Exactly what it was like for me, except Apple ][ (6502 FTW!). I think part of the excitement was also the limited access, there weren't that many computers and

Exactly what it was like for me, except Apple ][ (6502 FTW!). I think part of the excitement was also the limited access, there weren't that many computers and you had to wait for the next issue of Byte (or c't, in my case). I spent many hours at the magazine racks reading computer magazines I didn't have the money to buy. Having said that, things are great now too. The low-level stuff you can do on a $20 HW platform are fantastic.