PharmrJohn
Baseband Member
- Messages
- 45
OK.....been thinking about where it started for me and what was around me at the time.
In 1982, I took a computer class in HS and we worked with the new Apple II computers. No graphics. Games were text based. I did not own one because they were far too expensive.
I made my first purchase in 1986. My first machine was an Atari 520ST, with a 1/2MB RAM and an external 20MB Harddrive. The rig came with a 3.5" drive which was a new concept. The 5.25"'s were still going strong. I immediatedly dropped in another 1/2MB RAM to get the gaming up to speed. I also bought a 300 baud modem (the 1200 and 2400 baud modems were too expensive).
Back then, there were billboards instead of the Internet as we know it now. If you wanted to connect with a lone server, you had to dial in with a unique phone number. I only knew of a few.....and it was pretty dull. However, we still accessed it because it was an interesting concept.
Now....for graphics. It was pretty cutting edge, as the graphics were very, very good for the time. It was a great gaming computer, especially with 1MB RAM. You didn't need anymore. It was expendable to 4MB, but at $100 a MB, it was a little cost prohibitive. Remember, these were 1980's dollars. I made $5.00/hr. So....it was very quick. IBM couldn't compete with the graphics at all. Didn't even come close.
A year later, my buddy got the newest and best IBM had to offer....which was an 80286. I remember the screen had yellow lettering. I asked him if he liked his new toy. He said, "John, it's a tool, not a toy.". Yeah....right Brad. OK.
My second computer in 1991 was a 80486 SX25 with, I think, a 170MB harddrive and 4MB RAM. I ran DOS 6.1 and Windows 3.1. It was a new and improved rig that was called, yes......wait for it......, a multimedia computer. It was then I started exploring something relatively new to me called the Internet.
Man o man, we have come a long way.......
In 1982, I took a computer class in HS and we worked with the new Apple II computers. No graphics. Games were text based. I did not own one because they were far too expensive.
I made my first purchase in 1986. My first machine was an Atari 520ST, with a 1/2MB RAM and an external 20MB Harddrive. The rig came with a 3.5" drive which was a new concept. The 5.25"'s were still going strong. I immediatedly dropped in another 1/2MB RAM to get the gaming up to speed. I also bought a 300 baud modem (the 1200 and 2400 baud modems were too expensive).
Back then, there were billboards instead of the Internet as we know it now. If you wanted to connect with a lone server, you had to dial in with a unique phone number. I only knew of a few.....and it was pretty dull. However, we still accessed it because it was an interesting concept.
Now....for graphics. It was pretty cutting edge, as the graphics were very, very good for the time. It was a great gaming computer, especially with 1MB RAM. You didn't need anymore. It was expendable to 4MB, but at $100 a MB, it was a little cost prohibitive. Remember, these were 1980's dollars. I made $5.00/hr. So....it was very quick. IBM couldn't compete with the graphics at all. Didn't even come close.
A year later, my buddy got the newest and best IBM had to offer....which was an 80286. I remember the screen had yellow lettering. I asked him if he liked his new toy. He said, "John, it's a tool, not a toy.". Yeah....right Brad. OK.
My second computer in 1991 was a 80486 SX25 with, I think, a 170MB harddrive and 4MB RAM. I ran DOS 6.1 and Windows 3.1. It was a new and improved rig that was called, yes......wait for it......, a multimedia computer. It was then I started exploring something relatively new to me called the Internet.
Man o man, we have come a long way.......
