What is Digg?45 Comments
- Lynx1234567890, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5How many of those do you have to own to be consider a geek?
I have owned three of the one in the list and one is still fully function and I typical play a couple of games on it a every year. - daprice, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It's scary that I have actually touched many of those in stores when they first came out. I ended up owning a Vic 20 and a Commodore 64. I still have them in a closet somewhere, but I haven't powered them in many years. I have a TI 99/4A also, which I bought for $50 after it was discontinued, but that wasn't in the list.
- pype, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Heathens - not even a furtive glance at the GREATEST COMPUTER EVER MADE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI_99/4A
Read and bask in the 1981 awesomeness - kgool, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I had the TRS80, MC10, and C64, then upgrade to an Amiga. I thought I owned the world when I got that beauty.
- erkokite, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4another great museum is this one:
http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org/oldindex.shtml - dotorg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3One ought to do it.
I've, frighteningly, owned 3 of them, as well: Tandy TRS-80 model 100, TRS-80 Pocket Computer, C64
And the list didn't include the threeI used most during that time: Atari 400, 800, and 800XL (although I can't remember if the 800XL was before 83 or not) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I owned 3 on the list.. still have my comodore64 and it still works actually a couple i also have the executive portable(you reconise those people because one arm is so much longer than the other) also had the radio shack cocor and the zinclair x80
- thecanadiangeek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I just pulled my old 64C out of hiding the other day, I should see if it still works.
- oldgeek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3What's so funny is that people bring stuff like that to my repair shop wanting windows and AOL installed. Yes really.
- techmaster7b, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I can't believe they don't have the TI-99/4As. They were way better than the commadors. I have like 40 of them
- valis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I used to write documentation for telecommunications testing equipment on an Osborne 1. I used Wordstar at the time. Because it ran CP/M, it was necessary to create a large number of "users" to segregate areas on the disk. I had a dot matrix printout taped to the wall above my desk as an index of where what was and in what user area.
At the time, I thought it rocked. I could take my work home with me. However, I hated the directory system of CP/M. Mind you, OS 3.2 for Ohio Scientific CP series computers was a frigin' nightmare. You had to keep a record of where files started (by track and sector) and where they ended. Geek World 0.1, it was. - curmudgeon7205, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1God! I owned the TRS-80 models I and III, the Commodore VIC 20 and Commodore 64, the KayPro, and the Osborne1. Plus, I lusted - unsatedly - over several of the others presented here. Good review.
- DWatch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I owned an atari 400 in '83, and at the time, I was in an electonics school getting my associates degree, an they had a lab set up with all C64's to learn programming. At the time, the atari wasn't as popular as the C64.
- JustMatt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Now, with the Lisa, you just point-and-click at tiny pictures on the screen with a small rolling device called a ‘mouse‘."
I love how the summary about the computer is written in a way that it seems like it was written at the time when it game out. A 'mouse'? Sounds crazy. - siestaguy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I didn't see the first computer I used: the Commodore PET with integrated CRT and tape drive : (
- asaone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My first computer was a TRS80 Model III (trash 80). I remember it came with 16k of memory and I could not afford the floppy drives so I had the tape cassette recorder ( I still have the recorder) It came with CPM as the operating system and I learned to program with MS-Basic. Later I had a Coco 2 and later a Coco 3. My first PC was a Tandy 1000SX with 386K memory that had duel 5 1/4 inch floppy. I later updated it to 640k memory and a 20MB Hard Card (a hard disk on an expansion card) where I programed with MS Quick Basic 4.5. lol we were hot ***** back then :-)
- Lynxpro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This collection is not complete. No Atari 400 or 800. I mean really, what's not to love about playing M.U.L.E. on an Atari 800 with its 4 joystick ports of goodness.
- Lynx34, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I've got one of those... I liked all the games for it that were basically just ripoffs of games on dedicated systems, like Munchman the Pac-Man wannabe. Course, there was Hunt the Wumpus, which I consider a classic to this day, even if it scared me as a child.
- johnwin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I lusted over so many of these machines before finally getting the zx81 (Timex 1000 in US?). I especially wanted the Radio Shack portable computer. The Vic 20 never floated my boat but the C64 was a great machine. Happy times :-)
- techmaster7b, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I still have a TI-994/A with p-box and printer in my office downtown Chicago, which I use regularly for creating labels and short proposals. The good thing about it is, when you turn it on, its ready to rock, no post or loading of OS.
- graemee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, 1980's PC are much newer than my classic PET 2001 from 1978.
- terrya64, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Makes me feel old. I had three of those computers.
- omnithought, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My first computer was the Trash-80, and I was jealous of my friends who had the Commodore 64.
I also remember playing a lot of Ultima, Droll, and Karateka on the Apple IIe - Lynxpro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you can find the remnants of a prototype Atari Gaza computer and prove that the Company had a dual Motorola 68000 processor computer running C/PM circa 1983 long before the Tramiels came to town and designed the AtariST, then you will be a hero to Atarians everywhere. :) Actually, it would raise many questions as to why the former Atari employees who went to work for Digital Research and worked on porting GEM over from x86 code to 68000 code kept quiet when the new Atari (Atari Corp.) employees were working side-by-side with them on the porting for their "new" computer.
- dkurfurst, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I still have my TI-99/4A along with the P-Box that has rs-232 interface, PIO card, 2- half height 360k floppies Voice Synthesizer, millers graphics gram cracker, an a battery backed up memory card (forget the name) I hope this stuff still works, I had it in my Attic for the past 15 years or so. Its still in its original boxes too!
- pilotmike, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The battery pack for the Osborne 1 that would use the battery connector never existed. I really don't know why, but I suspect that they couldn't make one that would last more than a few minutes or they couldn't push enough current through that connector. Osborne did sell one that had an inverter that you plugged the AC cord into.
The Osborne 1 also had a IEEE instrumentation port that was only used with an adapter cable to connect with a conventional centronics plug to a parallel printer.
The first generation case really was a sewing machine case.
I still have 2 Osbornes and a Kaypro that AFAIK, still work. - bubbazet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1A friend of mine was a huge fan of the CoCo and ran his BBS from it. He did FidoNet mail, some file sharing, and it had a couple of good doorgames exclusive to the CoCo BBS. From what I understand it has a loyal following. I wouldn't doubt it still does. Good Digg!
- johnwin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I used to go to a local shop that had the TI99/A4 on show at least twice a week and almost wet myself with anticipation at he prospect of owning one of those! I eventully did and for about 6 months solid I just sat and programmed it - in Basic first and them in machine code!
- dwhitbeck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I bought a CoCo last year in the box with the manuals. Now if I couldonly find an RBG monitor.
- mgjasper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1My Osborne 1 is resting comfortably in the garage, where it belongs. It was a fine machine and Mr. Osborne actually toured shops selling them.
- joegreen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I still have my TRS-80 model 100 - It runs great!
- DaveMN, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Reminds me of my old Atari systems:
http://www.atarimuseum.com/computers/computers.html - betona, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I taught myself BASIC and FORTRAN on a Cromemco System III in 1976. It had floppy disks the size of dinner plates.
- droidmaker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0hmmm. if you're old enough to appreciate these puppies, I (immodestly) believe you'll particularly enjoy the book "Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution" which discusses this part of computer history. Not just for geeks, but geeks will love it.
- GreatDrok, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Oh, and another vote for the BBC micro, it had by far the best programming language of any of these early computers. BBC Basic was properly structured including proceedures and functions and there were proper commands for controlling all aspects of the system and it included a very good 6502 assembler which could be inlined in your programs. By comparison, Commodore and Sinclair Basic were unusable and encouraged really nasty programming practices (lots of GOTOs.)
- Tiber98, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Got to love that Kaypro 2 !! My first computer, used it right into the early 90s never had a problem, learned Basic on it, Its still around the house somewhere, still works !
- girls4geeks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My first computer was a Commodore 64. That is probably the best gift my dad every gave me.
- GreatDrok, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Interesting, only has one computer I owned at this time (ZX-81). Odd machines that are missing, Commodore Pet (first computer I used in school, 1979 but very popular well into the 80s, a 3008 later upgraded to 32K from the standard 8K), Sinclair Spectrum is also missing which is very odd. I'm not surprised that the BBC Model B isn't in the list but it was by far the best home computer of its day. I still have the one I got in 1983 and it still works including the Opus DDOS and 800K DSDD drive. I also picked up a B (which had 64K of RAM) and a Master 128 which all work too. Ah, Elite on the BBC, no other version came close. I also have an Oric 1 which was crap even in its day. Horrible keyboard (like the old TI calculators) and very strange colour control where you could set the colour of a scanline worth of pixels but not individually which is even more useless than the colour control on the Speccie. The BBC was able to directly colour individual pixels which was one reason the Acornsoft games were so close to the arcade versions and vastly better than those on the C64.
- Life2Short, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I always wondered where they got the $50 pricetag from? Those things were selling for $1000 when they were first introduced. When Texas Instruments decided to pull out, you could get them nationwide for $50. I wonder who set the price? I had buddies in college who bought them just to play games on. For the time, it was a cheap game console.
- 022A, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I had a TI-99, C64 and later a 128D. Of course, we couldn't afford any of them when they were current. I was still using the C64 everyday in '91. I would love to get my hands on another C64 and an Amiga. I'd be overcome with gaming nostalgia.
- rgremill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My first computer was an Atari 400 (with 16K of memory, I think). It had the weirdest keyboard ever. We used to make games using the BASIC cartridge. Back then everyone would dial into bulletin board systems. That was the closest thing we had to the Internet. My brother and I couldn't afford to call long distance to the "cool" boards in California.
- Gregd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I actually learned to program in Basic on the TRS 80 Model III. I was in high school at the time. That computer was rockin. You'd be surprised what I could coax out of it with a few peeks and pokes.
- j00fek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0classic :)
- jawsomemax, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1this is cool.. thanks for sharing!!
- M!lla, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1what the hell are these things? ha ha
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