I was reading this article on CNN and I got to reminiscing about all the fun I had with my Tandy Color Computer 3. I used it from 1988 to 1991. It had a whopping 128K memory (yes, K, as in kilobytes) which could be expanded to 512K. The display ran as high as 640 x 192 in four colors (bad aspect ratio) or could display 16 colors from a pallette of 64 colors in 320 x 192 resolution. The 5.25" disks it used were single-sided and could hold about 160K of programs and data, which seemed like a lot back then. It ran on BASIC and I used to spend hours in front of it each day playing games and doing a few useful things with it such as word processing and spreadsheeting (can I say that?). I also had a fun paint application called “CoCo Max III”, which was like a crude version (by today’s standards) of Photoshop. I used to get a magazine called The Rainbow which was (until the past year or so of its publication when the content diminished greatly and eventually the magazine went defunct) chock full of BASIC program listings, most of them submitted by fellow users, that could be keyed in. Some of the programs took several hours to type, but the result was usually rewarding nonetheless. I could have ordered the programs ready made on tape or disk but I didn’t have the money. It also contained advertisements for CoCo-compatible products which were only available through these vendors.
I remember looking at it sitting forlornly in the corner collecting dust as I set it aside for my then-new 386 system. It seemed to look at me as if I had abandoned it (which I had, more or less). How I wish I never sold off this friendly little computer. I’d like to get back all the programs and other creations I produced on the CoCo 3.
Before this I had a Timex/Sinclair 2068, but it never won my affection. There was virtually no support for it and nobody I knew used one (they all had Commodore 64s, which I wish I had asked for instead). It was difficult to use and I had few practical uses for it since I couldn’t program it to do much of anything other than to just screw around with its very limited sounds and graphics. I didn’t miss it at all once I upgraded to the Tandy.
The Epson QX-10. Yeah, it was a business machine, not many games for it. But it was just so cool at the time! All those special button! Thin lil’ disk drives! Valdocs!
Interestingly enough, me and the people I work with are tossing around the idea of doing a book on the History of Computers. Think glossy coffee-table type book, with a CD. We’d have a section on each of these old machines, along with usable simulations on the CD. You could run Visicalc and WordStar (if we can get the rights, that is). You could play Scott Adams games. All while reading about the history behind 'em. Whadaya think? Would you spend $75 on a book like this?
I still treasure my Apple IIC. I have a plethora of games including such hit titles as Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, QBert*, Castle Wolfenstein, Choplifter, and Arcade Boot Camp, all rendered in soothing dayglow green.
CPU 6502 @ 1MHz
ROM 20K
RAM 5K (Externally expandable)
AUDIO 3 Channels
VIDEO 176 x 184 (138 x 184 with hi-res colour) - 8 colours
STORAGE External tape.
MISC
Joystick port
User I/O port
External expansion port
IEEE Serial I/O port
Have found memories of the Apple IIe I got in 3rd grade (damn thing still works). Spent many hours with “Choplifter,” “Lode Runner,” “Robotron 2084,” and a game called “Decathlon” from a little known company called Microsoft.
Also got a kick out of messing around with the sysops on local BBS services after signing in with a classmate’s name & phone #.
Back in high school (1977-81) this was the latest thing. 4K memory! Cassette drive!! B&W TV as a monitor!!! Could I have some more exclamation points!!!
The MIT LISP machine and accompanying space-cadet keyboard, with its seven independent shift keys and 10,000-character repertoire; using two hands and your nose to get a single character out of it
My brother invented the hardware for the Macintosh II computer in 1987 (another engineer invented the monitor). The earliest models even had his signature engraved inside the housing.
My office happened to use the Mac II, and I was proud as a brother could be.
(He and another engineer later invented the hardware for the iPod.)
My favorite machine of all time was the best box Apple ever built, the Mac IIci. Everything about it was just . . . right. Flexible, expandable, accessible. I used the same IIci as my primary machine at work from early 1992 until some time in 1997, and only gave it up when it became essential that I have a PowerPC processor.
Before that, my favorite was the first computer I used regularly: a Morrow Designs MicroDecisionII, a Z80-based machine running CP/M. Two single-sided single-density floppy drives, a Qume VT-202-clone terminal (amber display – tres chic). I cranked out a bunch of papers in college in an early version of WordStar on that puppy.
Few of the others stand out as having much personality, except for the Mac IIfx, which was like a difficult, temperamental, but extremely attractive girlfriend: very cool at times, but ultimately not worth the trouble.
