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Having flashbacks to being 7 years old and asking my dad for a Nintendo and instead getting a 286 with Lotus 123 and Indiana Jones text adventure.
by TheBlight 3y ago
Having flashbacks to being 7 years old and asking my dad for a Nintendo and instead getting a 286 with Lotus 123 and Indiana Jones text adventure.
- segmondy 3y agoAt least you got a computer. :-D
- chasil 3y agoYou have obviously never used a Timex/Sinclair 1000.
- qingcharles 3y agoLOL. I loved my ZX81.
- SpaceNoodled 3y agoSounds like you made out much better
- emeril 3y agoI got an apple 2gs with leisure suit larry that neither me nor my much older brother could reliably figure out the answers to the "age verification questions" at start-up
- raverbashing 3y agoInteresting, apparently these are the questions http://allowe.com/games/larry/tips-manuals/lsl1-age-quiz.html http://allowe.com/games/larry/tips-manuals/lsl1-age-quiz.htm...
- m463 3y agonext step: figure out the jokes for the punchlines. :)
- ethanpil 3y agoSame. Begged my dad for a NES. Got C64 instead "because its better, you will see..." Changed my life.
- freedomben 3y agoChanged your life for the better I hope? My kids asked for a Nintendo Switch, but instead got a Steam Deck, along with my 12-year old desktop that is on it's second GPU, second pair of RAM, and third disk drive but still chugging along well. Those systems aren't anywhere near hackable like when we were kids, but I'm hoping just the possibility being there is enough.
- TheBlight 3y agoIt did. Although him buying my little brother a NES 2 years later stung a bit.
- LeFantome 3y agoNewer systems offer dramatically more opportunity for hacking. The problem is that you just don’t have to. If you want to introduce hacking for necessity, try introducing an SBC into the mix. For $40, you can get a system younger you could be never dream of. Actually there is a Milk-V is $5 right now.
- TheBlight 3y agoYeah in retrospect it was very much the right call. Thanks Dad!
- robertlagrant 3y agoHah I wanted a Megadrive and got an old (even for the time) BBC B.
- drsim 3y agoI begged for a BBC Micro and got a ZX Spectrum. Turned out to be much better at getting me interested in programming, even if the Spectrum was on the way out.
- klelatti 3y agoThe simpler hardware of the Spectrum was much more approachable. And the basic was so slow that you really had to learn some Z80 assembly!
- teh_klev 3y ago> The simpler hardware of the Spectrum was much more approachable. I'd contest that assertion. I was 15 when when my folks bought my BBC Model B. It was a far more interesting machine to hack around on than the Spectrum. The BBC was set up my future as a software developer.
- klelatti 3y agoAre you contesting that it was more approachable? I didn’t say the Spectrum was more interesting - it definitely wasn’t!
- teh_klev 3y agoApologies. I also meant to say that the BBC was just as approachable as the Spectrum then lost my train of thought after the phone rang :) I found the Spectrum super frustrating to use, especially with that dead-flesh membrane keyboard.
- dmd 3y agoI asked for a LISP Machine. I didn't know what it was, but it looked really cool at the Computer Museum in Boston (this must have been late 80s). Instead I got a Commodore 64, and thus my first language was BASIC, instead of LISP. I will happily pin any and all failures in my life on this tragedy and accept no comments.
- stuaxo 3y agoAsked for a computer and didn't get one so had to code friends ones or use parents ones / school computers.
- teh_klev 3y agoI wasn't permitted to have a computer until I'd passed my 'O' levels, so instead typed out my code on a clonky 1960's office typewriter in the evenings and weekends. I did have rudimentary syntax highlighting because it used a black/red ribbon :)