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CuckPaul1977 · 46-50, M
My first console was the Atari 2600


My first computer was the Toshiba MSX

Nimbus · M
@CuckPaul1977 👍️

Sinclair sends you curses!
He’s a very fancy man, dropping his Prodigy account name everywhere he goes. I’ll bet he’s going to upgrade soon to that fancy dialup network called AOL. But that’s what the nouveau riche do with their disposable cash these days. @EugenieLaBorgia
@DukeOfEarle I understand he has a top hat and fancy cane, too - he's even been seen walking around town tipping his hat and clicking his cane on the pavement! I think he should be stopped!!
He was singing “Puttin’ On The Ritz” the other morning while walking that pretentious Yorkshire terrier of his. Who does that? Well, aside from Taco and the Frankenstein monster that is... @EugenieLaBorgia
wildbill83 · 36-40, M
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wildbill83 · 36-40, M
😂😂@wildbill83
shuhak · M
IBM clone 286 (top of the line, and weighed about 15 pounds)
2 MB hard drive (clerk said I'd never [i]ever[/i] need that much room)
5.4" floppy drive
Green/black CRT monitor (not attached to the CPU)
Dot-matrix printer (color capable)

The whole setup cost me around $2,500

It's sitting in the back of my shed - fully functional.
Nimbus · M
@Budwick Wow, cute :)
Budwick · 70-79, M
@Nimbus I remember typing out BASIC code to make a PONG game.
It was a good learning tool.
Nimbus · M
@Budwick I remember doing something similar and it took me about 90 minutes and then it failed! :)
RealtaReoite · 61-69, M
IMSAI 8080. 24K RAM, 5-1/4" hard-sectored floppy drive, front panel to toggle in bootstrap code, weighed a ton, ran hot as hell. Lovingly soldered together on the coffee table in my apartment. LSI 3A terminal, upper case letters only.

Taught it to play Star Trek and Hammurabi and used it in VERY early attempts to do embedded firmware development. Those were the days.

Just sold it a year or so ago.
SW-User
@RealtaReoite I've seen them in action on YouTube, they were completely electromechanical, weren't they? Like the rotary phone of terminals.
RealtaReoite · 61-69, M
@SW-User Yes. Entirely, relentlessly mechanical. With a big motor and flywheels and all sorts of great noisy, rattling linkages. Mine would actually walk across the floor if given half a chance. It amazes me that they worked as reliably as they did.

Sort of like the Strowger switch of terminals, not just the rotary phone.
Nimbus · M
@RealtaReoite Aww, you always remember your first one :)
CharlieZ · 70-79, M
Not "my" computer, but the one for which I first programed.
"She" was called Clementina (Clementine)

CharlieZ · 70-79, M
@SW-User Do you know who else used this same computer at that time, in Buenos Aires?
Grigory Chaitin.
SW-User
@CharlieZ Oh cool, it's a small world!
CharlieZ · 70-79, M
@SW-User It is.
Gregorio was, for some time, an undergraduated assistant professor and "intern" at UBA Faculty of Sciences.
He had a small room in the campus where some us joined to share Argentinian "Mate" or coffee and studdy.
We also went together to the first course offered by IBM on Disk Operating Systems, a novelty by then.
Those were the days, my friend!
ThePerfectUsername · 70-79, M
1981 1k RAM + 16K ram pack[image deleted]
ThePerfectUsername · 70-79, M
The 6502 was a lot more efficient processor than the Z80 but I'd never have admitted it to BBC owners at the time. Such snobs they were and just because Beebs were faster. Phah. I eventually followed the Amstrad line through their CPC 512/6128 and their PC before I cottoned on that I could save huge amounts of money and get better machines by assembling my own PCs. Happy days eh. 😁 @SW-User
SW-User
@ThePerfectUsername The Z80 had a much richer instruction set, though, and more registers, which was very helpful for early teenage me who didn't know how to use the zero page properly or iterate through more than 256 things. Next up was 68000 assembly which was wallowing in luxury by comparison to either.
ThePerfectUsername · 70-79, M
I was a huge fan of the Apple Mac which I'm pretty sure used to use the 68000 processor but I could never have afforded one which is probably the main reason I went the PC route in the first place. I think the long promised Sinclair QL was to have a 68000 too but the wait for that + the dongle-shambles when it did eventually arrive put me off Sinclair products for good. @SW-User
Jessmari · 41-45
The first computer I owned was a Gateway GT5628. It had a surprising capacity for upgrades and modding.
Jessmari · 41-45
@Nimbus 2006 i believe, but the oldest i've used is a texas instrument my mother got free taking bookkeeping courses. I don't remember much about it's details.
Nimbus · M
@Jessmari Any from 2000 on had great advancements on their predecessors.
Jessmari · 41-45
Yes, and a stubborn need to use proprietory parts. Hence the suprise on my part.
AbbeyRhode · F
The first one I ever used was my ex-husband's Commodore 64. I liked playing Blue Max on it. :)


AbbeyRhode · F
@Nimbus 😜
wildbill83 · 36-40, M
@AbbeyRhode probably one of my favorite games from early 90's...

AbbeyRhode · F
@wildbill83 Oh, that looks good, too. :)
aradia11 · 61-69, F
My first home computer was an E Machine. It was the large white one w a large desktop.
I used it till it burnt out.
I got it in 2002.
Nimbus · M
@aradia11 I think I have heard of that one.
NativeOregonian · 51-55
I think it was a Sinclair, forget the model number, back in 1983.
Nimbus · M
@NativeOregonian Wow and I bet it cost a fortune.
NativeOregonian · 51-55
@Nimbus My Grandfather got it for my brothers and myself for easter that year, small little thing, I could never figure out how to use it right, about the size of one of those standard desktop tape recorders.
luctoretemergo · 61-69, M
Hal 9000
Did anyone say that yet!
Nimbus · M
@luctoretemergo lol, no.
luctoretemergo · 61-69, M
Awsome!!!!
Nimbus · M
Lostpoet · M
Hp and it had pirated windows xp on it.
Nimbus · M
@Lostpoet XP was great.
User friendly.
cherokeepatti · 61-69, F
The first internet access device was a WebTV, you could only access sites that were WebTV accessible so you couldn’t go to a lot of sites but there was still plenty for me to do and see.
cherokeepatti · 61-69, F
@Nimbus I bought it in 1998, a lot cheaper than a computer, paid $25 a month for dial-up service and I used the heck out of it for about 3 years. I had to use my TV for a monitor and used the one in my bedroom, could still watch TV in the corner of the screen while playing with the WebTV.
Nimbus · M
@cherokeepatti Wow, that was a lot of money then.
cherokeepatti · 61-69, F
@Nimbus It was in the late 90’s and cheap entertainment for me. I didn’t rent as many movies and I didn’t have cable tv either. And cheaper than having computer dial-up when they made you pay by the minute or whatever. I remember hearing co-workers say that their kids dialed up and the regular way was busy and they did an alternative way and got charged hundreds of $ one month for long-distance.
SW-User
Lol dunno 🤷🏻‍♀️ but here’s a random fact.

[image deleted]
Nimbus · M
@SW-User lol, can't argue with that.
I had a big book with many pages. On each page, you could draw a ball but always in a slightly different place. Then, the pages would be flicked rapidly and the ball would bounce, You could make the ball go the other way, too - but, then, you had to have another book.
Nimbus · M
@EugenieLaBorgia I had one of those too but it was a dancing bear :)
SW-User
A ThinkPad T400 from 2009 with a Core2 Duo P8600, 4GB RAM, 160GB disk, and it had no OS so I installed Ubuntu which was recommended by my uncle. I got that in 2013.

Unless you count an iPod touch 4th gen as a computer, which I had in early 2012.
Nimbus · M
@SW-User 🆒
SW-User
Idk it was Compaq tho
Nimbus · M
@SW-User Yep, famous brand.
Dlrannie · 31-35, F
I can’t remember but I know my Dad had a Sharp MZ80a and it’s file storage was on Audio Cassettes - he’s still got it 😂😂
Dlrannie · 31-35, F
@Nimbus Yep exactly like it - he kept it to remind him that his Estate Agency was the first in town to use a computer 😂
Nimbus · M
@Dlrannie K

Nice.
It might be worth a fortune now!
Dlrannie · 31-35, F
@Nimbus haha - I suspect it’s not worth a lot but who knows 🙂
SW-User
Commadore 64
Nimbus · M
@SW-User 😁
SW-User
@Nimbus The Atari ST was the Amiga's main competitor
Nimbus · M
@SW-User Yes, you are correct! :)

Tandy TRS-80 Model 3. Also known back in the day as the "Trash 80".
Nimbus · M
@PrivateHell Can you go back to it?
@Nimbus not any practical use for it today.
Wow! That looks so...Space 1999. @PrivateHell
Some UNGODLY expense Tandy desktop that had barely enough memory to store a single large excel file....

It was good for word processing but that's about it...
Nimbus · M
@Threepio Oh my, TANDY, I remember that company well :)
Mine was a little, wooden board with hoops on it. On the hoops were coloured beads which could be moved!
Nimbus · M
@EugenieLaBorgia I bet you had an abacus too just to defy convention :)
SubstantialKick · 31-35, M
After some various research I think it was most likely a Macintosh Quadra 950. I still remember the startup sound (0:13).
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB1lOLnWh-c]
SW-User
The first one I bought had an i386 processor and Windows 3.1.
Nimbus · M
@SW-User 3.1, that's going back and if my memory serves me correct ( pun intended ) I had that on my Amiga.
Or maybe not, lol, it was so long ago.
SW-User
I can’t remember what brand the computer was. I only remember the processor and O/S. @Nimbus
Travelbug · 56-60, F
A Hewlett Packard I got around March 98
Nimbus · M
@Travelbug I've had several HP's.

Good solid machines.
Travelbug · 56-60, F
@Nimbus yes mine was great and lasted about 4 years before it died.
pennynoodles · 56-60, F
I really can't remember but my second one was a MacBook of some kind.
Nimbus · M
@pennynoodles Ooooh! Posh ;)
Some type of gateway pc. I don’t entirely remember. I was really young.
Nimbus · M
@Native 🆒
redredred · M
A Leading Edge clone of the original IBM PC with 640 K of RAM
Nimbus · M
@redredred [quote]640 K of RAM[/quote].

Heady days, lol
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Nimbus · M
@IstillmissEP Radio Shack.

Is that the same as TANDY?
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Nimbus · M
@IstillmissEP 👍️
chrisCA · M
A used IBM 286.
Nimbus · M
@chrisCA From the early 80's, wow.
chrisCA · M
@Nimbus Yes. Dual 5.25 floppy drives.
A 13 inch monochrome monitor.
DOS 3. something. Lol
Nimbus · M
@chrisCA Those were the days! :)
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Nimbus · M
@SageAdvice What year was that?
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SW-User
Yup very similar to yours 🤭
Nimbus · M
@SW-User 🆒 :)
SW-User
@Nimbus Nice industrial design, though, Sinclair always had that down compared to other manufacturers.
Nimbus · M
@SW-User Built to last.
SW-User
@Nimbus That ZX81 was the genesis of my career, and it's ultimately why I've never had to work a crappy job in my life and could pay as I went through university and was able to graduate debt-free.
SW-User
Nimbus · M
@SW-User What year was that?
SW-User
@Nimbus 1999 i think
[image deleted]Early 80’s glorified scientific calculator, but it was programmable. I went to Consumers Distributor to buy a solar powered calculator for $20 and they gave me this $300 calculator in error. A savings of $280! What a bargain!
I still have it. It still works.
Nimbus · M
@MURD3RM0NK3Y Good in their day.
On an older computer I had, the screen was always becoming covered in filth. It took ages to wipe the hard drive.
wildbill83 · 36-40, M
@EugenieLaBorgia nothing like the old monochrome monitors & TV's that looked like a bubble and weighed 200lb's... lol
I had one of those computers once where you had to insert a floppy dish in it. My mother ran out of crockery, though.
caccoon · 36-40
Technically, I guess it was the NES.

First desktop computer was some Packard Bell... I don't remember the name. Just SkiFree.
Nimbus · M
@caccoon 🆒
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Nimbus · M
@Stereoguy Intel 80286 ?
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NativeOregonian · 51-55
@Stereoguy That was like early to mid 80's or something.

 
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