Yep, that’s me. I can’t imagine that I was more than six years old at the time when my dad bought his first computer, a TRS-80 from RadioShack. Can you believe RadioShack was one of the first computer manufacturers/retailers and today they’re…well, what does RadioShack do anyway? I don’t think I’ve ever been to one since this photo was taken.
Although I started out early on a computer I was only mildly interested in it. I learned how to do some basic programming in BASIC, and I liked playing games, but I wasn’t one of those kids that instantly becomes fascinated with computers and within a year they’re writing all sorts of programs, taking the thing apart, and 20 years later they’ve become a millionaire. I guess I had a shot at becoming a true geek, but I passed it up.
If I remember correctly, my dad would write programs on the TRS-80 and record them to an audio tape and then play them back in.
I’m not sure about the entire history of my family’s computer ownership, but I remember having a 486, and we may have had a 386 before that. On one of them I specifically remember my dad saying “This hard drive will hold 20 megabytes. I have no idea how I could ever fill that up.” One year later he had to go buy a second hard drive, and I remember him saying “I can’t believe I filled that hard drive up. But there’s no way I could ever fill up two 20 megabyte hard drives.” I think he bought an entirely new computer the next year.
Ha ha ha! My first computer experience was with a Commodore Pet 64 - my dad had me typing programs out of a book for him, couldn’t/wouldn’t buy them on a disk. What a great blast from the past.
Radio Shack - coolest new stuff we all need. Just bought an inverter that plugs into my 12 volt outlet in the car, produces 110 AC current, can recharge anything now. I’m already traveling with a pack of rechargers for cameras, digital vaults, etc, and not having to buy, tote, untangle extra car rechargers is a plus.
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That’s an awesome photo and story.