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Re: My first computer was...

by MrCromeDome (Deacon)
on Jul 03, 2003 at 19:12 UTC ( [id://271260]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to My first computer was...

My Commodore 64 was probably the best investment my parents ever made (at least from my standpoint). They first purchased it in. . . 1984(?) and I fell in love with it immediately. Power and simplicity, all rolled into one affordable package.

I probably started programming it about 1988 (around the time I was 12), and by 14 the basics of programming had finally clicked. Two years after that, I taught myself assembly language on the C-64 at the same time I took a very heavy logic/proof based geometry class in high school. Smartest thing I ever did. Everything started to fall into place for me from that point on, and I never looked back.

I've had a lot of other computers over the years, but nothing has quite held a place in my heart like my C-64. I still keep it around, and cannot bear to part with it. In fact, as soon as I get my basement cleaned out, I'll probably set it up again there for old times sake!

MrCromeDome

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Re: My first computer was...
by EruptionExcellence (Initiate) on Jul 17, 2003 at 04:03 UTC
    This is fascinating! CromeDome, your story almost parallels mine! I live in jamaica, my people bought me a TRS-80 in 1983 and trust me, it was the best investment they ever made in me! It was typical of them though, the'd invest in anything, as long as it was an investment in phillip's future! I bought the manual and read it before they got me the machine! I soon got bored with it though, not enough power. I got... err... what was the assembler called? I forget, but I got that and a copy of the book about 6809 assembler on the color computer by... I think it was Jim Butterfield... I learned assembly but alas, soon got bored with assembler... This is so fascinating to remember! This is stuff you never think about... I've done so many things, I've been in theatre, I fiddle with music, and in IT, I've done consultancy, web development, so many things, but every time someone asks me "what do you do?" and I give a specific answer, I always say "I'm a programmer"
Re: My first computer was...
by Freddo (Acolyte) on Jul 19, 2003 at 18:02 UTC
    Just three words: Same for me.

    It's hard to believe that a computer can take so much place in one's heart. But I still get a warm feeling when I start an emulator (vice or c64s) and start playing a few games. In fact I lie, my first contact with a computer was with logo on an apple ][, at school when i was 8 (around 1982), but the C64 was the first one i got home. That computer got me hooked on programming, first with basic and shortly after to assembly - when i saw the difference in speed between:
    	10 A=0; POKE 53280, A; A = A+1; GOTO 10

    and
    	LOOP:
    		INC $D020
    		JMP LOOP

    there was no negotiations. Once you start taking over the computer, pushing it to its limit, you can never get back.

    Strange, I can't remember my own phone number but I still remember SYS 49152 to fire off turbo assembler or the $D012 for the rasters. I never finished school mostly due to that machine, while others where listening the math teacher i was inspecting C64 assembly code to understand how other guys made a nice effect in an intro or looking at 1541 protections routines... (printed on a 40 columns printer, it was roll paper. The sheet was, maybe, 7 centimeters large). It was a time where documentation meant nothing, and you had to get it the hard way. It was a time where experience was something you don't get until just after you needed it. It was a time where copied/pirated games where sold in shops and where the RIAA, DMCA, or same organisations where laugh at. It was a time where all cracking groups'name were written with 3 characters (DCA, BCA, RCA, KGB, HTL, EPX, TWT, HOT, FLT, NOP, WOW, etc.). It was a time where assembly language was a high-level language /Erik Harrison. It was a time where @!#?@! meant life or death. It was a time where Peeking and Poking memory locations was the height of fashion /Barbie. It was a time where peer-to-peer was made with pigeons networks...

    After that I've been a little on the archimede, then amiga for a few years, and finally the pc (started with a 386 -- the dos was a pain after the amiga and the archimede). Never left assembly programming though. Over the years I finally got a nice collection of computers and consoles, sadly now most of them are in a friend's attic (i dont have the place here) which includes: a Vectrex, a ZX81, a VideoPack, two C64, a Commodore 116 (quite rare), an Apple ][, a Schneider 6128, a C128D, two A500, one A1000, a SNES (japanese version with a debugging tools and a parallel connection to the PC), and a 286 but IBM PC doesnt count i guess. Sometimes i take one home, open it to clean the dust and start to play with it. Call that Nostalgy...

    And guess what... I'm paid to work with computers now... ;-)
Re: Re: My first computer was...
by rje (Deacon) on Jul 31, 2003 at 17:51 UTC
    Yep, just about the same story here, too. BASIC in middle school and 6502 assembly in high school. And don't forget MULE.

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