Jode Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Total RAM: less than this message. "I had to have something, and it wasn't there. I couldn't go down the street and buy it, so I built it." Les Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABECK Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Wait, are you saying that I can learn computing AT HOME, for under $300!?!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stepay Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 My Dad got the first home computer on my street when I was 14 -- a Radio Shack TRS-80 with 4k of memory. A few months later he upgraded to 16k of memory, and I remember him saying he'd NEVER need that much. Kids used to come over before school to play Hammurabi and other very basic games on that thing. Incredible where they've gone from there. Steve (Stevie Ray) "Do the chickens have large talons?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABECK Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 We had a TRS-80 as well. I remember fondly playing a game called "Bedlam", which we had to load from a cassette. We also had a Timex Sinclaire (SP?), which was a tiny little thing. Then, of course there was the IBM PC junior. I had some kick ass games for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanker. Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 We always called them Trash 80s. My elementary school had quite a few of them. Those were some big beasts A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loumi Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 You guys are all wimps. Try programming the IMSAI 8080 with its bit switches. That was real computing! Actually going back from that, I designed using an Intel 8008. Anybody older than me design with the 4004? Wiki on the IMSAI 8080 --------------- To B-3 or not to B-3, that is the question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanker. Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 My dad started on am IBM 704 back in the early 60's A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stepay Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 We always called them Trash 80s. My elementary school had quite a few of them. Those were some big beasts Yep. Trash 80s. We called them that too. Basic programming. As a sophomore in high school I was in the "computing club". Not meant as a slam on computer geeks (which I'm actually NOT even though I work with them all day), but that was all I could take. There's a place in this world for ubergeeks, but that place wasn't right next to me. I don't hate computer geeks, but there's only so much of it I can stand. Steve (Stevie Ray) "Do the chickens have large talons?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdman Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 You guys are all wimps. Try programming the IMSAI 8080 with its bit switches. That was real computing! Actually going back from that, I designed using an Intel 8008. Anybody older than me design with the 4004? Wiki on the IMSAI 8080 I'm older than you but the first bare bones micro I programmed was a sourcerer. But I programmed some obscure mini computers before that had front panel lights and switches. Real useful for debugging! (Saw a 4004 when it first came out as I helped its owners get the cross assembler going on our mainframe, but never actually programmed it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky2 Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 We had a Timex Sinclair 1000 that we connected to a black and white tv. Programmed a ton of applications is Basic on that thing. Anyone else remember this one? TS1000 Mark "Think Pink Floyd are whiny old men? No Problem. Turn em off and enjoy the Miley Cyrus remix featuring Pitbull." - Cygnus64 Life is shorter than you think...make it count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmp Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 I think the TRS-80 nickname was universal. I has a Model I that I upgraded to 16K of RAM and Level II BASIC. This machine was my introduction to Microsoft Sucks. A roommate had a TS1000. Like the Trash-80, fun but not terribly useful. I really liked my TI-59. A guy who worked for NEC gave me one of these in return for my worthless opinion because he thought I knew something about Unix. By 1984 I had an 8086 machine with 30Mb of disk and 640K of RAM running System III. It used the segment register for context switching, so processes were limited to 64k. My first MIDI machine was the Amiga in about 1988. I only had it for a year or so, but the PVG in Dr. T's KCS intrigues me to this day. I wish I had more time to play with that. --wmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Sharrock Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 The TS1000 was called the ZX81 over in England. Affectionately (?) known as the elegant doorstop. Best use for the thing. The big square box on the back is extra RAM, extends the normal 1Kb to a massive 16Kb but made the thing overheat so much the thing kept crashing! Very frustrating as it took half an hour to load the program back up from cassette. Gig rig: Motif XF8,Roland A37~laptop,Prophet 08,Yam WX5~VL70m. Studio: V-Synth GT,Korg DW8000,A33,Blofeld,N1R,KS Rack,too many VSTs Freefall www.f-music.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 We had a TRS80, Commodore 64 and then got really excited when a local business closed and was "blowing out" their Apple III units for a deal (which at the time in about 1983 would have been $1500). My dad bought one as it appeared to be an uber Apple II. It was ok, but required emulation disks to run any kind of Apple II software and you could not hook up alternative controllers. That was a weird time when computers were starting to make it into homes. I have some fond memories of the games I used to play and love on the early computers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 My first PC was an Apple IIplus with a whopping 16KB of memory. My Dad gave me 48KB of memory to upgrade it to an amazing 64KB of RAM! I saved/reloaded programs and data from a portable cassette deck. But I was already programming IBM mainframes by then, including writing FORTRAN programs using the console Set Switches for program control. (I know I am dating myself here...) Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 The first computer I ever got to know was an Altair 8800 (I think). My dad worked at an electronics store and one of the guys there owned it, so they had him bring it in and set it up in the store to gauge interest. IIRC, he had it all. He had the teletype with the paper tape reader, and it wasn't just the little box you see in pictures, he had that one top of the matching floor standing box that I think had a drive in it or something? I was a little kid so I don't remember all the details. I loved the paper tapes he gave me (he gave me the ones that were no good because they had "bugs"), and the printouts from playing tic-tac-toe and lunar lander. Good times. "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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