Compute!'s Gazette FTW! I was very fortunate to have a computer in the house, available 24/7, from around the age of 10. ZX81 kit, then later a C128, then Ami

Compute!'s Gazette FTW! I was very fortunate to have a computer in the house, available 24/7, from around the age of 10. ZX81 kit, then later a C128, then Amiga, then other variations (and a PC clone in there as well). We were some variation of 'middle class' in a growing community, and I wasn't the only kid at school with a computer, but I'd say it was certainly less than 10% of us. You quickly made friends with the folks who had Mr Nibble and similar copying programs (I forget the big one in the Apple II world). But it was a totally different time. Anyone born in the last 25 years has never known a time without essentially instant access to the world's information, essentially for free. I struggled with a 300 baud modem, taking hours to download anything of substance, hoping no one would pick up the phone because you forgot to turn off 'call waiting' during a big download. I remember the jump to 1200 baud, then later a 14k modem blowing my mind. Back then, it wasn't just about 'programming' as much as ... you learned to 'think' like a computer a bit more than I think you do now. The UIs we have now are both way way way better than 40 years ago, but also still awfully confusing at times.