• Re: My First Computers

    From Blake Patterson@2:240/8001 to Brian Klauss on Tue Mar 16 14:40:13 2021
    My apologies for the over-quoting but whenever I see a TI-99/4a I jump
    at the opportunity to talk about it. I got my first one in 1982 (Christmas, I was 7). Even though it was a little lame, cartridges, 40-column display, it was still amazing! I spent too many hours
    learning the ins and outs of computers, dialing up BBSes and college
    VAXs and learning more and more. When I finally got my IBM PS/2 Model
    30 286 a couple years later I was living the dream.

    Brian, the TI-99/4A was my first computer, as well. And, I also got mine on Christmas 1982 (I was 9) -- same morning! I have a photo of the system that I took with my Kodak Disc Camera, which I also got for Christmas that year.

    https://is.gd/x0LzAC

    I did a blog post that shows photos from '84 when it was a rather more
    expanded system. Have a look:

    https://bytecellar.com/2016/07/03/33-year-old-roll-of-film-offers-a-glimpse-of- my-vintage-computing-beginnings/
    ( short link: https://is.gd/GMKfnl )

    A great machine. I still have a TI setup, in full, with 80-col F18a
    expansion and a RPi 3 connecting it to the Internet (TIPIPeb). Pics of all
    that can be seen in the gallery that's part of the first link posted above.

    Cheers!

    bp

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  • From Mike Dippel@3:640/1116 to Blake Patterson on Tue Mar 16 11:38:22 2021
    Brian, the TI-99/4A was my first computer, as well. And, I also got mine on Christmas 1982 (I was 9) -- same morning! I have a photo of the system that I
    took with my Kodak Disc Camera, which I also got for Christmas that year.

    A great machine. I still have a TI setup, in full, with 80-col F18a expansion and a RPi 3 connecting it to the Internet (TIPIPeb). Pics of all that can be seen in the gallery that's part of the first link posted above.

    It was my first computer as well. I had 2 game cartridges, a terminal emulator, and the
    entire Plato series of education floppies on 5-1/2 disks. I joined a Users Group and met
    plenty of others that wanted to share their knowledge.

    I subscribed to Boardwatch magazine and took time to copy endless lines of code just to
    show a sprite moving across the screen.

    Great memories!

    My first PC was a Packard Bell 286 with a very slow modem. I purchased Wildcat DOS
    version from Mustang Software and had 4 phone lines connected to it. I was able to
    share my internet connection because one of the phone lines was on an auto-dialer to an
    internet provider.

    We've come along way since then!

    Mike

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  • From Jeff Thiele@1:387/26 to Mike Dippel on Tue Mar 16 11:22:05 2021
    On 16 Mar 2021, Mike Dippel said the following...
    It was my first computer as well. I had 2 game cartridges, a terminal emulator, and the
    entire Plato series of education floppies on 5-1/2 disks. I joined a Users Group and met
    plenty of others that wanted to share their knowledge.

    Hi, Mike!

    Have you checked out irata.online or cyber1.org? Both are running CDC Cyber emulators to make PLATO available again. A special comm program (or, I
    suppose, a PLATO IV terminal) is required, but the Windows/Mac/Linux clients are available at both sites. Cyber1.org tends to focus on the history of
    Plato, while irata.online tends to lean towards new development and microcomputer access, with Atari, Apple, TI-99/4A, Commodore, and other
    clients available for download.

    Jeff.

    "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong." -- H. L. Mencken, who indeed was a racist thereby proving himself right.

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  • From Daryl Stout@1:19/33 to Mike Dippel on Tue Mar 16 13:21:00 2021
    Mike,

    My first PC was a Packard Bell 286 with a very slow modem. I purchased Wildcat DOS version from Mustang Software and had 4 phone lines
    connected to it. I was able to share my internet connection because one
    of the phone lines was on an auto-dialer to an internet provider.

    My first PC was a Radio Shack TRS-80 MC-10 Micro Color Computer, with
    the 16K RAM expansion pack. Programs were loaded and saved via cassette
    tape, and I had a 300 baud modem that you flipped the switch to ANSWER
    or ORIGINATE (the latter if calling a BBS, CompuServe, etc.) once you had loaded the software, then manually dialed the phone number. You'd "hang
    up" once you connected. I had a portable TV as a monitor.

    The next computer was a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 (then 102) laptop.
    I found 2 programs in the Model 100 Special Interest Group when I was on CompuServe, that let you run a BBS on the Model 100...but you could only
    run it at one baud rate (I chose 1200 baud). I no longer have those two computers, but the program is on the files area on my BBS.

    For my birthday 29 years ago in 1992, a friend of my brother's (I
    originally didn't know him) was an employee at Arkansas Children's
    Hospital in Little Rock. They were getting rid of their old computers,
    so I got it as a present. It was an 8088 XT, with a monochrome green
    monitor (you could see the burn in), with DOS 3.2, a mouse, a 3.5"
    and a 5.25" floppy drive, with 640K of RAM, and a 20 Mb hard drive.
    That was the birthplace of The Thunderbolt BBS, running GT Power 15
    on dial-up.

    We've come along way since then!

    Every time I look at the bulletin of the history of the BBS, it
    brings back a lot of memories.

    Daryl

    ... I finally got 8 hours of sleep. It took 3 days, but whatever...
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  • From Brian Klauss@1:104/116 to Blake Patterson on Tue Mar 16 19:10:00 2021
    Blake Patterson wrote to Brian Klauss <=-

    @MSGID: <6050BE1E.236.fidonet_classicc@caughtinadream.com>
    @TZ: 003c
    Brian, the TI-99/4A was my first computer, as well. And, I also got
    mine on Christmas 1982 (I was 9) -- same morning! I have a photo of
    the system that I took with my Kodak Disc Camera, which I also got
    for Christmas that year.

    https://is.gd/x0LzAC

    I did a blog post that shows photos from '84 when it was a rather
    more expanded system. Have a look:

    https://bytecellar.com/2016/07/03/33-year-old-roll-of-film-offers-a-g limpse-of-
    my-vintage-computing-beginnings/
    ( short link: https://is.gd/GMKfnl )

    A great machine. I still have a TI setup, in full, with 80-col F18a expansion and a RPi 3 connecting it to the Internet (TIPIPeb). Pics
    of all that can be seen in the gallery that's part of the first link posted above.

    The memories...

    I had the "white" unit, speech synthesizer, PEB, GRAM Kracker, two 5
    1/4" half-height FDDs, and a memory expansion card in the PEB.

    Those were the days.


    Brian Klauss <-> Dream Master
    Caught in a Dream | caughtinadream.com a Synchronet BBS

    ... The number you have dailed...Nine-one-one...has been changed.
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  • From Ron Lauzon@1:275/89 to Daryl Stout on Wed Mar 17 08:54:00 2021
    The first computer I used was a TRS-80 Model I Level II (It had been upgraded from Level I and had RAM added). My dad brought it home from his school
    for the summer.

    My school system had Commodore PETs, so I spend plenty of time on those
    too.

    But the first computer I actually owned was a Sperry HT. IBM-XT clone, but
    ran at about double the clock speed. My college offered them on a payment
    plan for students. Upgraded the RAM (to a full 640K!) and added a Hercules Monochrome Graphics card to it.


    ... Took an hour to bury the cat. Silly thing kept moving...
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