what is your oldest computer memory?

[NuclearNed]

A friend of mine brought over a really old computer (Timex Sinclair?) around 1980-81 and hooked it up to my tv. I couldn't understand why he thought it was so cool. I remember that the question I kept asking was if you could play games on it.

 

[jjones]

I remember playing with the punch cards my sister brought home when she worked for IBM. This was late 60's or early 70's. My first real interaction was with the teletype and punch tape.

 

[Mucho]

I have a Vic20

 

[jalaram]

Originally posted by: malcontent
Typing in the basic program code on my Tandy Model 1.
No hard drive, no floppy drive, no tape drive... Want to run a program? Type in the basic code with no typos, and go for it.

I finally got a tape drive, and thought I was on top of the world.. This was '81

Don't you mean TRS-80? Otherwise, that would be my first memory. 1977, I was 8 years old and got admitted into some honors program (yeah, in 3rd grade). That was the first time I ever saw a computer. I then learned my first computer program, typed it in, and ran it.

10 Print "Hello"
20 Goto 10

I loved it. That was it. I was sucked into the world of computers and never escaped.

 

[franksta]

Flipping over 5.25" floppies to load the next part of the game.

 

[Nitemare]

Some sort of learning multiplication table math game on my schools Apple IIc

Some sort of medievel game on a large commodorish type computer at the same school around that same time frame.

 

[dman]

Playing Lunar Lander on the TRS80's and/or Radar Rat Race on the VIC 20. But that's more gaming than computer related...

My first big accomplishment was using LOGO to write an animation of a guy who runs and jumps over a huge hole in the ground. It is/was very lame, but, at the time I was in gradeschool and was proud of it.

 

[Horus]

Not my memory, but the memory of a friend of mine.

When my school board (Halton District) got computers for the first time, they were all FORTRAN-punch type. Big beasts. Used to calculate grades 'n such for students. A friend of mine wrote a looping program on punch-cards, therefore causing the system to overload and shut down. He was the first person in Halton board history to crash a computer.

 

[SouthPaW1227]

My oldest, and one of my fondest computer memories:

In elementary school, going to "Computer class" and using the dual 5.25" drives to boot up a typing program on the Apple IIe. Better yet, after we were done with that, we go to hit up ODELL DOWN UNDER!!!!!!!

 

[crab]

TI99/4A

My grandfather bought two of these when they first came out and gave one to my parents. His is still in his basement, actually.

 

[IronWing]

I remember going to the biannual Engineering fair at the UW Madison in ~1973. One of the exhibits was a tic tac toe game visitors could play against the computer. There was no monitor or normal keyboard. There was a nine button pad for the visitor to enter their moves. The computer would plot the progress of the game on a flat bed plotter. When the game was over the visitor was given the plot as a souvenir.

The next time I went to the fair was 1981. Commodore 64s were everywhere, powering robots, driving mock manufacturing processes, neat stuff.

In 1989 the big thing at the fair was Sun? cad stations for chip design.

 

[EKKC]

oregon trails at 5th grade elementary school... 1991

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: crab
TI99/4A

My grandfather bought two of these when they first came out and gave one to my parents. His is still in his basement, actually.

Yep, that was my first 'puter as well. I still have a 99/4A in the basement too

 

[elektrolokomotive]

Standing in line, waiting for the punchcard machine in my HS comp sci. class so I could input my Fortran IV programs.

 

[Kev]

typing RUN on these old radio shack POS computers in school.

then practicing typing on the "home keys" -

SAD
GLAD
DAD
FAD
ALFALFA

 

[elektrolokomotive]

Originally posted by: Horus
Not my memory, but the memory of a friend of mine.

When my school board (Halton District) got computers for the first time, they were all FORTRAN-punch type. Big beasts. Used to calculate grades 'n such for students. A friend of mine wrote a looping program on punch-cards, therefore causing the system to overload and shut down. He was the first person in Halton board history to crash a computer.

LOL! We used to do that all the time! Comp Sci was my last period class, so if someone loaded one of those... Early dismissal!

We also got into the student directory and changed a bunch of people's names. I remember the hard drive unit was about the size of a washing machine.

 

[edro]

Originally posted by: Nohr
I remember playing Oregon Trail on a C64 back when I was in elementary school in the late 80s.

 

[Atomicus]

apple IIG w/ a separate module that loaded up what I thought to be a very old version of a windows-like feel. Played shufflepuck, crystal quest, and Razdan with it, no productivity whatsoever

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
A friend of mine brought over a really old computer (Timex Sinclair?) around 1980-81 and hooked it up to my tv. I couldn't understand why he thought it was so cool. I remember that the question I kept asking was if you could play games on it.

I had one of these. It was kinda funny...had a nice toggle switch on the back to turn it on.

 

[nakedfrog]

I still remember the day my dad brought home the Apple IIc, and I got to play Space Quark on the color TV. I spent many, many hours with many games, BASIC, LOGO, AppleWorks, etc with that machine. Wonder if my mom still has it...

 

[Patt]

Vic 20 - playing space invaders, and using LOGO to move the wee turtle around.

Apple II clones - Ultima III & IV

 

[meltdown75]

Playing some space invader-type games on a PET computer back in gradeschool. That, and playing Jumpman on my friend's C=64.

My first time on a BBS with my C=64, I "posted" something like this:

"Hey hey hey my name is ___. Do you guys have any games? Thanks."

 

[trinketsummoner]

Playing manic miner on the Sinclair Spectrum - did they even sell those in the US?

EDIT : one on ebay

 

[maziwanka]

i remember playing this game on the commodore 64 where it asked for a number between 1-50 and i typed in something like 60. the computer then responded with: "a number between 1 and 50 you idiot"

 

[Mayfriday0529]

Oregon Trial and some Math game back in elementary school, i think the computers were from Apple and we used the thin 5 1/2 floopy disks.
I also remember Kidpix on the mac in junior high that was fun.