Where did YOU learn so much about computers?

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: j00fek
not in school ill tell ya that

hehe, yeah, not HS at least.
we had apple 2Cs up until about 10th grade. I graduated in 98.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Self taught for the most part.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
I learned on my own.

 

[daniel1113]

Completely self-taught.

There's few things that I hate more than sitting in computer or tech-related classes.

 

[DefDC]

Hehe...

I got my Atari 800 when I was around 7. Games were fun. BBSes rocked. 300 baud telecommunication!
Wanted a Commodore 64, and got one when I was 12 or so... Got a blazing fast 1200 baud modem. MUCH nicer than that ol' 300 baud.
Parents bought a 386 when I was around 16. Gaming required a few upgrades.
Went to college and got my own PC, and Doom comes out. Now frequent PC upgrades are required. Early exposure to networking.
Got a job in the computer labs to get beer money.
Job in labs = real world experience on a resume, and applied and got hired as a tech after I graduated with a BS degree. (literal and figurative!)
8 years later, I'm a network admin.

Not much formal training!

 

[kindest]

on the streets

 

[Syrch]

just self taught really. I got my first pc when i was in high school and it just took off from there. Next thing i knew i was building them and troubleshooting them

 

[kevnich2]

Same here...self taught. Like most others, I learned back in the DOS days. I still feel like that's really the only way you can learn how a computer operates. Get the guts of it open, figure out what does what. After that, get on a DOS prompt and install Windows 3.1 and then break it on purpose, go back to your DOS prompt and fix it. Do that and you'll get pretty good. Computers nowadays are becoming more "idiot" proof. In reality, I've broken more computers and caused more problems than the typical person x 10. It's the only way to figure out how it works. I learned some programming in college but didn't really like it too much. I learned HTML on my own and like it a lot more...don't know why but anything self taught I seem to enjoy more than learning in a classroom.

 

[jandrews]

self taught only takes you so far, I was largely self taught but was lucky enough to score a 3 year internship at cray research from 18-21 where I picked up most of my knowledge.

 

[Daishiki]

Self taught in terms of Windows, OS X, and hardware. Programming came come college. Lots of trial and error.

 

[MyThirdEye]

I wish we had computer programming classes at my high school. Reading these stories about you guys taking classes in Middle School, makes me angry. I hate the asshats that run our school district.

 

[chr6]

Originally posted by: Platypus
Taking shit apart and putting it back together.. breaking and rebreaking and rebreaking....

bingo

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Read a really thick book on MS DOS 5.0 sometime in the early 90s (born '85). After that, learned everything about Windows by messing around, screwing things up and reinstalling on a weekly basis. I started dabbling with Excel/Powerpoint around the Seventh Grade because my Dad's job required it and he felt lost during his company training programs.

Then, the Internet happened and the world of 3D First-Person-Shooters caused me to lookup ways to tweak performance. The rest is history.

 

[Injury]

95% of what I know was learned because of a need to get the job done, the rest I was taught by learning from other people's problems.

 

[jjones]

self-taught

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: kindest
on the streets

tru dat, homeslice.

 

[Canai]

Learned basics of dos and win95 from my step dad. When win98 came out and I started gaming more heavily, I became the resident expert heh.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Juno
self-taught FTW.

that and friends. also reading AT.

 

[akshatp]

Like many of you...

Self taught at a young age; got my first PC (Tandy 1000 EX) at the age of 8 and couldnt wait to take it apart to see if I could reassemble it... then picked up experience "fixing" other peoples computers and eventually lots of trial and error at my first job...

Still learning new stuff everyday...

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: lariz
I've always wondered where you guys got your experience with computers. Did you take classes, is this your career, or was it something that you learned on your own?

I ask this because I'm getting ready to start college soon with a CS degree in mind, and I was wondering where I could get the most experience with computers before going off to class. Are there any general sites or books you've read that really helped you out?
I'm not talking abut the basics, I would like to study every possible aspect of computers, everything from networking, to computer graphics, to programming.

I would like to walk into class on the first day and possibly know more than the teacher.

doubt that will happen...or does "pretty soon" mean 6 years from now? A CS professor has been working with computers since the earliest days. I take it you were born around the time of windows 2.x or so. Having the experience with the older operating systems and simpler code as they were being developed will give anyone a better foundation.

Oh, I don't mean to imply I know shit about computers, esp compared to the ave ATer. I can put them together, but I tend to cure just about any problem that crops up later with a format/clean install--b/c I have no idea what I'm doing

 

[Jschmuck2]

Originally posted by: Juno
self-taught FTW.

 

[Demo24]

self-taught most of what I know

the rest came from working at my school system in the It department. Learned about networking, etc.

Also learned that I sure as hell don't want to work in IT in the future, unless I don't have any other options.

 

[SKORPI0]

While in college, took programming language (FORTRAN, BASIC & COBOL) classes. This was hands-on and 2 computers/student, late 70's. Storage media was cassette tape and 14" CRT monitors where black text on white screen. Was able to write simple programs on programmable calculators (HP; Texas Instruments and Casio).

Found work doing some data entry and programming while in school. Screen was yellow/green text on black screen. Storage was 8" floppy drive. Hard drives (20 mb)were expensive and a luxury.

Then Apple introduced their Apple computer, too expensive at that time (early 80's). Ended up with a Apple II+ like 1981 with dual 5 1/2" floppy drives. Then IBM compatible PCs became available. Bought some parts from Hongkong and learned how to put together and configure it. Had a friend put up a business assembling PCs and maintaining them for clients/small businesses.

Then Commodore 64 came out, same thing learn how to program with it. Ended up buying a Amiga 2000 late 80's doing computer graphics.

 

[AmpedSilence]

Originally posted by: pontifex
mostly self taught.
i did go to a tech school and learned some stuff and then I did the computertraining.con* classes for MS certs.








*yes, that is intentional

ha! thats who i work for (just started six months ago). Are you one our success stories? hmmmm....

 

[TuxDave]

Self taught for debugging software issues. Got a job at a PC repair company at 18yrs old and after 1 summer knew everything hardware related to a computer.