|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sir_Catherine Vice Captain
|
 Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:29 pm
Alright everyone, what was the first computer you used? Was it in a school classroom or a family room? What was the make/modle and OS? What did you do with it?
On what did you learn to type?
What is the oldest style phone you recall using daily? What was the first calculator you used?
This topic emerged somewhat randomly in the crew forum but we thought it would be great fun to toss out the questions here in the member sub.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:32 pm
(To answer my own questions and get the ball rolling...)
I learned to type on a Windows PC. The year was probably 1998 and I was in 10th grade. Yes, I was still hand witting my papers through 9th grade. The computer ran through DOS directly and the word processing program used was Word Perfect 3.0. I recall the printers used the rolls of paper with perforated edges. Like paper toweling, one tore individual sheets from the roll as they were printed upon and tore of the edges for a clean sheet.
Prior to that, I recall an Apple computer in my 4th grade classroom. We used some sort of paint program to color in Garfield cartoons. The teacher taught the first person and that person taught the second. I was humiliated when I didn't understand the computer well enough and could not teach the person after me. sad
5th grade was my first exposure to Solitaire on the computer. I don't think I actually used the computers that year for any reason.
Later in high school my parent's bought a computer (Windows '95 OS) for their business and I used dial-up internet for research, sans Google, Wikipedia or any other common and easy ways of using the net found today. I recall visiting the Star Wars official site for the first time before the release of the Attack of the Clones and saving images of conceptual art from the original trilogy.
The first phone I remember using was a dial phone. I'm willing to bet some here have never used one of these. The neat part is, this phone is still in use. It's been regulated out to my Dad's garage/lounge place, but it's still operational and used nearly daily.
Is there anyone here who has always used a graphing calculator as their calculator? Unlike the phone, I'm not so sure that most people don't first use a basic calculator before graduating to a graphing model. I was required to purchase a graphing calculator for 10th or 11th grade math class.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sir_Catherine Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:20 am
I learned to type on a manual typewriter, and then on the school's computers, some sort of prehistoric IBM is all I can remember.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:59 pm
my first compy was an oooooold commodore, the kind that was a giant keyboard that you plugged into the tv and had big atari-like cartriges with programs on them. 1983 or 84 i believe, childhood gets a little fuzzy.
fun times, i should donate it to the smithsonian or something.
and i think everyone's already heard me brag up the apple IIgs as the greatest computer ever back in the day. EVERY school had one, and every computer had at LEAST oregon trail with it. i looked it up last night and apparently apple did some sort of program in the 80's specifically to provide low-cost computers to schools and educational groups and the IIgs was their biggest seller. *shrug* ah well.
still have my atari 2600 too if that counts. well, technically it's the same model bought from an exchange store after mine got stolen by a former friend, but some of the games are my old ones that miraculously survived the theft.
she is still the only person in this world i honestly hold a grudge against and would more than happily smack her with a trashcan at the very least, possibly go mafia on her kneecaps if i ever find the b.... er, hey, look who's rambling again. ehe, umm, where was i? oh yeah, computers.
i still have my old packard bell too. cool art deco tower case, someone said it looks like a giant wii, but crappier. whee it's an end table now though, the board finally gave out and they stopped making parts for them in 1996. *sigh*
jenova is a hand built POS with a better case than insides, and is the first NEW computer i've ever had, despite the fact it's about 5 years old now. i'm listing it amongst the old school tech because it's still running windows millenium (insert joke here)
yah, i'm not anywhere NEAR current technology here, but jenova does have a nice plexi panel with the ff7 meteor logo etched into it, and green case lights.... runs like crap and HATES the internet, but it functions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sir_Catherine Vice Captain
|
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:57 pm
Right, Oregon Trail. Our 4th grade Apple comps had that on them. Like coloring the Garfield cartoons, I wasn't any good at it. Full of fail early in my computer usage, so to speak. xp
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 7:03 pm
First computer I used? God... I dont' remember what kind it was... I *do* remember we had to boot using DOS and the BIG floppy discs... tEH FLOPPY floppy discs. Nothing on the hard drive... just processor mostly and a little storage... we ran everything offa discs... freaking HUUUUGE monitors of monster doom... loud buggers too. They mighta been early IBMs or also could have been Commodores... don't recall, was too young to care in Elementary school... in the 80s...
Where did I learn to type? On a typewriter. My Mother's typwriter, to be precise, the one she learned on and used through her schooling. I was so proud when I could finally type without having to slam each key seprately, IE, with some fluidity... and then it was time for middle school...
Where I learned how to use a *GASP!* computer! Computers had finally progressed enough to be more than a toy and a fancy gadget, where they could be useful without too much to-do... they actually had... *GASP!* GUI's! (Graphic User Interfaces - like Windows) The ones I learned how to use a 'modern' computer on were Apple IIe's... yes, the good ol' grey shoeboxes of doom (with built-in handle xd ) In the day where the internet was a rare-used... research-mostly item... where you could search and only get 3 responses. eek
I remember how pissed I was with my peers becuase they were all rich enough to afford these newfangled boxes... My first personal computer was, during the age of Apple IIe's... something that resembled what I used in Elementary school... a Nearly-TV-sized monitor... a JOYSTICK (no mouse! o.O ) ... 5 1/2 in floppies (When I used 3.5 in at school! >.> ) ... and a noisy processor that ran straight offa DOS... and yes, the old computer that ran on PRINTER ROLLS. Oh yes. Oh yes. I miss the banners we used to make with those printers. And the HORRIDLY HILARIOUS (and at that time AMAZING..) graphics. *dot dot dot dot dot* hay, look... a bird! xd
Yes. A time when you could see individual pixels without hurting your eyes. eek Also the time of the NES! MY FIRST CONSOLE~! Dad got it with the Super Mario/Duck Hunt pak to teach me to shoot. xd Thank you Dad, for waking my inner gamer~! twisted
Ah. The good ol days. Honestly, though, I'm glad I learned on DOS... at least when my computer screws itself over, I have half an idea how to kick it's butt into telling me what's wrong. Or maybe fix it. Or at least save some files before it toasts completely...
And somewhere in late Highschool, my parents got the house an actual modern computer, which at that time, meant that... Windows 98... DVD player was a BIG thing... CD capabilities... and the main usage of storage outside computer was still 3.5 floppies.
All hail the 3.5 floppy. All hail the 5 1/2 in floppy. Ancient kings, but ALL HAIL THE GREAT FLOPPIES~!
But no 'net. Capable of it, yes. At this point, search engines were just starting and the 'net was getting more graphically oriented. I was taught HTML and I was a GOD with it at that point. Yes, I coded my own pages. Ok, so they weren't GREAT, but I COULD CODE.
*ahem*
On to phones. My Grandmother had a Dial-face telephone in her farmhouse for YEARS of my youth. Awesome phone. biggrin *number-chack-chack-chack-chack-chack* *NUMBER-chack-chack-chack* w00t old phone. biggrin
First one I remember my parents having was a verrry basic pushbutton. It had solid grey numberpads, hooked into the wall directly, and had a cord from base to handset. Aw yeah. Kickin' oldschool. xd Oh yeah, and when we finally got an answering machine, it still used microcassettes. (I know *of* the ones that used the fullsized cassettes, but never used one.)
Oh wow, and the biiig thing when I was in middleschool was when we got a set that integrated the answering machine with the phone and didn't use cassettes anymore. eek Still hooked into the wall and had a cord though. xd
As for calculators, yes, I used the regular, battery-powered 4-function basic 'special' (ie normal xd ) for the better part of my life. I got my first graphing calc in COLLEGE, because I did most of my Highschool Math with my head and a 4 function. Ok, mostly with the 4 function. We couldn't afford the top-a-the-line graphings. Or whatever is the one without the screen even.
But in College... then... I was required to get a GRAPHING CALCULATOR. WITH the SCREEN... TOTALLY blew my MIND.
I mean, c'mon... it could play games! xd
Speaking of which:
Two new questions-
First game console?
First music recording player?
As I said before, I had a NES when they were brand freaking new. But my FIRST console... was an ATARI. My God... I pwn'd Joust. cool And Asteroids. ... AND SPACE INVADERS! *geekgasm* Also, thnx to my parents, I had a Pong system too. (with jai ali, hockey, and tennis as well - basically variants on Pong xd )
First music recording player? The first one I myself owned was a small (ok, small shoebox sized) tape cassette player. I was, like 5. I loved that thing and carried it EVERYwhere xd And no, I'm not talking about those kiddie ones. I had a fisher-price RECORD player for my little kiddie toy player. My first 'real' one was a cassette player. My parents, bless them, taught me to use and maintain a record player - damn good music to be found on the ol' vinyl. They also taught me of the 8-track... and then when I was in High School, I found one at an estate sale and HAD to buy it xd And my record player is currently at my parent's house. I remember listening to records that my FATHER listened to in his youth on my Grandma's record player... I still love those little story 45's. And the music albums were always on the 33's. And the singles are on the 45's... good stuff on those records. AND... my Grandmother still has some 78's. eek Yea, I know. Rarity. Those don't see use oft if at all. eek
Of course, Grandma has an old player piano stashed away as well. She lives in an old farmhouse of great, endless possibilities... srsly. That house and grounds has freaking everything. heart 3nodding
I digress though. I also sound horribly old. *faints*
I shall go get my walker now. sweatdrop
SPEAK UP, LADDIES! I CANNAE HEAR YE!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:09 am
The first computer I used was an old Commodore 64, orange and black monitor, disk operating system with no hard drive, with a limited amount of software. My mother bought it to make my brother and I more studious, to little effect. I played such greats as a California Raisins action platformer and a text based( with limited ASCII "art") Star Trek simulation game. My brother played with the F1 race simulator, but it wasn't steering, just a practice for shifting based on the sounds emitted.
No mouse, just a joystick and keyboard.
This was at home, for me between the ages of 8-10 I think. Before 4th grade to be sure. In school, perhaps during 3rd grade, the other students used the Apple IIe to play the games and things you all remember(banner printing, garfield art, Oregon Trail), but I never got a turn. I was more interested in books anyways, so I never felt I was missing out, except for OT.
In middle school, 6th grade, I took a typing class, where we used Windows 3.1 machines running Wordperfect. We had accordion style printer paper, similar to Sir_Catherine's experience. One time I was fooling around, and held the Enter key after the typed assignment, and made 80 pages of whitespace. When the teacher told us to print, my document held up the classroom and caused a bit of a ruckus.
I was raised with a rotary phone, and used it well into my teens. We only replaced it when it gave up the ghost. Took a little work to convince mom that the wall jack could support Rotary OR pulse.
Just after this, I went vacation and met some extended family and saw my first LAPTOP. OMG flat screen, tiny, portable and SIMCITY.
The next year, when I found out one of the teachers had a macintosh computer running simcity, I hung out in his classroom every day.
Before school, after school, and every break in between.
My first experience with a calculator was a basic four function one at the age of 5-6. I ran some basic arithmetic, and double checked the accuracy with what I knew myself. × ?? ÷ ?? who knew what those meant, but I knew they made ERR come up often.
In high school, I didn't really have much of a opinion of computers other than for Simcity, until I got into Calculus, which was combined with "elementary" computer science. That teacher was a real hardass, and I learned more from him than most other CS profs for years to come.
After two years of CS/Calc, I ended up heavily proficient in MS-Dos, Windows 3.1, Basic, and passable in C++ (no pointers)
I even managed to disable the protections in place to prevent us from running things other than Notepad and the C++ compiler, earning me the admiration of the other students as the guy that figured out how to run Solitaire. ( I ran whatever I wanted, didn't show them more than that.)
From there on, I was hooked into computers, but never owned one myself until this spring.
My first experience with a game console would be at about 4-6 when my mom brought me over to the house of a friend of hers. That friend's daughter had an Atari, and i watched her play for about 20 minutes. Years later, I cajoled her into buying me a Nintendo. Lemme tell you, sometimes it's REALLY hard playing on a black and white 13" TV.
You try telling the difference between the green mushroom and the purple one!
My first music recording player wasn't until my late teens, when I dug out an old boombox that my brother had abandoned. I modified it a bit, and was able to get radio stations from a state or two over on frequent occasions.
END WALL OF TEXT sweatdrop
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:59 am
*whistles* You two gave me much to think on and remember.
First off, I don't ever recall computers with a joystick. Then again, my parents didn't give me any sort of computer or game console until this past fall when I got my laptop. It wasn't until Microsoft had come out with Windows '98 that they even got a computer for their business, not even for themselves. So no such early memories for me. I should really talk with my parents at some point about when they first became aware of computers and what they knew of them when they did. Same with the concept of computer games.
Speaking of computer games, I still technically do not own a game console. Yeah, just shocking I'm sure. I say technically because, in the words of a friend, his PSI has taken up permanent residence at my flat. biggrin I heart original FFT, also his game, not mine.
Though...Angel did give me an old gray hand held (Nintendo?). I have Arachnoid, Tetris and a couple other games for it. I don't think of that as a console, strictly, but is it classified as one?
ERR...is this what came up when the answer was to large (or to small to to many decimal points) to fit on the traditional calculator screen? Before a calculator could display the answer to a power. I recall when that little number to the upper corner was the sign of a good calculator. The first calculator I owned was in the shape of Mickey Mouse and colored red, blue and yellow. Such fun.
I think my parent's first answering machine had microcassets. Fairly certain of it.
My first music player/recorder was a bout half a shoe box in height, but just as wide and long as one. It was also red, blue and yellow. One end had the speaker, the other half was the cassette player. The speaker was yellow and the cassette part was red. The buttons were blue and red and the pull out handle (!) for easy carry was blue. As Angel says, this wasn't a preschool toy, it was an actual machine. I recall doing recordings on it and singing along to a beloved Peter Paul and Mary tape.
Say Angel: Mississippi Squirrel Revival! rofl (speaking of old story/song records) We ought to play that for Dave one of these days. whee
I didn't learn anything from the computer science my pre-calc teacher tried to teach in high school. It all went over my head. I learned how to program my graphing calculator by trial and error and looking at the code for a few programs another friend had coded up and transfered to my grapher. I spent hours upon hours trying to create some sort of Star Wars database + randomizer thing.
That was in high school. My 8th grade homeroom had some sort of computer in it that played things like Snake and some trajectory based game. I played snake a bit but as I wasn't good at the other game, I never played it and watched others do so instead. It was surrounded by kids before school started each day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sir_Catherine Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
iStoleYurVamps
iStoleYurVamps
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:17 pm
Two words: Flying Toasters
Game played on it: Oregon Trail (I died of Dysentery! YAY! 8D )
Videogame system: 64.
game: Lego racers
Phone: .....?
Caculator: ?
Learn 2 type: |_||<3 T|-||Z
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:23 pm
Sir_Catherine Alright everyone, what was the first computer you used? Was it in a school classroom or a family room? What was the make/modle and OS? What did you do with it?
On what did you learn to type?
What is the oldest style phone you recall using daily? What was the first calculator you used?
This topic emerged somewhat randomly in the crew forum but we thought it would be great fun to toss out the questions here in the member sub. Good question. The first computer I used was way back when I was two or three, on the family computer. I remember thinking that it looked just like our black TV only smaller and whiter, so I thought it was a special TV set. I guess my mom wanted to humor me, so she bought a Dinosaur 3D and a Zoo Animal informational CD so I could watch and have fun. I eventually learned that it was a computer, not a TV, but that didn't stop me from enjoying my Dinosaur 3D adventures and later other children's games my mother got for me. In 1st grade my private school taught me how to type on a keyboard (on a more advanced computer), and I was required to take typing lessons all year every year until I finally left in fourth grade. I'm glad they did though, because now I'm meeting college kids who still don't know how to type with more than two fingers, and that gives me a good edge. The first phone I ever used was one typical for the '90's... I think. It was big, bulky, and with a spiral cord. I remember being amazed when my mom got a cell phone, "cordless phone" I called it for the longest time. Ja, technology sure has changed in my time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 5:34 pm
Sir_Catherine
Though...Angel did give me an old gray hand held (Nintendo?). I have Arachnoid, Tetris and a couple other games for it. I don't think of that as a console, strictly, but is it classified as one?Sir_Catherine Say Angel: Mississippi Squirrel Revival! rofl (speaking of old story/song records) We ought to play that for Dave one of these days. whee
The day the Squrrel went berserk
In the first uprightious church
In that sleepy little town of Pastagoolia!
It was a-fightin' for survival
Broke out a revival
They were jumpin' pews
And shoutin' Hallelujah! (Hallelujah!)
I could go on, but do I need to prove my musical geekitude further? lol
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:41 am
Whoops, yes, it was a clear purple handheld console. Thanks for the reminder. The grey brick I was thinking of belonged to Uncle Dean. I loved to play it while I was at his place and he and Dad were outside mowing the lawn.
Do go on with the lyrics! They're a hoot to remember and others might get a good laugh as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sir_Catherine Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:17 pm
When I was in third grade I learned how to use the computers in school. They were big and old. xD I'm not sure what they were called.. I somehow can't recall the name.
Then later on, I used a manual type writer.. Finally in Fifth grade I had a Windows computer for my home. According to present day, I have a Dell. 8]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:43 pm
My brother lent me a brick! I had it up until the other year when the batteries leaked inside it. biggrin
My brother "lends" me his old stuff, so at the moment I have a gameboy color. He's been given like three new gameboys by random friends...I swear he uses sex-beam on them... stare
The first game console we got was Nintendo 64, which gave extreme bragging rights for several months. I think this would have been '97? (in Europe) We had Pilot Wings on that thing. smile
I'm not actually sure what kind of computer we had first...It ran Windows of some kind, and it was quite a bit before 98 (my family says we had an office room in the house before that I don't remember existed, so I guess that explains how I never noticed we had one). Its only purpose seemed to have been to play Ancient Empires, and the original Prince of Persia when my friend lent it to me one time. I don't think we actually had a printer. But since I was a little disturbed about directing little pixel characters to gory death, I didn't play it very much. confused
I think later we also got Carman Sandiego. biggrin But she always got away! gonk
In school there there was a program that demonstrated the water cycle and sewage systems, and one for multiplication tables. Then in 5th grade (in American schools) we had the standard Oregon Trail-Apples.
They didn't actually teach typing until I was in 6th or 7th grade (on more old Apples), and I could get through the first couple levels on memory, but then I couldn't get the wpm to go further. I still don't type at all correctly.
But, if you were done for the day there was a worm-dissecting program! surprised
I think we had a cordless phone pretty early on, though I do vaguely remember a curly cord. Or maybe that's the one my grandparents still have...
Uh, I got a cellphone last summer! xd And I do use it as an alarm clock, so I guess that counts as everyday usage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:32 am
Wow, I'm gonna totally date myself on this one. I'm a child of the 80's LOL
My first PC was a Commodore 64 that my father got me for my birthday I believe. I was in awe of it. It came with a programming book and I made this silly program to fool my mom into thinking the computer was typing back to her and communicating. I tried to predict things she would say and put in programmed responses from the computer. It had her fooled for about 2 minutes and then she said something I hadn't programmed in and it threw an error. Still, not bad for a 13 yar old. razz
I learned to type, and typed many an elementary school report on a manual typewriter. Boy your fingers would hurt after typing 10 pages. biggrin
My first game console was the Atari.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
