Inspired by another thread, who actually learnt their computer skills on a Commodore 64? I had one that didn’t have a disc drive- it had to be loaded via a tape. Even the simplest programme took twenty minutes.
Sorry, never had a commodore64 or vic20, but my first was when I was seven years old, a 1978 radio shack TRS-80 with 4K of ram. It had the cassette tape “drive”, with Hammurabi, the greatest game in the world.
My second was an Apple //e complete with 5" floppy disk drive, pretty comparable to the commodore 64, really. I played those awesome Infocom games like Zork and Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. Visited BBSs with my 300 baud modem.
Those were the days.
I always wanted a C64 or Vic 20, but back then I had the TI-99 complete with tape cassette back up.
The one computer I ALWAYS wanted was a Timex Sinclair. Three years ago I managed to get a 1500 in perfect shape with a Timex Sinclair 2020 Computer Program Recorder (IE tape deck).
Nothing like feeling the pure power of a 3.58Mhz 8-bit Zilog Microprocessor under your fingers!!
The C64 was the computer I cut my teeth on. I don’t know if I learnt any computer skills, but I certainly had fun with the games. Boulder Dash and Wizball being two of my favourites.
I was also recently amazed to discover a local shopping centre still uses Commodore 64’s for bus time displays: http://analogik.com/gallery_64_myer.asp
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Yo, C64 and trs80 user here. (Even used an old Ohio Scientific for awhile… don’t remember what kind of OS tho’).
My first was a RadioShack Tandy Color Computer or CoCo as they were called. After a year of teaching myself BASIC I thought I was hot! I had much to learn… 
I learned on a c64. We started using computers in grade 4. Unfortunately for us, though, the school always upgraded the computers for whatever grade had the oldest at the time. I say unfortunately, because they were just getting computers into the school at the time, and by the time they got to upgrading the ones we were using, I was off to high school.
I find it kind of funny now, because I used to use commodores and macs all the time, and windows was a bit of a mystery to me. Now I’m so used to windows that I have a hard time using anything else.
I had a C64. I was really good at it. In school I won awards for programming. Mine also had a tape.
I not only cut my teeth on a C64, but I also had a Ti-99/4A as well. “Parsec” kicked ass.
And before those, I had a Timex-Sinclair 1000.
Me!
I used to do my trig homework on it. At first Mr D said I wasn’t allowed, but after some thought he realized that if I could write a BASIC program to solve the problems, I knew how to do it. I think I’d have to write the first 5 or so out long-hand, and then write the program and let the computer solve them 
The flodfather used to subscribe to a magazine called something like COMPUTE! Gazette, which would have games etc for the C64 written out in machine instruction code. All you had to do was type them in… :eek:
I also had a C64 for several years. I remember typing in programs from COMPUTE! magazine and even learned to write a few programs for it myself. I was on the verge of buying a hard drive for it when I finally broke down and bought a 486 at a computer show. I was clearing out the attic a few months ago and found some of my old books and a few games for the 64.
I still have a working C64, along with cartridge games such as Pitfall, and disc games such as the original Might And Magic.
I think that’s what i had (it was years ago and I can’t have been old because I’m only 17 now) but i only remember playing Monkey Island.
I still have my original C64 and 1541 from 1986 even though they haven’t worked in years. Might be good for parts though. I also have a 64C, a 128, a 1541 II, a 1571, a few cartriges, and over 100 disks. One of these days I’ll put the whole lot on eBay.
OMG Wizball!! I had but totally forgotten about that one, I wonder if there’s a PC version someplace.
I started with an Apple 2GS, but my best friend had a Commodore 64.
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That should be a smiley for us computer nerds.
When TI discontinued its TI994/A computers, my father picked some up for a song. He gave me (and my family) one of them. I had a lot of fun with that thing. No disk drive, just a cassette tape recorder/player. I typed in a LOT of programs from magazines, saved them, then had to go over the code looking for my typos. That computer improved my touchtyping accuracy greatly. I loved the cartridges, I had a great Reversi program, some Scott Adam’s Adventures, and Tunnels of Doom, which was a very good D&D type game for the time.
We’ve still got that TI99/4A around here somewhere.
We also have various Commodores. One is a 64, and one is a 128. This introduced me to the complexities of disk drives. It also introduced me to the SSI D&D games. I spent many, many hours on those games, searching for secret doors and the like. I remember keeping a crochet project handy because I had to swap disks, and the disk drive took FOREVER to read the new disk. One year, I gave everyone in my family several crocheted snowflake ornaments, which I had made in the spare time I had during the disk swaps.
Right now I’m working on a PC with Win98 on it, and we’ve got a couple of laptops and another desktop with newer Windows on them.
Ah yes, the days of dual 1541s (I was the alpha-geek in my group, I b’lieve) a screamin’ fast 2400 for hittin’ them BBS hookups…
Damn.
Jumpman and Jr, the SSI AD&D games, Wasteland, Roadwar 2000 and Europa, Autoduel, Space Rogue, Sci-5 Trading company, the EPYX olympic games series, how the hell did I ever get anything done?
Oh, right, the interminal load times, that’s right.
The Fastload cartridge almost never came out of my machine. And when the slot developed a wobble, making contact with the card inside the cartridge dicey, I rubberbanded that sucker in place.
[sub]And Telengard, and Temple of Apshai, and the Ultima games, and the Race ‘N’ Destruction Derby Creation Kit, and…[/sub]
I cut my teeth on a Vic 20 at home (tape deck, cartridge slot in the back of the keyboard) and a TI at school. Eventually my mom got me an Apple IIc at home, and the school upgraded to IIes.
Speaking of old computers, does anybody remember Adams? Did anyone have one?
Happy