A Retro Christmas

[Deleted]

I got started with computers back in the late 1970s and early '80s when the first home units started to appear. Cut my teeth learning to program in BASIC Language on a Commodore PET. The first computer I owned was a Commodore VIC 20. Had a 20-character wide screen and 1.5 K of memory--enough for about 100 short lines of text. Eventually I shifted over to IBM gear with real programs that could do real work.

A while back I ran across a book of BASIC computer games but discovered I can't load a BASIC interpreter on my 64-bit computer. But a little Elf has told me my mate found a vintage Commodore 64 computer, complete with a floppy disk drive and monitor she's going to put in my stocking. She's doing that although she hates the computer clutter we already have.

The Commodore 64 was really high tech when it came out about 1982. In fact it still holds the record for number of units sold -- something like 17 million for that one model. Somehow, however, I never owned on. So I'm really looking forward to sitting down and punching dome of the old classic BASIC games like Star Trek and Lunar Lander. where you played the game by typing in text commands. Should be fun.

It's amazing how many of those early computers still run after sitting in attics and closets for 30 years. Don't think most of the current computers would hold up that well.

W.

[Randy]

My first computer was a TI 99/4A. Call Clear.

[Deleted]

A lot of TI 99/4As on Ebay at reasonable prices. I think they sold new for about $200 and when TI announced it was getting out of the Home Computer business, JC Penneys was closing them out for $39.95! A well made machine I'm tempted to pick one up. Early home computers are something new to collect. What I would really like is a Commodore PET --their original computer. They were built like tanks for use in the schools. Now the go for $300 and up.

W.

[julio1fer]

I first programmed in an IBM 360/44. But I did get to play Lunar Lander, although in the Apple II.

[Doug T.]

I had a Commodore 64 as well, but my first computer was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
I was living in Germany at the time, and a friend of mine was selling them.

Doug

[Deleted]

I actually ordered a Timex Sinclair first but when it arrived I wasn't very impressed. Every time I bumped the plug in ram expansion module the thing did a total reset. Just about that time the VIC 20 came out and I sent the Sinclair back and bought the Commodore.

[hansz]

1977, my first 6502-based motherboard arrived, sporting a hefty 1KB memory chip and a monitor program that took 256 bytes out of it... Outrageous! Hexadecimal keyboard, 6 digits readout for in/output. And a V24 serial interface (if I remember well) for mass storage - i.e. cassette recorder.
Cost: $ 400...
Same year, a massive system upgrade was necessary: memory increased to 4KB! Man, I was happy!! (Costed $ 150 though...).
Still one had to program, load and run in 3 I/O phases to get things done.
Positive. I learned a lot!

Later this 'system' was replaced by a Z80, a Commodore 64, and ultimately a BBC computer.
1981 changed the whole ballgame as the IBM PC was introduced, and I happened to work there, so...

Hans

[Deleted]

There was a point after I switched to PCs that I sold a PENTAX LX and two lenses just to buy 256 K of ram. Had to plug in the 8K chips individually. Today that computer is worth nothing and an LX is worth

[daveh]

My father sent for a Sinclair ZX80 (or was it 81?) When it arrived it didn't work, but it turned out to be a faulty power supply. I mended it, bit he decided that £99 wssn't a worthwhile investment, so I de-mended it and he sent it back. He got his £99 refunded. Then another month later another cheque arrived for £99. It's a shame he was honest, we could have been worth a fortune by now.

My first was an Oric - one of the early models with the processor chip on an EPROM. It worked fine unless it had been on some time, when it would seize up. This turned out to be overheating, which I proved when I took the bottom of the casing off and blew cold air onto the chips. Did I have the first cooling fan on a home computer?

I've still got two (or is it three?) Orics, three BBCs, an Acorn Electon and a couple of Sinclair's machines (ones just post Spectrum - can't think of the model manes). There are also various other computers (and components of) with 286, 386 and 486 processors.

[SidW]

Our son had a ZX80, that he plugged into the TV to give us a Santa portrait all christmas. Pictures in those days were composed of Xes and Oes in PRINT strings. I see some ZX80s sold for £150 to £200 on e**y.

We're still running a P3 from 1999 with XP, it's hopelessly slow with current software or for the web, but it manages scanners OK. I bought enough bits to upgrade it, but illhealth kept me from doing it for a year so even when it eventually gets rebuilt it'll be out of date again. I also have a Dell P2 laptop, with full extra memory and a new 80GB HD, that I use as a tape recorder running Goldwave, with an external mike pre-amp and digitizer. The batteries expired long ago but I run it off the mains.

[Deleted]

Spent some time today keying in a program -- "Lunar Lander". I had forgotten that if you get something wrong in a program line you can't just edit it. You have to type the entire line over. Now I remember how those old computers taught me to be patient.

It turned out the Commodore 64 that was supposed to be in great shape wasn't. Bad memory (sorta like me). So I had to dig up a different computer to go with the C 64 drive and monitor. Found a Commodore Plus/4 --pretty much the last 8-bit computer they made (wasn't terribly popular at the time but it serves my purposes).

[Deleted]

Update on update. As noted above the Commodore 64 I got didn't work so I acquired a different one. But the other day I was talking to Mark, the owner of a local computer store that has been open the early days of personal computers about 1980. Mark went in his backroom and hauled out an old Commodore 64 with several broken keys. He said he didn't know if it worked but if it did I might be able to replace the broken keyboard (the top half of the computer) with the good keyboard from my non-working 64. Took it home and sure enough, the swap worked. So now I have two working Commodores. (I gave Mark 10 dollars for the donor machine).

Interesting, the Commodore CPUs run a 1 megahertz. My modern machine runs at 2 GIGAHERTZ -- two thousand times faster -- not to mention storage. The floppy disks for the Commodore hold 170 kilobytes of information. My hard drive holds a terabyte (i'm not gonna even try to figure out the size difference between the two). The amazing thing is I paid approximately $600 in 1980 for a computer and drive. That's $1,800 in 2014 dollars. My current machine cost about half that amount. Sure wish car and home (and camera) prices had been that way over the past 30 years.

[barbarian]

As Bill Gates likes to say, if automobiles had progressed the way computers have, they would cost $5 and go 4000 mph at 300 miles per gallon.

... and crash twice a day.

(actually, he didn't say the last part)

[daveh]

Computers have been around for a few thousand years, automobiles for less than 150. If Bill gates were as clever as he thinks he is he would be making a car for $5 that goes at 4,000 mph.

[mickeyobe]

Jan 27, 2014 21:01:11 GMT -5 daveh said:

Computers have been around for a few thousand years, automobiles for less than 150. If Bill gates were as clever as he thinks he is he would be making a car for $5 that goes at 4,000 mph.

I am sure he has considered it.
And its consequences.
His customers would be bumping themselves off faster than he could produce the cars even with 3D photocopiers.
And at 5 bucks a bang he would be broke in no time.
Don't underestimate Mr. Gates.

I would have liked to have heard PeterW's response to this.

Mickey