Earliest Computer/console memories

[Damo]

What are your memories growing up as a kid or adulthood with computers?

The very first computer that my parents bought me was a Commodore Plus 4, it had a built in wordprocessor etc and I loved it.

The manual taught you how to do little bits of programming etc. And remember getting tapes with games on like mercenary, paperboy. Than as I grew up went through Commodore 16, Commodore 64. But my favourite was the Amiga wow what a machine 32 bit graphics, 8 bit Sound and the ability to add power processor card underneath. I even hacked mine and put a hard drive in it. The best thing about the os was the multitasking something that the pc of the time could not do, I remember having like 30 clocks running on the desktop just for the sake of it. For me those where the days of fun computing.

What do you get now when you buy a Pc, nothing at all, no lessons in programming and no fun factor!

What a shame, take me back to my childhood

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[Gerry]

My memories growing up as a kid or adulthood with computers?

I grew up with Commodore 16, Commodore 64. But my favourite was the Amiga then the sega and nintento the the plantation 1,2 and now 3


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[Finless]

Other than that original PONG game
Fairchild game machine (dont remember the name)
Atari 2600

My first home computer was an Atari 400
followed by all kinds of other like the trash 80, etc.

At work was a Xerox 680 (was a CPM machine with a giant 10 meg hard drive)
Then an Alto work station.
Followed by the Xerox 8010 full screen work station (was connected to Arpa Net one of the first internets if you call it that). I was in heaven with this thing! Kicked butt on anything out there. Too bad Xerox could not market it. With this thing I was using windows, icons, and mice in 1981!!!! Oh and the mouse was optical too! We had full Ethernet networking with all the other connected workstations, file servers, Email, and printers (Xerox developed Ethernet).... When the first PC came out with MS DOS, I laughed at it!!!!!!

http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/xerox-8010/index.html

Many may not know this but the Apple Lisa was all this technology stolen by Job's and later used on the MAC.

Bob

[Damo]

Wow and look at Apple now!

Is that the computer you are doing the Roms on now Bob




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[ZonaMojo]

My 1st comp was the C-64. Instead of the tape drive, I splurged & got the floppy drive. I remember it taught you how to do graphics by working with what they called "sprites". My 2nd comp was the IBM PC jr. I got it cheap because mom worked at IBM. It was a crap machine, but I did learn to write & compile Pascal & Fortran programs on it.


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[jamieb158]

Aaah my trusty old commodore vic20, many happy hours typing basic just to see some blocks running around the screen, first real proper pc was my Amstrad pc1640, cost me a mint. Remember the gem desktop?

[Finless]

Yes I remember GEM well.

In fact I was an Atari fan so when the Atari ST came out I got one. It had GEM built in as the GUI. For a home PC I was in heaven. In fact I use to take C code from the Xerox 8010 workstation and cross compile it to work in GEM on my Atart 1040 ST. I was jumping with JOY when I got UUDecode and UUEncode working on my Atari!

Before the interent (as it's called today), Universities were on ARPA net and would host UU file servers. At that point I stopped using dial up BBS's to get files.

Bob

[swlaraut]

I feel likea rookie here. My first was a off brand PC (Lazer I think) with an Intel 8088 processor. It had a blistering 10 mg FSB, Strictly DOS. The really cool thing was it used the new 5 1/4 floppy's.

I got a whole bunch of floppy games from someone, you know the role ones, like vampire killer. No graphics, just text. You had basic commands like look or walk. "You are in the castle dungeon, what would you like to do?" Man I miss those game's they were the best.

I once found a site were you could download then but that was years ago now. Sad they are gone.

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[Damo]

What are your memories growing up as a kid or adulthood with computers?

The very first computer that my parents bought me was a Commodore Plus 4, it had a built in wordprocessor etc and I loved it.

The manual taught you how to do little bits of programming etc. And remember getting tapes with games on like mercenary, paperboy. Than as I grew up went through Commodore 16, Commodore 64. But my favourite was the Amiga wow what a machine 32 bit graphics, 8 bit Sound and the ability to add power processor card underneath. I even hacked mine and put a hard drive in it. The best thing about the os was the multitasking something that the pc of the time could not do, I remember having like 30 clocks running on the desktop just for the sake of it. For me those where the days of fun computing.

What do you get now when you buy a Pc, nothing at all, no lessons in programming and no fun factor!

What a shame, take me back to my childhood

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Hehe the Old Amiga is Back!!!!
Commodore Amiga Mini PC revealed: Core i7, 16GB of RAM and a Blu-ray drive

By Darren Murph posted Mar 21st 2012 4:04PM

Yeah, an optical drive. You know, for folks who still appreciate the passing fads of life. Bitterness aside, Commodore is following up its retro-fabulous C64x with a new small-form-factor PC, the Amiga Mini. While not much of a looker, this box houses a potent 3.5GHz Core i7-2700k CPU, 16GB of DDR3 memory, NVIDIA's GeForce GT 430 (1GB), a WiFi radio and a 1TB HDD that can be swapped out for a 300GB or 600GB solid state drive. There's a slot-loading Blu-ray drive by default, internal space for a pair of 2.5-inch drives and a predictable Amiga logo burned right onto the front panel. Unfortunately, the well-specced base model tips the pricing scales at $2,495, but that does include a copy of its Commodore OS Vision. The company's also revealing the C64x Supreme, the new VIC mini and a more powerful VIC-Slim keyboard computer (which now includes an HDMI output), all detailed in the presser past the break.

Update: Citing "consumer outcry," Commodore has lowered the entry price of the machine you see above to $1,995. For those of you who paid $500 more yesterday -- well, as least you've got a refund headed your way.

Commodore Amiga Mini press photos

Show full PR text
COMMODORE USA RELEASES FIRST NEW COMMODORE AMIGA IN 20 YEARS, FINALLY REUNITING TWO ICONIC COMPUTER BRANDS.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. March 21, 2012 – Commodore USA, LLC announced today the historic re-unification of the legendary Commodore and AMIGA brands with the launch of the new Commodore AMIGA mini, as well as other new models such as the new C64x Supreme, the new VIC mini and a more powerful VIC-Slim keyboard computer (now with HDMI output). These new products are now in production and available for purchase at www.CommodoreUSA.net.

The new Commodore AMIGA mini is a trail blazing power-house featuring Intel's i7-2700k 3.5 Ghz Quad-Core (3.9Ghz Turboboost) processor, 16Gb RAM DDR3 1333MHz and an NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 430 GPU with 1GB DDR3. This machine is fully loaded with a 1 TB SATA drive (optional 300 GB or 600 GB SSD), two WiFi antennae and bluetooth. The new Commodore AMIGA mini case is ultra small and features a solid, all aluminum seamless housing, micro-sandblasted with an anodic oxidation finish. It also includes a slot load Blu-Ray drive and internal space for two 2.5" hard drives. It measures 7.5 inches square with a height of only 3 inches. The AMIGA mini's appearance is enhanced with the inclusion of the classic embedded AMIGA logo engraved in the front.

The C64x, highly regarded by Commodore fans for its retro styling, now features Intel's new D2700 dual core 2.13 Ghz CPU and nVidia GeForce GT 520 (512Mb) graphics for enhanced gaming capability over previous models. It also features 4Gb Memory (DDR3 1066), a 1 or 3 GB SATA drive (300 or 600 Gb SSD optional), a mechanical keyboard, a built in multi-card reader, WiFI, Bluetooth, VGA, DVI and HDMI output, 7.1 channel high definition sound, 2 USB 3.0 and 4 USB 2.0 ports for exceptional external data access, a slot loading Blu-ray drive that can also write DVDs and 2 WiFi antennae for outstanding signal reception.

The VIC mini has specifications identical to the C64x Supreme, wrapped in the elegant aluminum enclosure of the AMIGA mini.

The VIC-Slim is an upgraded unit replacing the previous 1.8 Ghz dual core Atom with the new Intel 2.13Ghz Dual Core D2700 processor and includes 2Gb RAM (DDR3 1066MHz), a 1Tb SATA Hard Disk Drive and HDMI output.

Mr. Barry Altman, CEO, states "This is an historic day. The team here has been working around the clock to fulfill the vision of a reunited Commodore and AMIGA branded computer with the launch of our new Commodore AMIGA mini."

Mr. Leo Nigro, CTO, states "We built Commodore USA to take advantage of the rapid rate of technological change in the computer hardware market. The introduction of Intel's new Atom processor for compact devices such as the C64x Supreme, VIC-Slim and VIC mini proves that Commodore USA is setting the pace for the computer industry. The Commodore AMIGA mini with its 16 GB of RAM, powerful i7-2700k 3.5 Ghz Quad-Core processor and built-in nVidia graphics chipset is truly worthy of the AMIGA name. Also, with the inclusion of Commodore OS Vision, our own Linux distribution showcasing our product's advanced hardware features, we can also provide a unique and compelling experience for customers seeking an alternative to Apple and Microsoft products. First and foremost I'm a Commodore and AMIGA fan, and like millions of other fans around the world, I am excited by the return of the famous Commodore and AMIGA brands we grew up with and loved."

Barry Altman adds, "Leo and I and the entire team, started on this journey to prove that we could take these historic computer brands and produce products that are relevant to both the historical consumer base and new customers. These computers are breathtaking in appearance, incredibly powerful and exciting to use."

Commodore

[jake608]

Yeah, I remember my first Comadore and the programming. I once wrote a program for a student and it was a simple math multiplication table, took a whole day line by line! My how times have changed!

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[Damo]

I want my Amiga back. Lol

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[petrus]

For me the first computer I came across was in my 11th year at school. By that time we had MO5 local LAN : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson_MO5

I learnt logo, not really useful but really interesting
from that point i got my parents buy me an amstrad cpc 464 with a green monitor and a casset drive.
Later I could buy an amiga 1200, which brought me to higher levels of programming and gaming fun (still miss some games and "STAG" porn for those who know )
then a 486 that could run wolfenstein but nothing more.
I still miss my amiga!!!!

[mrshoe]

Texas Instruments TI99-4a. It was a cartridge bases system.
Then it was the Commodore Vic 20, C64 with a tape drive. Then the 128 with a floppy.
I sold the C128 about 2 years ago.

[doughy2002]

My first computer was a Sinclair Zx81 with 16k ram pack. Then I had commodore 16 plus 4

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[Finless]

I forgot I had one of those too!

Bob