Hi, I'm over 40 and been loving the 8-bit age since I was 14. Been doodling on graph paper when I was 11 back in the late 70's and computers were too expensive. I had seen an ad for a TRS-80 and I imagined how I would do the graphics based on the then current Pong games on the market.
Now it's 2013 and I found out later I wanted the C64 (but my sister gave me the Atari 800). The Atari was a beast and dependable, I even fixed the fuse in the power supply when it tripped and the belt on the 5 1/4" floppy drive I bought for $160 back then. It was put through it's paces. My friend had a C64 but I noticed how many times it crashed on it, but the Atari was rock solid. I think now if I had gotten my Vic-20 for Christmas instead of that stupid Radioshack 'computer', I would be alot further than I am now. I even gave the money to my parents I earned from birthdays to help pay for it. I got this God-awful thing instead, and I think my parents lied to me saying I would have to buy a special monitor to use the ViC-20 (or the salesman lied). Either way like most kids I blame my parents, just like the president blaming bush. Regardless, here's the POS I was stuck with for a couple of years:
http://cdn2.computerworlduk.com/cmsdata/slideshow/3291946/img_062711-kids-computer-5_thumb555.jpgIt was just wiring the terminals together, hitting buttons and playing generic maze type games I made up. I think the displays were manual too where you had to slide the plastic display in and out, such as if you were playing trivia.
That is me in a nut shell, with extra nuttiness.
Later yall.
ATZ
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