When did you get your first computer?

[arminnie]

Inspired by the how often do you get a new computer thread.

I got my first computer over 20 years ago - an IBM AT - the first one that came out with the hard drive. Not too long after I got my first "portable" computer - the original Compaq that was the size of a sewing machine.

I can't believe how backward my employers were about providing computers back then. I worked for EDS - the big computer company founded by Ross Perot - and we didn't get PCs forever. We were hooked to the mainframe with virtually no tools and this was years and years after PCs were readily available.

I was thrilled when I changed companies and we got the latest and greatest software and hardware. It really increased productivity.

I remember doing a few dialup bulletin boards twenty years ago but I guess I've had internet access for 10+ years now.

I was a telecommunications systems programmer 35 years ago and wrote some of the first communications software applications for an international sales system with terminals around the world.
My first "email" experience was sending console messages from the mainframe terminal in London to the night shift operators in Dallas to find out football scores.

 

[onecoolmama]

I was 7 when I went to computer class. 8 when someone gave us a computer for xmas.

 

[helenabear]

I have been on computers for as long as I can remember... before I was writing I remember doodling on computer paper at home. I know I was learning BASIC when I was 8 years old... we had computer classes in my grade school as well... and that was 20 years ago. So not sure when we had our first computer, but it was rather early.

I know *I* bought my very own computer when I was 17

 

[RitaZ.]

In 1988, it was a Mac Plus. I still have the receipt for it, I thought it would fun to look at it many years later and laugh at the outrageous price that we paid.

 

[oogieboogie]

I was 9 when I went to computer camp - learned Basic - RadioShack TRS-80
Then I had a commodore-C64
After that came my custom built XT with 2 5 1/4" floppies
Then in college I had an AT still with 5 1/4" floppies
End of college I got a Toshiba laptop (wow... a whole 8 mb RAM and 100mb hard drive)
In grad school I got a Gateway (full size tower no less, ugh!)
Then it was Acer, HP, Dell and now a Compaq Presario notebook.

WoW! I went through that many?

 

[FroggyinArk]

bought our first home computer in 98 when we first started gettin thins preped t o start our own bizz

 

[musicalSaranader]

I was born with a computer in my house, in 84. It was an IBM, and my brother and I would use it to play those old games. I first got my own computer two years ago when I went to college, a Dell. Forget just games, my life is on it!

 

[Cindy B]

1984-- IBM Pc jr. ... it was a 8th grade graduation present

It had HUGE floppys, no memory, and it was immense!

Everything was text based, and no mouse.. I had some text based games, which in essense were pretty lame.

I remember learning old Windows Based Word Perfect.. thinks like Alt f5 meaning save or something like that. F8 was print, If I remember correctly.

My old boyfriend in college had a 300 baud acoustical modem (think like the movie Wargames), and we woud go on BBS's.

My then BF (my DH now) ran a BBS using WWIV software (shows you how old I am.. . His BBs had a chat feature.

We never had computer classes in elementary or middle school. High school there were computer classes. (I started high school in 1984)

 

[Pin Wizard]

I bought my first computer in 1996. But my dad had one at home before I was married. No Internet back then...for us common folks any way. My husband used to work for IBM. I remember when we were dating he was telling me about e-mail within the company. I think I looked at him like he had 3 heads. LOL!!

 

[CindyKansas]

We bought an IBM from QVC over 10 years ago that was set up with a Disney Package. It was a great computer for DD at the time (she was 5). When we finally got the internet we upgraded to a Compaq Presario 2200, since the old IBM was sooooo slow. Both of those computers are long gone.

 

[crazelion]

My mom bought me my first comeputer when I was 5 years old. the first computer i bought myself was in college.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Very first was a TI-99A, used a cassette recorder with it. First PC was an IBM PC, double floppy, 1984, first hard drive was a PC LTD, the original company Mike Dell started in college, before the name changed to the founder's name, Dell, in 1985, maybe '86. Used Compuserve and Prodigy BB's then.

 

[JoeThaNo1Stunna]

A Packard Bell with dial-up AOL in 1996.

 

[AZKathy]

We are late bloomers...we got our first one in 1996. I don't know what took so long!<a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/3/3_3_7.gif' border=0></a>

 

[KimRaye]

I got my first, only, and current computer in March, 2000. Hard to believe I still have this relic.

 

[DepCor0311]

1986... It was an apple IIc...with a monochrome moniter....and an Epson LX-90 printer....I thought that computer was the coolest thing I had ever seen...

 

[HollyJoy]

I remember having a Commodore 64 in High School! LOL That was a family gig. Didn't get my own computer until I was married!

 

[N.Bailey]

My 1st computer was a 486, 4 megs of ram, I'm thinking 116 mb hard drive, but that could be wrong. It was tiny! I had to take it to at least I believe it was 16 megs of ram to get it online, so I bought 4-5 meg modules I think and that took it to 20 megs. I had this computer for a year before taking it online, so I'd say that was back in 1993 that I bought it. It ran windows 3.11. Back then, I had to learn more DOS than I wanted to!

 

[sgtdisney]

This is a fun thread. My first computer was an IBM PC jr too. In fact it is still laying around somewhere, I think it is in my in-laws garage. LOL It had no hard drive, so you had to put a DOS disk in the 5 1/4 floppy drive when you booted it. It had money management software, some kind of word processor, but I don't remember which one and those fun text based games This was around 83 or 84. I think my dad paid around 1000.00 for it then! Then a year later I bought my own Commodore VIC-20. Still have that one some where too! I bought some cartridge that had a modem and used it to access compuserve and read message boards and chat. That was really the only reason I bought that, IBM charged too much for their peripherals.

 

[Bob Slydell]

At 9 or 10 I got a Commodore Vic-20 -- when I started writing programs that used too much of the 5K memory it had, my parents got me a Commodore-64 (around 11). We also had an Apple 2c as well.