# How much better is the iPod touch than your first computer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318 "2009-02-03T22:13:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/41 "2009-02-04T18:32:29Z")
> [@brewha](#): > > I wonder what the chances are it’ll still boot up. I’ve got the whole thing (including the 5.25" floppy drive) in a box in the attic. Those early computers are pretty robust if you keep them in a safe, dry place. Up in the attic though, if the machine has been exposed for 20 years to dampness, wild swings of temperature, and insects and arachnids, then all bets are off. Old floppy disks are _usually_ all right — again, if you keep them indoors. I have Apple II disks from over 25 years ago that still work just fine. And I do have a few that lost data some point along the way, but these are a small minority. Yours, lingering in the attic, could very well be fried. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/42 "2009-02-04T18:53:23Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Eight. 🆒 > > I got cheated on mine - I’d ordered the kit version. soldered it all up, turned it on and got nothing but zigzags on the TV. Turns out they’d sent a European version that could not be made to work with an American TV. Why were those even on this continent? The replacement was pre-assembled, so I didn’t have that discoverer’s moment of wondering if I was going to smell magic smoke\* or if it was going to work. At least the replacement doubled the RAM - went from 1K to 2k. Woohoo! > > - Magic smoke is what makes computers and other high-tech devices run. If they break, the magic smoke leaks out and you need to get a new computer. Now that you’ve jogged my memory, that was my experience too. It was only the first one, that didn’t work, that had to be assembled. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/43 "2009-02-04T18:58:11Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > My first computer was a **Commodore Vic20**. It is still superior, though, in that it boots directly to a terminal where I can natively type: > > 10 print "GargoyleWB is awesome! "; > 20 goto 10 > > …and be the computer-hacker-god envy of all my friends. [just having fun nitpick]You forgot hitting commodore-shift to get it to lowercase first. 😉 [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/44 "2009-02-04T19:19:06Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Might have been a [Compaq portable](http://oldcomputers.net/compaqi.html)? See also [here](http://oldcomputers.net/compaqii.html). Yup, that’s it. Purty, ain’t it? But it was mighty high tech in 1987. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/45 "2009-02-04T19:45:34Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I had played with other computers, but the first one I ever owned was an Amiga 1000. And, honestly, the Amiga has it all over my iPod Touch in some ways. There are entire classes of software that have never appeared on the iPod Touch - or on Windows or Mac for that matter. If I could find a genlock for my iPod Touch so I could overlay it’s graphics on live video, or a digitizer so I could sample and process video… > > But on the other hand, the Touch fits in my pocket. Gimme a hammer and your Amiga and I’ll fix that 😛 My first computer (I was twelve) was a Radio Shack TRS-80. Don’t remember any of the specs, but it didn’t have any kind of floppy drive. It used cassette tapes. All of the programs for it except one or two had to be entered myself from computer magazines. The only fun game I remember was some type of sci-fi text adventure. But I loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/46 "2009-02-04T20:06:23Z")
My mom worked for IBM for well over 30 years, and she used her employee discount to buy us one of [these](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer_XT) when I was seven years old. It had very limited music-playing abilities, from what I recall. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/47 "2009-02-04T20:09:40Z")
It wasn’t my computer, but it was my first computer, in the sense of the first one that I was in the same room as, and that I wrote little programs for (as part of a university course). It was about 45 years ago, but the computer was already old then, as [this description](http://www.users.bigpond.com/robin_v/deuce.htm) will tell you. Because it used valves, not transistors, it filled a large room, but its internal memory was 256 (32-bit) words, and its backing magnetic store was 8,192 words. In other words, as a computer, it can probably be outperformed by the average telephone or microwave oven these days, while a hand-held calculator would rung rings round it. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/48 "2009-02-04T20:45:00Z")
According to [this](http://www.macworld.com/article/137139/2008/11/ipod_touch_speed.html?lsrc=rss_main) the iPod Touch 2G runs at 533 MHz with a 133 MHz bus. It has 128 MB RAM. It has a screen resolution of 480×320 pixels at 163 ppi and weighs 4.05 oz. The storage is 32 GB/16 GB/ 8 GB. That’s a pretty good benchmark. I’m not sure what the specs for my old Commodore 64 were, but it’s probably comical. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/49 "2009-02-04T21:36:18Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Might have been a [Compaq portable](http://oldcomputers.net/compaqi.html)? Also called a “luggable” due to the weight. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/50 "2009-02-04T21:47:06Z")
> [@G. Odoreida](#): > > Pah! The first computer we had had home (until my dad sent it back) was a Sinclair ZX80 which had 1kb of RAM. It couldn’t do decimals, so 10/3=3. Off the top of my head, I don’t remember how many MP3s it could hold. My first computer was also a Sinclair. It had monochrome video output, so it wasn’t nearly as pr0n-friendly as the iPod Touch. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/51 "2009-02-04T22:41:28Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I’m not sure what the specs for my old Commodore 64 were, but it’s probably comical. Several people here have forgotten the specs of their old computers, which is perfectly understandable. As you’d expect, all such information is lovingly, reverently cataloged in great detail on various websites. [One such site](http://oldcomputers.net/) is the one **Loach** and I both linked to (by an astonishing yet meaningless coincidence). Another site that’s maybe a little more thorough is [www.old-computers.com](http://www.old-computers.com/museum/default.asp). Their Commodore 64 page is [here](http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=98). ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318/52 "2009-02-04T22:45:37Z")
My first was a Commodore Vic20, but I quickly upgraded to the c64. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-better-is-the-ipod-touch-than-your-first-computer/484318.md?page=2)