When did you first touch a computer and why?

binarysoul

Let's find out the most 'long-term' computer geek. For desert, please also tell us the computer specs and your initital reaction to make it a full meal . Here is mine.

When: Nov. 1991

Why: To learn WordPerfect 5.0

PC specs: IBM 286, 20 MB HD, a greenish small screen, red power button

Reaction: Love at first sight

undomiel

I think the first computer I touched was an Epson. But it may have been a Mac at my father's university that he teaches at. I can't remember which came first but it would be sometime in the 80's.

CoryS

9th grade so around 13-14ish? My friend was telling me about online text based games (MUDs) for anyone that may know... I got completely hooked, spent 900 hours one summer playing and romping around on linux boxes playing with C and C++... Been hooked ever since and I am 24 now.


The PCs I used then were either from the Library or my buddies house while I waited to convice my parents for the interweb!


I FEEL LIKE SUCH A GEEK!

jbrown414

We had a Tandy 1000 when I was a kid. I can't tell you the exact date. It's sole purpose was to play games.

deadpool287

1998


Starcraft


running on a Packard Bell with Juno for my ISP.....all i remember

bertieb

Spectrum ZX81, with the extra 16k RAM pack on the back - Around 1983 I think and I was around 6 years old. I remember that you had to set the volume control just right on the tape recorder you used to load games/programs otherwise the game wouldn't load, and when it did it'd hang after about 20 minutes no matter what game you were playing (memory leak? lol).

Best computer I ever owned - you could spill anything on it and just wipe it off the flat keyboard. yes, it was completely useless and I often spent hours typing lines of basic code in to make the screen flash only for it to reboot and lose everything, but I just didn't care. I still have it as well

However my nephew could write C# scripts at 3 (well not really, but you know what I mean) and I don't think I've ever beaten him on any xbox or playstation game - kids these days

networker050184

Playing Carmen Sandiego as a kid is my first memory on the computer.

Don't remember any sort of specs or anything, but it was late 80's early 90's time frame.

mikka07

It had to be around 1990 and it was an Apple. Not sure of the specs as I was in the 4th grade in a computer lab. Oh how I miss Number/Word Munchers and the Oregon trail!

jbrown414

Oregon trail, those were the days.

We had all the early Sierra games. Kings quest, space quest, police quest, etc.

Slowhand

I first officially touched a computer back when my brother got a Commodore 64 for his birthday, but I didn't really start learning about computers until 1995, when my jr. high school rolled out brand-spankin' new Windows 95 machines in every classroom, as well as a pretty sizable lab in the library. Why did I put my fingers to the keyboard? The first computer: to play games; the second computer(s), to play games and surf the internet for pr0n. (Ah, the good ol' days, before regulations and web-monitoring. )

scheistermeister

1989

Why: My dad sent it to me as a gift.

Specs: IBM PC Jr.

Reaction: This doesn't work...

Damn thing never worked and me being so young had no clue why it didn't work. Didn't stop me from playing with it every once and a while to try and make it do something, but at 5 there isn't much I could do...


1993

Why: To play Wolfenstein 3D

Specs: IBM Model 80, 386SX. 2MB RAM, 120MB hard drive, the best big red power switch ever and a clicky keyboard!

I was 9 and it was the first WORKING computer my dad gave me. First thing he showed me was how to play Wolf 3D and I was hooked. Since he lived in CA and I in OH after he gave it to me and showed me how to turn it on, get to Wold 3d and then do a back-up to the tape drive I was on my own.

When he gave it to me he also said, "I have hidden some files on there and when you are old enough I will show you how to get to them." Not knowing what it was he hid and wanting to find them lit a fire under me. Two weeks later I found them. He had also given me some old IBM DOS 2.0 books at the same time. Using those I learned how to get around and learned attrib... A few months later I got suspended from school for selling computer based p0rn at school... Yes he hid p0rn on the computer. When I called him and told him I found it and got suspended he busted out laughing and said he never imagined I would find them so quickly.

jbaello

Commodore 64 in 1989 an aunt gave it to me, they probably didn't had an idea what it was, I was a 3rd or 4th grade I think, and started playing around programming, didn't even know what language it is but it's my 1st time learning "IF Else Then Statement".

http://www.tietokonemuseo.net/koneita/commodore642.jpg

Then played around this in 1991:

286 Computer

Some Details CPU: Intel 80286 at 8 MHz clock speed.

Memory: 4 MB in RAM, 256 KB in ROM?? (Phoenix Bios)

Screen Resolution: 80x25 text mode monochrome (orange) monitor

Storage Device: 40 MB hard drive, 360 KB 5-1/4" floppy drive.

OS: IBM-DOS 1.0 something...

This is where it all begun, this are the goodtimes...

JDMurray

A TRS-80 Model 1 at a Radio Shack with a computer center and a Commodore Pet at a store in a mall--both in 1977. I was damn curious was the reason I touched them; my reaction was basically to start writing BASIC code (that was BASICally all you could do with them).

jbrown414

Slowhand wrote:

to play games and surf the internet for pr0n. (Ah, the good ol' days, before regulations and web-monitoring. )

I think I just figured out why your name is Slowhand.

jbaello

JDMurray wrote:

A TRS-80 Model 1 at a Radio Shack with a computer center and a Commodore Pet at a store in a mall--both in 1977. I was damn curious was the reason I touched them; my reaction was basically to start writing BASIC code (that was BASICally all you could do with them).

Nice JD this is infact old skool the commodore 64 plugs into a television as far as I remember... but this one has it's own monitor already?

tiersten

jbrown414 wrote:

Slowhand wrote:

to play games and surf the internet for pr0n. (Ah, the good ol' days, before regulations and web-monitoring. )

I think I just figured out why your name is Slowhand.

Sorehand more like...

dynamik

Apple IIe. Family had it, along with a few later later Apples. The first PC we got for "education reasons" was an IBM PS/1 (486DX2 with 16mb or RAM).

roswald

I couldn't remember the name, but I just figured out that it was a TI-99/4A.

I remember playing an awesome game called "Hunt the Wumpus" when I was a little kid. I can still hear the theme song in my head.

After that it was an Apple IIe, then a Macintosh Performa. I loved the Number Munchers, Oregon trail, and after that I was hooked.

cbigbrick

High School January 1984

To learn BASIC

I can't remember a thing about the class.

cbigbrick

High School January 1984

To learn BASIC

I can't remember a thing about the class.

JDMurray

jbaello wrote:

Nice JD this is infact old skool the commodore 64 plugs into a television as far as I remember... but this one has it's own monitor already?

Yes, and a printer too. And even a simple speech synthesizer in the later models. Radio Shack was pretty cool in those days.

The Commodore C64 was released in 1982 at a price of $600 for the base unit. I had several friends who saved every penny they had to buy one. Fedco was the only store in SoCal that sold them. I never had any interest in programming the C64, but the games were fun. Several of those friends went on to become Commodore Amiga fanboys, but I completely missed that bandwagon.

TechJunky

Wolfienstien 3D.

Played over Modem Direct Link with a friend in the early 90's on a P133.

astorrs

Some x286 & Commodore 64s in the mid 80's. Don't remember any real details, they were school computers.

Didn't get a computer at home for years, until practically everyone I knew already had one - but she was a doozy at the time... 486 DX 33Mhz, ~4MB RAM (don't remember) and a CD-ROM drive (oh yeah, single speed baby! - Microsoft Bookshelf 2.0 and all); late 1990/early 1991 I think.

TechJunky

Dont forget Larry the Lounge Lizard!

scheistermeister

TechJunky wrote:

Dont forget Larry the Lounge Lizard!

Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards

One of the best games ever!

jbrown414

Man. back then Sierra was the gaming company. I remember trying to guess the questions Leisure Larry asked you to verify how old you were before playing the game.

tiersten

jbrown414 wrote:

Man. back then Sierra was the gaming company. I remember trying to guess the questions Leisure Larry asked you to verify how old you were before playing the game.

Nobody ever told you about the trick to bypass those? I think it was something like Ctrl X or Ctrl Alt X and it just let you straight through...

scheistermeister

tiersten wrote:

jbrown414 wrote:

Man. back then Sierra was the gaming company. I remember trying to guess the questions Leisure Larry asked you to verify how old you were before playing the game.

Nobody ever told you about the trick to bypass those? I think it was something like Ctrl X or Ctrl Alt X and it just let you straight through...

The verification system could be skipped by pressing Alt-X in episode one, or Ctrl-Alt-X in episode three.

TechJunky

Doh! That would have saved me hours of learning who America's Presidents were.

I guess it was a good lesson learned.

learningtofly22

scheistermeister wrote:

tiersten wrote:

jbrown414 wrote:

Man. back then Sierra was the gaming company. I remember trying to guess the questions Leisure Larry asked you to verify how old you were before playing the game.

Nobody ever told you about the trick to bypass those? I think it was something like Ctrl X or Ctrl Alt X and it just let you straight through...

The verification system could be skipped by pressing Alt-X in episode one, or Ctrl-Alt-X in episode three.

up, down, up, down, b, a, b, a, start.


I thought the first one we had was an apple II Unicorn, but after googling, I think I just made it up. Played Oregon trail and if anyone can remember the name of the oriental trading game with ships, that would be great.

Slowhand

tiersten wrote:

jbrown414 wrote:

Slowhand wrote:

to play games and surf the internet for pr0n. (Ah, the good ol' days, before regulations and web-monitoring. )

I think I just figured out why your name is Slowhand.

Sorehand more like...

Slowhand came about when I wasn't surfing the web. That cute redhead in my math class had something to do with the name. The sorehand part, well, that was for the rest of the time. . .