Comments on: What was your first computer?

On the anniversary of the ENIAC unveiling, we asked industry pros to reminisce about their first computers. Tell us about yours.

[mkaufm]

8086

My first computer was a Leading Edge branded 8086. I kept it running until 2000. The motherboard battery died, so I figured it had a full life and put it out to pasture.

[mkaufm]

8086

My first computer was a Leading Edge branded 8086. I kept it running until 2000. The motherboard battery died, so I figured it had a full life and put it out to pasture.

[ChrisN_TX]

Sinclair Model Z80 !!

it was soo old , it used channel 38 on the UHF band on my very old tv

[ChrisN_TX]

Sinclair Model Z80 !!

it was soo old , it used channel 38 on the UHF band on my very old tv

[mhans]

Apple II+

A 1980 Apple was my first computer, and it had the works - an
Apple graphics tablet! 110/300 baud modem which included a
subscription to The Source! But BEST of all it came with a complete
set of operating manuals including how to program in both BASIC
and assembly. Those manuals are how I learned programming. The
spiral bound "BASIC Programming Reference Manual" is still on the
shelf today, left folded open at Appendix K, a 2-page table of ASCII
character codes.

[MTGrizzly]

Machine Language on the Apple II

This reminds me of my Apple //e. I got hurt at work, got bored, and taught myself to program that sucker in assembly. I remember having increadible angst when I had to sell the //e for my first Macintosh - I never bothered to learn to program the Mac in assembly. I used to dazzle all my friends who were CS majors, (I was in health sciences then, then got a Ph.D. in History), by being able to program in assembly at home, while they sat in the basement of the library waiting...

Seems like a lot of people started with assembly language with the 6503 microprocessor....

[mhans]

Apple II+

A 1980 Apple was my first computer, and it had the works - an
Apple graphics tablet! 110/300 baud modem which included a
subscription to The Source! But BEST of all it came with a complete
set of operating manuals including how to program in both BASIC
and assembly. Those manuals are how I learned programming. The
spiral bound "BASIC Programming Reference Manual" is still on the
shelf today, left folded open at Appendix K, a 2-page table of ASCII
character codes.

[MTGrizzly]

Machine Language on the Apple II

This reminds me of my Apple //e. I got hurt at work, got bored, and taught myself to program that sucker in assembly. I remember having increadible angst when I had to sell the //e for my first Macintosh - I never bothered to learn to program the Mac in assembly. I used to dazzle all my friends who were CS majors, (I was in health sciences then, then got a Ph.D. in History), by being able to program in assembly at home, while they sat in the basement of the library waiting...

Seems like a lot of people started with assembly language with the 6503 microprocessor....

[ckilbourne]

Coleco Adam

Little more than a primitive word processor, but it helped get me through law school.

[ckilbourne]

Coleco Adam

Little more than a primitive word processor, but it helped get me through law school.

[GregB10]

Intecolor CP-M with 19in color graphics

Intecolor PC running CP/M with a 19in color graphics display long before the Apple I or IBM PC existed. Hard to imagine.

[GregB10]

Intecolor CP-M with 19in color graphics

Intecolor PC running CP/M with a 19in color graphics display long before the Apple I or IBM PC existed. Hard to imagine.

[Squidboy]

IBM 1130

with 64K of 16 bit core, and a 2.5 meg (I think) hard drive with removable cartridge disks.

[Squidboy]

(oops - forgot the date)

This would have been around 1969 or so.

[Squidboy]

IBM 1130

with 64K of 16 bit core, and a 2.5 meg (I think) hard drive with removable cartridge disks.

[Squidboy]

(oops - forgot the date)

This would have been around 1969 or so.

[HoustonSpace]

The TRS-80 Color Computer 2

Those were the days. Just plug in a cartridge game, get a 'game/tv' switch and a tv set and your were in business. Get a cartridge with a ribbon cable connector for those media devices for even more programs. I had an external floppy drive that must have weighed 15 pounds. Many of those games were written in GW-Basic - Games like 'Battle of the Bulge' with character-based graphics. Lots of fun rip-offs of real arcade games. How about all those Infocom games? Zork, Infidel, Planetfall. I hated the power and reset switches on the back - such an inconvienient location - just unscrew the cover and reroute the wires to new switches fitted into freshly-drilled holes in the top (from Radio Shack, of course). What fun.

[HoustonSpace]

The TRS-80 Color Computer 2

Those were the days. Just plug in a cartridge game, get a 'game/tv' switch and a tv set and your were in business. Get a cartridge with a ribbon cable connector for those media devices for even more programs. I had an external floppy drive that must have weighed 15 pounds. Many of those games were written in GW-Basic - Games like 'Battle of the Bulge' with character-based graphics. Lots of fun rip-offs of real arcade games. How about all those Infocom games? Zork, Infidel, Planetfall. I hated the power and reset switches on the back - such an inconvienient location - just unscrew the cover and reroute the wires to new switches fitted into freshly-drilled holes in the top (from Radio Shack, of course). What fun.

[MadOverlord]

My first was the CARDIAC - the Bell Labs Cardboard Computer

Back when I was about 12 or 13, I was given a CARDIAC, a
complete digital computer implemented on cardboard.

http://www.bellsystemmemorial.com/belllabs_kits_cardiac.html

This was an amazing machine for its time, albeit a little slow.
When you erased the memory on this machine, you really erased
the memory -- with a rubber eraser!

I was hooked. Soon my poor mother was driving me 20 miles to
the local university every Saturday, so I could use their PDP-11
and the Dartmouth Time Sharing System.

The first computer I bought myself was a TRS-80. I was working
at one of the first ComputerLand stores at the time, but my boss
wouldn't give me a deal on an Apple II. When I told him I'd
bought the TRS-80, he fired me; he said it was like a Ford
salesman driving to work in a Chevy.

My first published programs were for the TRS-80 - 15 games for
$15, on tape. Later, when Wizardry came out, I gave my Mom a
% of the company to thank her for all the driving she did, which
turned out to be a great deal for her... ;^)

[tpeters]

Me too

My fifth grade teacher promised me a Bell Labs CARDIAC all year if I'd get my homework caught up. I didn't. When I wandered back into the school bulding a few weeks into summer vacation, she was there and asked my if I still wanted it. "Oh yeah!" I learned about the basics of computing from it, stuff that served me well in years to come.

[MadOverlord]

My first was the CARDIAC - the Bell Labs Cardboard Computer

Back when I was about 12 or 13, I was given a CARDIAC, a
complete digital computer implemented on cardboard.

http://www.bellsystemmemorial.com/belllabs_kits_cardiac.html

This was an amazing machine for its time, albeit a little slow.
When you erased the memory on this machine, you really erased
the memory -- with a rubber eraser!

I was hooked. Soon my poor mother was driving me 20 miles to
the local university every Saturday, so I could use their PDP-11
and the Dartmouth Time Sharing System.

The first computer I bought myself was a TRS-80. I was working
at one of the first ComputerLand stores at the time, but my boss
wouldn't give me a deal on an Apple II. When I told him I'd
bought the TRS-80, he fired me; he said it was like a Ford
salesman driving to work in a Chevy.

My first published programs were for the TRS-80 - 15 games for
$15, on tape. Later, when Wizardry came out, I gave my Mom a
% of the company to thank her for all the driving she did, which
turned out to be a great deal for her... ;^)

[tpeters]

Me too

My fifth grade teacher promised me a Bell Labs CARDIAC all year if I'd get my homework caught up. I didn't. When I wandered back into the school bulding a few weeks into summer vacation, she was there and asked my if I still wanted it. "Oh yeah!" I learned about the basics of computing from it, stuff that served me well in years to come.

[jcfw01]

Frankin Ace

It was an Apple II compatible. Ran Basic and CPM.

[jcfw01]

Frankin Ace

It was an Apple II compatible. Ran Basic and CPM.

[ehberry]

Cromemco

My first computer was a Cromemco (1978). It was the size and weight of a small refrigerator. It had a Z80 chip running at 4 MHz. with 64MB of RAM and a single 5-1/4 inch floppy which held 80MB. It ran the CDOS operating system which was similar to CP/M. No hard drive, no graphic capability. I wrote small text based games and a checkbook program. Those were the days!

[ehberry]

Too much memory

Oops! It only had 64KB of memory and and 80KB floppy.

[ehberry]

Cromemco

My first computer was a Cromemco (1978). It was the size and weight of a small refrigerator. It had a Z80 chip running at 4 MHz. with 64MB of RAM and a single 5-1/4 inch floppy which held 80MB. It ran the CDOS operating system which was similar to CP/M. No hard drive, no graphic capability. I wrote small text based games and a checkbook program. Those were the days!

[ehberry]

Too much memory

Oops! It only had 64KB of memory and and 80KB floppy.