2026-03-31 00:58 UTC
Replies (4)
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@kcase@mastodon.social 2026-03-31 00:59
Even without the computer, I thought about what I could make that computer do when I got back, scribbling out BASIC programs in the back seat with pencil on paper. I was entranced by the empowering possibilities of that early "bicycle for the mind"—a feeling that has never left me. [2/4]
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@moelassus@mastodon.social 2026-03-31 01:36
@kcase I have a similar memory. For my senior year of high school I convinced my dad to buy me an Apple II. We weren’t poor but a computer was not in the budget. Anyway as soon as they said yes, I went to the book store and bought a book on the Apple II and spent the next several days reading every page until the day we drove to “the big city” and bought it. I think that remains one of the most exciting moments of my life. I still have that Apple II and all of its original packaging.
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@bnmnetp@micro.blog 2026-03-31 02:43
@kcase I learned to program from that book. It changed my life! 10 print "hi brad" 20 goto 10
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@halfpress@halfpress.com 2026-03-31 17:15
@kcase I have similar memories, but around my first Amiga (I was a Commodore kid and came to the Mac later, ultimately working for Apple for some years). I read and re-read everything I could lay my hands on, learning the CLI and working on paper for the longest time before we actually had one. I, too, associate the smell of paper and manuals with my early computing life. Later in life, I started collecting 80s arcades machines and their unique smell gets me into project mode to this day.