First Computers

So for the sake of throwing this out there because you never know where it would go, I’m growing up. I always liked television. I got like many children in the 70s in the 80s I got parked in front of the television with two working parents.

I enjoyed Transformers GI Joe in the afternoons Masters of the Universe. Reruns of the 1960s Adam West Burt Ward Batmans reruns of the original Twilight so I think filled my afternoons. Heathcliff DuckTales Saturday mornings I enjoyed Alvin and the Chipmunks Garfield and friends the Snorks The Smurfs The shirt tails, and of course the legendary Superfriends in so many different incarnations, Spider Man and His Amazing Friends, The Incredible Hulk animated series in 1982.

In syndication in the afternoons, I enjoyed the Incredible Hulk. I also enjoyed sitcoms like The Facts of Life, Family Matters Malaysia they were all things that I enjoyed television wise. And of course Star Trek Star Trek Next Generation Deep Space Nine and Voyager as I grew up.

And it’s funny because my affinity for those things were what started me on doing celebrity fan sites which got me recognized by MTV and how to launch my career, building websites and doing online marketing. So eventually it does all end up somewhere.

I know with computers I have a few early memories of computers. I remember my father bringing home a Timex Sinclair 1000. I have a variant of it here that Pastor Aaron yarn all brought on my birthday which I thought was great birthday week. Timex Sinclair 1000 was a little computer hooked up to the TV, black and white display use ASCII characters to make graphics use a tape recorder interface. Yeah, that’s interesting.

My sister got Texas Instruments 99 for a or ti 99 For array, which were hooked by comedian Bill Cosby back in the 80s ti 99 for Ray had great graphics I believe we also had a tape recorder for that. Took cartridges as well for like Munch man and all kinds of stuff like that. I remember getting magazines that one with the Timex and that one I could get magazines and typing programs from the magazines. I remember my mother would help me when I would get frustrated because I hadn’t been indoctrinated. What touch typing system yet.

In the seventh grade, the school I went to Northern middle school we had a computer literacy class for seventh graders. It was a pilot I believe, Keith Livingston taught it and that’s where we were taught how to touch type. I live rural so we’ll set typing with typewriters, which took like two years later, or something of the sort.

But we had Apple two E’s in class and then at home I had laser 128 which was an apple two C compatible, and that really got me started on my own. Beyond like the Texas Instruments computer that was like my computer I had a modem 300 1200 baud modem, ran a bulletin board system of BBs for people called in we were actually called into it.

I met other people that did it too and went to meetups with the Harrisburg area computer Group H AC G. I had a friend that met that his family won the lottery. His he was called the turtle David Rubin neck. I think he had a brother Jason. I went to their house once and it was weird because it was after my parents had divorced and I just hadn’t sat down at a family dinner in years. So that was a bizarre experience.

I had a lot of disk copied I went and bought a lot of software. Copy to plus was my best friend and eventually used nibm PC X t rational I think we got an 80 or 386 and Windows three one, Windows three one. In high school I use a Mac for to help publishing school paper I was I was one of the editors of the school paper I forgot about that did that too.

So yeah, that was my starting computers. And then I remember my friend Mark offered to help build a newer one. So I got some money and from my mom, and I think some of it was mine too. And we actually got two computers out of it with a whopping 36k modem. Oh 33 Six I think is what it was.

But yeah, it’s just it was an early start with computers with the Apple two. That really got me because I was the one that ran the BBS with Fido. Net. No of that. Talk is cheap was the terminal program. That really got me started into what I do for a living now which is a web development and online marketing.

So teach your kids to do things when they’re young.