a modem hand cut from copper clad, plugged into the user port, and hooked up to pirate radio, that connected to another country. Whenever I see people on HN talking about the insane levels of abstraction and indirection the tech industry has built for itself, I remember the crazy things we used to do with little more than bare wires and curiosity. People on HN complain that they can't get work done because their 48-i…
Dade Murphy, is that you? Did you and Angelina Jolie really get it on?
My first computer was a Microbee, a Z80-based Australian computer made by Applied Technology. I loved that thing to death, and thank my Mum and Dad for buying it for me, and getting me started in a field that I loved. My school had a VIC-20, later an Apple II, and an enterprising teacher brought in a Commodore PET. Later on, my friends had ZX Spectrums, Amstrad CPCs (not sure of the model), and lots and lots of C64s.…
I'm what you'd probably call a "90s kid" but I lived in a rural area. Around 1994, while the kids in more 'normal' places were using Mac LC-IIs with color screens, and I'm assuming others were using Windows 3.1, I was reading the manual cover to cover to learn how to use MS-DOS on a Tandy 1000 and teaching myself Applesoft Basic on a Franklin ACE (Apple II clone). I'm actually really grateful that thanks to lack of money I basically had a "Gen-X" computer childhood, allowing me to learn the command line, and, I think, to understand how computers worked better than those whose first computer experiences were Macs or Windows.
My first computer was an IBM 5150 clone that my grandparents setup in our living room. That was my gateway into computers. I was fortunate to find out about the C64 years later and jump into basic programming.
I still have an original C64 on my shelf beside me. Think I'm going to hook it up and play some games in honor of its 44th birthday.
I had a ZX Spectrum and learned Basic and played a ton of pirated games on that. My school had Commodore 64s - but I didn't use them much. They didn't really know how to teach for them and there was no hacking around allowed.
Commodore 64 in 1982 cost US$595 ($2,059 today). ZX Spectrum in 1982 cost $200 ($692 today) for 16 KB model and had a 48K model for 40% more. It was the difference between affordable and unaffordable for many people.
The launch price for the 64 was $600, but by June 1983 it had dropped to $300 and was often on sale for less (I paid $250).
Yep, it was a "pre-MSX" like a couple of other machines like the Spectravideo SV-328... My first computer was a Casio PB100 (with the 1.5KB extension, so much memory! :D ), then the Sony HB75 (an MSX).
Hello fellow MSXian! I got started with Spectravideo SV-728 (and all those fantastic Konami games that it had)
My dad came home with a 2nd hand spectravideo sv-328 and it got me started as well. It had a book of basic programs that I could never really get working. A year or so later we got an Amiga 500 and I really learnt a lot about computers using that. I've been working a personal project that replaces the A500s 68k CPU with a FPGA.
>I get what you mean but I think it's fundamentally different. Well, every generation thinks they invented sex, right? Who knows what wild things they may learn to invent? Maybe even Skynet!
I made a specific point, it cannot be simply deflected with "every generation always thinks ".
I used a saying that describes how common it is for individiuals to attribute their experience as something completely different from all that came before or after. Sorry for referencing something that clearly has no bearing here at all. Carry on.
a modem hand cut from copper clad, plugged into the user port, and hooked up to pirate radio, that connected to another country. Whenever I see people on HN talking about the insane levels of abstraction and indirection the tech industry has built for itself, I remember the crazy things we used to do with little more than bare wires and curiosity. People on HN complain that they can't get work done because their 48-i…
a character LCD was an upgrade. try tiny 14" b&w tv!
I may be alone in this but I really grew to despise the C64. It represented frustration and failure to me. The basic was so limited, it did not provide access to the otherwise excellent video and sound hardware. Information pre internet was hard to come by, and I never discovered the assembler pathway. I wanted to do cool stuff with it but a kid in rural US had zero access to resources. My biggest success was piecing…
The User's Guide had a single bitmap mode example, but POKEs needed for hardware sprites and sound were adequately covered. Joystick polling in BASIC is a fool's errand however.
I made a specific point, it cannot be simply deflected with "every generation always thinks ".
I used a saying that describes how common it is for individiuals to attribute their experience as something completely different from all that came before or after. Sorry for referencing something that clearly has no bearing here at all. Carry on.
I understand the saying, I'm arguing it cannot be used as a blanket dismissal instead of actually addressing the point. My comment did elaborate a bit after the sentence you quoted.
It's as irritating as those comments like "they said the same about calculators"... well, maybe AI is not like calculators? Or sex, for that matter.
Same, got it last Christmas and it became the "family computer". At the moment I'm trying to beat Wizball on it. Great stuff!
Impossible Mission for me; didn't realise that it's actually a good game. Very very good for the time too.
I love the game, but it was truly impossible back then (pirated, no manual, no idea what I had to do) and even today, with an emulator and every hint on the internet ;)
I know it's not actually impossible, some people finished it, but I never have.
Bruce Lee and The Last Ninja though, I can finish either with my eyes closed!