Virgin Media Community

[Kev_B]

I recently reminisced about my first computer, an Amiga 600 in the mid-90s.

I'm sure you've all had some weird and wonderful systems over the years, but what was the first? What was good (or not so good) about it?

Personally I loved playing Settlers on the Amiga - I was only 8-9, after all - but I didn't enjoy the multiple disks or time needed to install it!

[Anonymous]

ZX Spectrum

Learn basic on that thing in the 90s

When i moved to Dos/and QBasic 🙂

[dannylau]

Started with a ZX81, moved to the Spectrum then the Atari ST

I did have the original pong console and the atari console 

 when I watched ready player one I guessed adventure was going to to be the game 

[Roger_Gooner]

It was around August 1994 that I bought my first PC. It's wasn't a new technology for me as I'd been using PCs since 1983 at work to develop Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets, to create reports using word processors such as WordPerfect and I'd built an Oracle application running on MS-DOS.

The PC was made by Gateway who had a big factory in Dublin. All comunication was by a freephone number. I cannot remember all the details but it was quite advanced with Windows 3.11, a 15" monitor and a CD drive, probably cost around £1,500 which adjusted for inflation is the most I've ever paid for a PC. I promptly opened it to install a fax modem and signed up with Prestel to get internet access. It was all quite different to what we have today, and one thing stuck in my mind when someone in my office said that I was a sad and lonely person for having an email address. Still, it was kind of cool being able to do things like being able to Telnet into a server in San Francisco.

I used the PC for a travel business I'd just started and for leisure purposes such as contributing to Usenet newsgroups and email lists. Browsers had barely come onto the market and I used Netscape for many years until I finally decamped to Microsoft's IE.

[Graham_A]

The first one I owned was a BBC Acorn.  

If I remember correctly it needed a cassette tape player connected to upload programs.

Not long after I started work (1983) they began to start using Apple Macintosh bricks. 

It wasn't many years after that I started to become involved with helping out in the office with computer issues.

[ravenstar68]

The first video game we had was a Tandy TV scoreboard

But the first computer was an Acorn Electron

I spent ages typing in programs from a book of BBC BASIC programs.  Although the edition I had actually had a few issues.

Tim

[Tudor]

My first computer I bought was a BBC micro, had already built a home brew 6502 machine, although I had already worked with computers for years. Started with an IBM 1401 and worked with and coded on many IBM machines. Try translating my tag line.

[teabag]

First a ZX 81

Then a Spectrum version

Atari 520ST

Atari 1040STe

Amiga 1200 which now looks very grubby, but still played on occasionally  🤭

[jamesofmerton]

apple II. long time ago that. mid 70's. more money than sense. then i came to my senses. everything from a bbc to commodore then amiga then windows 3.1 to what i have now asus running windows 10 pro. 

computers are much better now. programming is much easier compared to what i started with. 

[MrHalfAsleep]

Faffed about on a friend's ZX81 Circa 1979 and an Atari VCS before that (found bugs and Easter eggs), then an Electron (as above) with 20 games, along with an Acorn tape unit in 1983.  Upgraded it with a +1 (printer and joystick) interface in 1987 along with a 5 1/4 inch Cumana Disk drive and a Pegasus 400 disk interface.  Spent ages transferring stuff to disk after finding an unlocking program in A + B computing.  Also faffed about with C64's and Amstrad CPC464's which also belonged to friends.  Continued using the Electron 'til 1998 and the Star LC10 packed up in 2006 after 19 years of use.

0 REM NOSTALGIA TRIP
   10P%=&900
   20[
   30LDA#31:STA&70
   40INC&70
   50LDA&70
   60JSR&FFEE:JSR&FFEE:JSR&FFEE:JSR&FFEE:CMP#126:BNE&904
   70LDA#127:STA&71
   80LDA&71:DEC&71
   90JSR&FFEE:JSR&FFEE:JSR&FFEE:JSR&FFEE:CMP#32:BNE &91C
  100RTS
  110]
  120 MODE 2:REPEAT:COLOURRND:CALL&900:UNTIL FALSE

The above code should work on the real thing (a BBC or Electron) or an emulator.