What was your first computer?
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All this Modem talk. The first ones I used had the acoustic couplers and did 110 baud. When I was using the Northstar, I remember paying big bucks (~$300 or so) for the Hayes 300 baud modem that introduced the AT Hayes modem command set.
I don't remember the exact model, but it was an old IBM I got from my grandparents when they got a new computer. (This was when my wife and I were poor and lived in Mammoth managing a condo complex, so my grandparents actually got new technology before me. 
) I do remember taking it to the only computer place that was located in Bishop called Schats Electronics, and upgrading the computer from 8mb of RAM to 16.
At that time Shats was the only provider for internet as well. You had Shats Dialup or nothing and this was 1998. Now Mammoth has cable broadband that only goes up to 1.5 download (up to 10 Mbps for businesses) or dial-up through Verizon. That is it.
(For those familiar with Mammoth and Bishop, Schats Electronics is owned by the same family that owns the world famous, Schats Bakery).
) I do remember taking it to the only computer place that was located in Bishop called Schats Electronics, and upgrading the computer from 8mb of RAM to 16. At that time Shats was the only provider for internet as well. You had Shats Dialup or nothing and this was 1998. Now Mammoth has cable broadband that only goes up to 1.5 download (up to 10 Mbps for businesses) or dial-up through Verizon. That is it.
(For those familiar with Mammoth and Bishop, Schats Electronics is owned by the same family that owns the world famous, Schats Bakery).
1. Sinclair ZX-81 ( a precursor to the Timex Sinclair 1000) Sinclair ZX-81 computer Later on I purchased the C64.
2. Learned programming (COBOL, Fortran, RPGII) on an IBM 370 at college.
3. First email addy was on Netscape. I still have it.
2. Learned programming (COBOL, Fortran, RPGII) on an IBM 370 at college.
3. First email addy was on Netscape. I still have it.
Most nostalgic screenshot I can give you of my early days with a computer... the BBS game Tradewars 2002.
1. An AST 386 SX 25. I believe it had a meg or 2 of ram and a 40 meg hard drive in 1992. I still have it.
2. I used an IBM in college to write papers. A friend's dad bought it for him and everyone used that thing for papers. It had no hard drive and ran the word processing program off 4, 5 1/4 floppies. It only had 640 K ram I think. This was about 1987. That was so much better than a typewriter.
3. About 1996.
2. I used an IBM in college to write papers. A friend's dad bought it for him and everyone used that thing for papers. It had no hard drive and ran the word processing program off 4, 5 1/4 floppies. It only had 640 K ram I think. This was about 1987. That was so much better than a typewriter.
3. About 1996.
1) What was the first computer you have owned? Texas Instruments TI-99/4
2) What was the first computer you used? Texas Instruments TI-99/4
3) When did you first have an email account? 1990 (local college internet account)
2) What was the first computer you used? Texas Instruments TI-99/4
3) When did you first have an email account? 1990 (local college internet account)
My first computer was an IBM XT clone that I bought for about $1800 in the mid 1980's. It has one floppy drive and if I remember it correctly, a 10 meg hd. I can't remember the brand, but it's Korean made and it has a logo shaped like a triangle. One of the more popular brands during that period. First modem was 2400 baud that I used to download games from several BBSs. Then joined AOL where I got my first email address.
That's exactly it. Thank you. I think I bought it from computerland which was just around the corner where I worked. The decision to buy that pc was probably one of the best decisions I made career wise. The knowledge that I gained experimenting with different applications (dbase specifically) opened a lot of opportunities. The wikipedia article is really interesting.
It is notable that Ashton Tate's dBASE was the go-to long before IBM compatibles (of which the Model Dog was not particularly compatible). I was using dBASE on a multiuser (MP/M) Altos 580 in the later '70s.
dBASE pretty much ruled the CP/M world and people are still actively using its surviving heir, Visual FoxPro.
dBASE pretty much ruled the CP/M world and people are still actively using its surviving heir, Visual FoxPro.
The classic:
This planted my seeds of hatred for Apple as I wanted a gaming computer and as we all remember, the concept of "gaming" on an Apple computer was about as prevalent as the concept of "honesty" at a presidential debate.
This planted my seeds of hatred for Apple as I wanted a gaming computer and as we all remember, the concept of "gaming" on an Apple computer was about as prevalent as the concept of "honesty" at a presidential debate.
Aquarius 1982 keyboard that you connect to a television. I think it was 1982 because it said Copyright 1982 Microsoft Corporation when it was ready for me to enter text for the BASIC programming language. I also had a cassette recorder that I could save my data on and a booklet that allowed me to copy from that were programs that done certain things. I remember playing around on this back in 1991.
What was the first computer you owned?
Coleco Adam (1984) and then an IBM XT Clone (1986). I was the envy of all my fellow college freshmen with my 20MB Hard drive. The real IBM XT only had a 2 floppy disk configuration. You had to go clone to get a hard drive.
2) What was the first computer you used?
Commordore PET 16 and Radio Shack TSR 80s. My highschool was very proud of the networked TRS 80s that replaced the Punch card machines they were previously using for Cobol and Fortran classes.
3) When did you first have an email account?
1986 from Compuserver and College
Coleco Adam (1984) and then an IBM XT Clone (1986). I was the envy of all my fellow college freshmen with my 20MB Hard drive. The real IBM XT only had a 2 floppy disk configuration. You had to go clone to get a hard drive.
2) What was the first computer you used?
Commordore PET 16 and Radio Shack TSR 80s. My highschool was very proud of the networked TRS 80s that replaced the Punch card machines they were previously using for Cobol and Fortran classes.
3) When did you first have an email account?
1986 from Compuserver and College
Sorry I missed this thread earlier! My first "computer" experience outside of college was with an Imsai 8080 console a friend purchased. He was thinking about becoming a dealer for them and was thus an earlier adopter, but nothing materialized. I don't remember much about that system. I bought a Sinclair ZX-80 (or 81?) whenever it was first available (1980?) that I played around with for awhile then sold. (At the time you could order the kit for $99 or an assembled unit for $199. I ordered the kit but they never released those and instead sent me the assembled unit for the kit price.) I never did much with it as it was more just a curiosity. I bought a TI-99/4A that I still have somewhere. I used it mostly for games - "Parsec", anyone? Or "Car Wars"? It had a capability for external storage but I never upgraded to that. In about '88 I bought my first "clone", a Tandy EX-1000 (IIRC) with internal 5.25" floppy drive storage and VGA monitor. I upgraded by adding a second, external floppy drive and dot matrix printer. I took that to work (even tho' I paid for it) and used it there exclusively for about a year until the company started issuing PCs to some key emps. I still have all that equipment in my vast archives/museum...!
My first e-mail account (outside of the work intranet) was with Compuserv on my home Pentium 1 (60MHx) PC in about 1990. My company paid for it as it was work related, but I accessed it most often from home.
My first e-mail account (outside of the work intranet) was with Compuserv on my home Pentium 1 (60MHx) PC in about 1990. My company paid for it as it was work related, but I accessed it most often from home.
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