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AjarnMark
SQL Slashing Gunting Master
3246 Posts |
 Posted - 2004-12-14 : 12:20:27
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While celebrating hitting 6,000 posts, Brett shared a link that had a link to a site called The Machine Room which is dedicated to old computers. This got me thinking about the first computer I ever used, which was the Compucolor II (see also here). It was my uncle's and he let me babysit it for him when he went out of town for a few weeks. He never got it back. And I've been hooked on computers ever since (although I have upgraded a couple of times  ).What was the first home computer you used?-----------------------------------------Professional IT Solutions from Infoneering |
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jsmith8858
Dr. Cross Join
7423 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 12:43:08
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| I think the first was one I ever used was of those Tandy's, TRS-80 I believe, it was my neighbors. Also another neighbor had an atari 800.the first we owned was a TI-99 4/A ! Traded that in a few years later for a Commodore 128.- Jeff |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 12:53:35
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| First one I used was a timesharing gig on a tty (10 cps) from some school in Butler NJ where I taught myself BASIC...never new what the machine was....Then our high school bought a pdp 8/e and got a DEC Writer at 30 cps...man did that FLY Commodore 64 was the first one I bought...anyone ever hear of LOGO?Here's a question...what was the FIRST() program you ever wrote?Brett8-) |
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jsmith8858
Dr. Cross Join
7423 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 12:58:33
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LOGO was what we learned in school during "computer class" on our Apple II's .... move the turtle forward 10, right 40 degrees, forward 40 , etc ...lots of fun! but it was really cool !i actually remember writing my own implementation of LOGO on the C-128 ..... it worked OK, drew some basic shapes, but I couldn't figure out how to make the "turtle" sprite rotate !! it always pointed north ....  - Jeff |
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AjarnMark
SQL Slashing Gunting Master
3246 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 13:03:07
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| First program? Hmmm... that's tough. Technically, the first program I wrote was a series of code numbers typed in on a 10-key pad attached to a circuit board and a 7 character L.E.D. read-out that made the readout flash the words HELP ME. (The "computer" was my grandpa's. He was KOOL!)Later I got a print-out of the BASIC code for NightDriver off my friends TRS-80 Model 1 and we typed it into that Compucolor and that's how I learned programming:Me: "Let? What does that mean?"Mike: "It assigns a value to this variable."Me: "Oh, okay. How does this FOR thing work?"etc., etc.First one I built from scratch? Some utility on a PRIME 2250 mini-computer using INFO. Probably trying to create a new report. It was my first job in computers. Seems like forever-and-a-day ago.-----------------------------------------Professional IT Solutions from Infoneering |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 13:11:31
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| BASIC BASICFirst Book I got....wrote a simple program to find the everage of 2 numbers...man that took FOREVERBrett8-) |
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AjarnMark
SQL Slashing Gunting Master
3246 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 13:13:30
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Book?! You read a book to learn programming? Pansy.  -----------------------------------------Professional IT Solutions from Infoneering |
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MichaelP
Jedi Yak
2489 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 13:35:08
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| My first PC was my brother's VIC 20. Cassette-based storage, and BASIC...gotta love it.Michael<Yoda>Use the Search page you must. Find the answer you will.</Yoda> |
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spirit1
Cybernetic Yak Master
11752 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 14:16:19
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my first was spectrum ZX80 when i was 7. didn't do any programming on it. just played games  my first "program" was on a pc that let me choose the computer config i wanted for playing games...i think i was 12 or 13... that was 12 years ago... uffffffffGo with the flow & have fun! Else fight the flow |
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jsmith8858
Dr. Cross Join
7423 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 14:24:11
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| i think the first game I wrote was : pick a number, the computer says "too high" or "too low", and then you pick again until you get it.A classic first "game" project, with IF-THEN, looping, variables, input, printing -- good stuff!!- Jeff |
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AjarnMark
SQL Slashing Gunting Master
3246 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 14:36:40
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quote:
Originally posted by jsmith8858
i think the first game I wrote was : pick a number, the computer says "too high" or "too low", and then you pick again until you get it.A classic first "game" project, with IF-THEN, looping, variables, input, printing -- good stuff!!- Jeff
Hey! I remember doing one like that! And of course there was the:"Enter a Color:", "red", "You entered: red"which was even simpler than high/low.The funny thing is I never heard of "Hello, world" until many, many years into my career in computers, and not until I finally bought one of those fancy books.-----------------------------------------Professional IT Solutions from Infoneering |
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X002548
Not Just a Number
15586 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 14:40:01
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| Anyone remeber wumpus?Brett8-) |
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Merkin
Funky Drop Bear Fearing SQL Dude!
4970 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 17:23:37
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| HeheheLogo and Wumpus Yep, remember them.My first computer was an Aussie made z80 machine called a Microbee. It had 16K of RAM and loaded software off cassette tape.http://members.ozemail.com.au/~mikeleys/microbee.htmlDamian |
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AjarnMark
SQL Slashing Gunting Master
3246 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 17:32:36
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| After my grandpa bought the Compucolor II from his brother (my uncle) to use for spare parts for his other Compucolor IIs, I bought a Commodore Vic-20 with Cassette tape. Later I sold that to a friend and upgraded to the Commodore-64. Before long I was running one of the hottest BBSs in town on a C64 with two floppy drives (remember the 1541?) and a 300 baud modem while I was in high school. I remember actually saying to a friend of mine, "Why do you have a 1200 baud modem? You can't READ that fast."-----------------------------------------Professional IT Solutions from Infoneering |
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jen
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
4110 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 22:53:47
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first program was to print 'hello world' and making it move on all sides of the screen, geometric shapes made up of asterisks using pascal, without the computer  first complete application with database was an accounting/inventory system using clipper complete with sounds (school project), complete application without database was a 'scientific calculator' using pascal, with computer --------------------keeping it simple... |
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robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 23:12:50
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Other than some Commodore PETs at school, and a few terminals to a DEC-10 (I think), my first HOME computer was an Atari 400 with a tape drive. If you've never had an Atari, you missed one of the best games ever played off tape: SCRAM: The Nuclear Reactor Simulator. I think I tried maybe ONCE to actually keep the thing from melting down, never even bothered afterwards. Very satisfying closing all the circulating valves and pulling out the control rods...16 colors never exploded so beautifully...A few years later I graduated to a Commodore 64, then some years after that began a horrendous sentence with various PC-based computers...the result of which you see before you today.  |
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elwoos
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
2052 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-15 : 03:30:07
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| My first program was something in PASCAL!!My first experience with a home computer was when I went with a friend to visit a friend of his. They had a computer which I think may have been home built (possibly a ZX80) and he had written his own version of Space Invaders which had taken him weeks. I remember being distinctly unimpressed and thinking "why take all that time to do something when you could just stick 10p in a machine down the arcade". Then a friend bought a ZX81 which I was marginally more impressed with even though it crashed so easily. Then a couple of years later I bought a Spectrum and learnt BASIC and Z80 Assembler!!steveTo alcohol ! The cause of - and solution to - all of life's problems |
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uberman
Posting Yak Master
159 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-15 : 04:34:37
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| ZX Spectrum + Jet Set Willy = Downward Sprial that I have yet to pull out of! |
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AndrewMurphy
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
2916 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-15 : 07:29:20
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| Now that's some relationship......."After my grandpa bought the Compucolor II from his brother (my uncle)".........i think it must break some 1st/2nd/3rd normal form!!! |
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gpl
Posting Yak Master
195 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-15 : 18:56:40
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| First home computer used -- my mate had a commodore pet in about 76, not that I programmed it, just played zombie and space invaders.First one I owned - a zx80 in about 81 or 82, had to put it together myself.First program - well I developed an idea for working out all the permutations of letters in a word, competitions based around this were all the rage in 73. Didnt actually write it until I got a computer in 82 (it was pants, if I left it running, it might just about be finished !). First one actually written - on a teletype link to a mainframe late in 73 - deriving the square root of a quadratic equation -woo hoo.First computer book bought, probably Peek Poke Byte and RAM. The first of very many. |
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graz
Chief SQLTeam Crack Dealer
4149 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-15 : 23:28:05
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| Oh baby! I had an Atari 400 with a membrane keyboard (http://oldcomputers.net/atari400.html). And I had the cassette player for storage. We used to play the cassettes on a regular tape player and just laugh! I had so much fun with that. We used to play a game called Star Raiders (http://www.newmediareader.com/cd_samples/Atari/Star_Raiders/). Man! What great graphics :)I remember a friend got an IntelliVision. It was a lot cheaper so he got a bunch of games. I got one game. I was so jealous. That computer got me an education and a job. I never, ever beat that guy at IntelliVision football though. That was hard on my young ego. I think I'm finally over it. Sort of.===============================================Creating tomorrow's legacy systems today.One crisis at a time. |
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