the Z80 address space.

A couple of people I knew had programmable calculators; but I never had one
in my hands long enough to do any programming until I got a TI98C while in
college.

response 6 of 21:

Oct 16 01:35 UTC 2000

I don't even want to THINK about the first "computer" that I used.  Suffice
it to say that a Texas Instrument SR-10 (Four banger w/o memory) calculator
was about $100 after about four years in college.  One class I was in had
a Bomar Brain chained to a bench that we could do calculations on.

response 8 of 21:

Oct 16 03:25 UTC 2000

Seems to me my first computer experience was in '74 or thereabouts, on
a tabletop Olivetti Programma 101, with magnetic card reader, at my
high school. I was fortunate enough to get special permission to not
only look at it and touch it, but to program it, and experiment. It had
its own cryptic programming language, reminiscent of that used by my
HP28S calculator. It probably wouldn't count as much more than a low-end
pocket calculator nowadays, but at least it was programmable and could
save its programs to those cards.

Shortly after that, due to the help of my high school mathematics
teacher, I had the opportunity to test some BASIC code on the console
of what I suppose now was a mini (from what I could see of it--it was
an industrial computer that had been given by a corporation to a nearby
community college).  I'm happy to say that the program I wrote on a
piece of paper, without ever seeing the computer, ran sucessfully.  They
let me play a Lunar Lander game, so of course I was happy as all get
out.  Then it was off to college where I had the opportunity to deal
with teletypes and paper tape, punch cards, mainframes and VAX clusters.

The first computer that was mine all mine was my Apple IIe.  That was
somewhere around 1983.

response 10 of 21:

Oct 20 06:19 UTC 2000

Re #3: I just had a look through an Acorn BBC user guide
  (downloaded in RTF) and it's clear that even Acorn's 8-bit
  machines were years ahead of their time.

Re #8: Were the mag cards about the same size as common IBM
  style punched cards?

I'm enjoying reading about everyone's early experiences,
they're certainly diverse!!

response 12 of 21:

Oct 31 20:16 UTC 2000

*sigh* I seem to have missed out on a lot of computing history. I was born
in '82, so i don't remember computers before 86. I think the BBC was filling
up my first school, but can't remember... - the first computer i used alot
was a friend's Amiga, but we didn't program on that. The first computer i had
was a 286. I ust've got that in year 5? (9/10 yrs old... about '91?). I
started coding in PASCAL at the age of 12. I don't know what made me keep at
it. What's the fun in programming no graphics apps, that do almost nothing??!
I was definately a freaky kid :-) - i didn't know anyone else who programmed.
Although we all seemed to complete SQ1 at the same time :) My 286 died when
i was using MS Flight Sim 4 :-) - i don't think it could handle it... anyway
- i know that my reminices is fairly "modern" compared to those of u who used
"IBM System 3" whatever that is. + I feel i missed out with the ZX81 or
whatever... i'm making it up in Electronics - coding a 6502 in machine code
MORE than makes up for that... :-) where would anyone get one of those old
computers from (eg the 81 etc?) - in 10 years time they'll probably be worth
more, as they become collectors items...
from Lionfish
,

response 14 of 21:

Nov 1 20:38 UTC 2000

I used to run Flight Sim 4 on an XT.  I couldn't believe the nice frame rate
the first time I ran it on a 286. ;>

(Interestingly, FS4's physics model was better than FS5's in many ways. 
Don't know how FS2000 compares.)

response 16 of 21:

Nov 18 19:59 UTC 2000

Like Dave, in 1967 our high school taught computer program (Fortran) without
owning a computer.  We would type our programs on punch tape and send them
to the other high school where th computer was (I never saw it).  The next
computer I used took a punch card (yes, ONE punch card).  A Wang, size of a
small toaster.  I met Mr. Wang because his daughter was in the summer class
that I helped teach (biochem).  At college, in chem lab, we got to write an
analysis program that used several punch cards.  At U of M (early 80s) we also
used punch cards at the computer center, handed in a stack of them (after
repunching any with errors) and waited a few hours for the program to run and
print out.  Pascal.  By 1985 I owned a computer (Zenith, 2 floppy, no slots)
which I upgraded two years ago.  It still ran all my software, slowly.  

response 18 of 21:

Nov 20 00:31 UTC 2000

I grew up in Dorchester and went to Girls' Latin School and then moved to a
rich suburb where the school system owned a computer.

response 20 of 21:

Dec 18 02:57 UTC 2000

Woohoo!  Someone gave me a Tandy MC-10 'Micro CoCo'! =o)