1st Computer
Out of context: Reply #20
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- mg330
This is a long post, but you might enjoy it. :)
Radio Shack TRS-80
Given to me by my Grandfather in probably 1987. I was in 4th or 5th grade.
Used to think I was David Lightman in War Games!But seriously, my grandfather was so into computers, engineering, the first generations of CAD, electronics, etc. I remember learning how to program in Level II Basic, lines of code to make a cursor blink, or move at random, etc. and other things.
Interestingly, when I got into Flash in 2000, actionscript seemed a bit easier to understand becuase of that long ago knowledge of basic coding language.I was into the computer, played some games on it that were on cassettes and the big floppys.
Then got into sports, basketball, growing up, and suddenly computers were not all that cool to meanymore. I remember taking all the hardware back to my grandfather and to this day I have always felt that he must have been dissapointed and a bit saddened to have it returned. His only two other grandsons were and are total morons, one of which a huge drug addict, and my grandfather appreciated my interest in his computers, drafting, etc. when the other two could care less.
I used to set up all his osciliscopes in the living room and pretend I was Han Solo in the Falcon! :D My grandmother would often throw a jab back at him for all his "tinkering" by shouting, are you ready? "MegaByte!! MegaByte!!!" to him as he walked through the room.
They did not have the best of friendships, though married for over 50 years. They kind of drove each other nuts.In high school, in 1994 my parents bought what was probably a 386 and I first got into computer art with *gasp* MS Paint. I did art projects for school and such and got on BBS sites.
Didn't get going with computer again until 1998 when I got one of my own during college. Everything else came after that, learning design stuff, HTML, etc, etc...
And now, like many of you here, computer are just this second nature thing. Technology is just this second nature thing. As common in daily life as washing hands, eating, waking up every day.The grandfather I talked about above passed away of lung cancer in 1995. He was a tremendous dreamer, an inventor, so many things that I never realized until I got older. He designed a prototype variation of the Chrysler Northstar engine that was electromagnetic, many years before the Northstar was in a car. He was an impressive person, to say the least. I just never stood back and saw it that way. As I got more and more into computers over the years, I've always had a sense of pride that if he's looking down on me, he's got to be pleased at what I've learned. Writing this, it makes me miss him in a way I never have. Cancer and cigarettes really suck. He could have done so much more if not for that killing him.
Anyhow, that's my computer history. Thanks for reading if you got this far. :)