The very first computer I used at all was a friend's Heathkit. It was about 1977/78. My mom and I were visiting my aunt in Boston. She had a friend with the Heathkit that he'd built it himself. This was more like a microcomputer. He loaded programs on it, and it had a display, and a keyboard. I didn't get a good look at the computer itself, because the room was dimly lit. I could see it was just in a chassis, no case. Tangles of wires all over the place. I don't remember how programs were loaded, but the load process seemed reasonably fast. The owner loaded up what he called a "turtle" program. It was a simple drawing program. I think it was text-based. "You" were a square on the screen. I could move it around using keys on the keyboard. If I pressed the spacebar, it would start painting. If I pressed it again, it would move without painting. I was making drawings with that, and I was entranced! I lost track of time, but I've always been sure it was at least an hour before my mom came to tell me it was time to go. That felt sad. :(
Sometime that week, my mom and I visited the Boston Children's Museum, and one of the displays was a set of terminals connected to a DEC Vax minicomputer (somewhere out of sight. Though, there was a large display nearby showing what the computer looked like). There was a large crowd of kids lined up to use it, so everyone had to wait. Once you were up, you could sit in front of a terminal, and were presented with a menu. You were given a selection of something like four games you could play. I remember one was hangman. The system set a time limit of something like 5-7 minutes, and then it would kick you off, so the next kid could get a chance.
It would be another few years before I'd get the chance to use a computer again for any length of time.
That timing fits; I guess I was in 5th grade when I got my hands on the HeathKit. Just like we all gathered around the HeathKit in Michaels house, kids lining up to play with computers showed our excitement for them and for the future.
Now that we’re living in the future, it feels weird to me how all this has evolved and there is as much hate (and fear) of tech as joy.
I heard rumors about hate in the early days, with people not seeing what they were promised, but instead feeling frustrated or scammed. This was in the early 1980s. Computers were not easy to use. That was part of it. So, people trying to get something done were confronted with error messages they didn't understand. Others were underwhelmed by what they saw once they tried running a game, and realized it didn't match the cover art at all (but was just blobs of color). Those of us who weren't disappointed understood we were supposed to use our imaginations, or just be excited with the interaction.
There was some fear, but it seemed to be in small groups, re. "AI taking over." The reality didn't come close to what was feared. Nevertheless, sci-fi movies exploited the fear. Many of them became popular.
All of this was tempered by the fact that most people hadn't bought a computer, and didn't use one. So, a threat didn't seem imminent.
Computer companies finally found the "secret sauce" to make them popular: Hide all of the technicals behind an ease-of-use UI, include networking, and bring the price down, so most could buy one. So, even though just about everyone has one now, most don't know much re. how it works. There's a lot more opportunity to misunderstand what's going on.
Dang, a venerable PC jr!! My first PC was the TRS-80 (shop teacher got us one to play with) and then Freshman Year I had a job with an engineering company playing with the first IBM AT (advanced technology dontchaknow :) ) I wanna say that was the first 286?
Your TRS80 was sold in the '70's. Do you still have it? Wow! the PC Jr. is still pretty cool. It is almost the first. According to Google: "The Intel 80286 (also marketed as the iAPX 286 and often called Intel 286) is a 16-bit microprocessor that was introduced on February 1, 1982. It was the first 8086-based CPU with separate, non-multiplexed address and data buses and also the first with memory management and wide protection abilities."
That's wild. In my neighborhoods, we knew there had to be that one kid who had the GI Joe aircraft carrier. That same kid had this computer back then. Not every neighborhood had such a kid.
A lot like the Altair! The Heathkit was cheaper and more for hobbyist, no expansion etc. Motorola proc versus Intel (the venerable 8080). There was this window for kit/hobbyist computers before the Apple II hit and then the Commodore & Tandy (TRS-80) and then all hell broke loose after the IBM PC a few years later.
You're so right about that one neighborhood kid. Later on a few doors the other direction my friend Bond got the first Atari and my parents would have to call his parents to get me to come home for dinner.
Atari was just fire when it came out. I don't think most people really grasp how wild that was for young brains and eyes and hands!
In the very early days, just seeing something you made on a screen was impressive. It's tough to explain this to folks who grew up with programs that are easy to use, and I think that's really happening nowadays with LLMs and such.
Agree, and like you said to me another time it's wild (and lucky) we're getting to live through a third (4th, 5th depending on how you count) tech revolution rn
The very first computer I used at all was a friend's Heathkit. It was about 1977/78. My mom and I were visiting my aunt in Boston. She had a friend with the Heathkit that he'd built it himself. This was more like a microcomputer. He loaded programs on it, and it had a display, and a keyboard. I didn't get a good look at the computer itself, because the room was dimly lit. I could see it was just in a chassis, no case. Tangles of wires all over the place. I don't remember how programs were loaded, but the load process seemed reasonably fast. The owner loaded up what he called a "turtle" program. It was a simple drawing program. I think it was text-based. "You" were a square on the screen. I could move it around using keys on the keyboard. If I pressed the spacebar, it would start painting. If I pressed it again, it would move without painting. I was making drawings with that, and I was entranced! I lost track of time, but I've always been sure it was at least an hour before my mom came to tell me it was time to go. That felt sad. :(
Sometime that week, my mom and I visited the Boston Children's Museum, and one of the displays was a set of terminals connected to a DEC Vax minicomputer (somewhere out of sight. Though, there was a large display nearby showing what the computer looked like). There was a large crowd of kids lined up to use it, so everyone had to wait. Once you were up, you could sit in front of a terminal, and were presented with a menu. You were given a selection of something like four games you could play. I remember one was hangman. The system set a time limit of something like 5-7 minutes, and then it would kick you off, so the next kid could get a chance.
It would be another few years before I'd get the chance to use a computer again for any length of time.
That timing fits; I guess I was in 5th grade when I got my hands on the HeathKit. Just like we all gathered around the HeathKit in Michaels house, kids lining up to play with computers showed our excitement for them and for the future.
Now that we’re living in the future, it feels weird to me how all this has evolved and there is as much hate (and fear) of tech as joy.
I heard rumors about hate in the early days, with people not seeing what they were promised, but instead feeling frustrated or scammed. This was in the early 1980s. Computers were not easy to use. That was part of it. So, people trying to get something done were confronted with error messages they didn't understand. Others were underwhelmed by what they saw once they tried running a game, and realized it didn't match the cover art at all (but was just blobs of color). Those of us who weren't disappointed understood we were supposed to use our imaginations, or just be excited with the interaction.
There was some fear, but it seemed to be in small groups, re. "AI taking over." The reality didn't come close to what was feared. Nevertheless, sci-fi movies exploited the fear. Many of them became popular.
All of this was tempered by the fact that most people hadn't bought a computer, and didn't use one. So, a threat didn't seem imminent.
Computer companies finally found the "secret sauce" to make them popular: Hide all of the technicals behind an ease-of-use UI, include networking, and bring the price down, so most could buy one. So, even though just about everyone has one now, most don't know much re. how it works. There's a lot more opportunity to misunderstand what's going on.
You’re right. I’m wearing rose colored glasses but it was spotty griping versus the divides social media drives today.
I wonder if we never conquered the UX challenges and it was still just us geeks w/ the computers how diff things might be …
Very cool! Loved Heathkits, and Radio Shack!
My first computers in the mid 80's
https://pau1.substack.com/p/first-computers
Dang, a venerable PC jr!! My first PC was the TRS-80 (shop teacher got us one to play with) and then Freshman Year I had a job with an engineering company playing with the first IBM AT (advanced technology dontchaknow :) ) I wanna say that was the first 286?
Your TRS80 was sold in the '70's. Do you still have it? Wow! the PC Jr. is still pretty cool. It is almost the first. According to Google: "The Intel 80286 (also marketed as the iAPX 286 and often called Intel 286) is a 16-bit microprocessor that was introduced on February 1, 1982. It was the first 8086-based CPU with separate, non-multiplexed address and data buses and also the first with memory management and wide protection abilities."
The TRS-80 was my shop teachers, but still have the first computer I bought and it still boots up! Classic Mac 512ke and I painted it green:
https://newsletter.wirepine.com/p/52-a-bicycle-for-the-mind
I must have seen that, just forgot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯... Cool machine for a lifelong Microsoft employee :)
That's wild. In my neighborhoods, we knew there had to be that one kid who had the GI Joe aircraft carrier. That same kid had this computer back then. Not every neighborhood had such a kid.
This looks a lot like the Altair, right?
A lot like the Altair! The Heathkit was cheaper and more for hobbyist, no expansion etc. Motorola proc versus Intel (the venerable 8080). There was this window for kit/hobbyist computers before the Apple II hit and then the Commodore & Tandy (TRS-80) and then all hell broke loose after the IBM PC a few years later.
You're so right about that one neighborhood kid. Later on a few doors the other direction my friend Bond got the first Atari and my parents would have to call his parents to get me to come home for dinner.
Atari was just fire when it came out. I don't think most people really grasp how wild that was for young brains and eyes and hands!
In the very early days, just seeing something you made on a screen was impressive. It's tough to explain this to folks who grew up with programs that are easy to use, and I think that's really happening nowadays with LLMs and such.
Agree, and like you said to me another time it's wild (and lucky) we're getting to live through a third (4th, 5th depending on how you count) tech revolution rn
It's about like living through 3 industrial revolutions in a row, and we're just now getting warmed up.