I'd like to read about an item that takes you back to your childhood or early adulthood.
Be it a camera, a computer, a toy, what have you... I know many of you, on this forum, are taken back to a camera. Perhaps that certain film camera that you found yourself seeking out and buying as an adult - to nostalgically take you back...
For me it's computers. Born in 1971, my first experience with a computer was at my elementary school. I was in fourth grade. Strategically placed in the cafeteria was a single shiny new Apple II. Two of us were allowed to leave class at a time, to spend an hour at the computer. Most of what we did was plot pictures on large blocked graph paper and then “program” or “plot” the drawing on the computer – saving the image to disk that we could load back in at a later time. If we had not finished our picture, we could magically load the unfinished pic back into the computers memory, on a 5 & ¼ inch disk, and complete the image the next day. I don’t use the word “magically” lightly, as the process truly was magical to me.
I had to have a computer. My mother was a school teacher. We were not rich, but we were not poor. But we were not rich enough to afford an Apple 2 –the first Apple 2 cost around $1,300 at the time (completely out of the question). I knew nothing of what was a good computer and what was a bad one. When I showed mom an advertisement for a $99 Timex Sinclair 1000 computer, complete with it’s flat plastic keyboard,then off to Montgomery Ward we went. Turned out the computer, with its tape drive, still in my opinion, was the worst home computer ever released to the market. The next day we took it back and traded up to a Commodore VIC-20. It was no Apple 2, that I quickly learned when I found it impossible to learn how to program/plot images on the screen. However, I could type in programs, from computer magazines,and some times they would work and the tape drive worked about half the time also – a big improvement over the Timex Sinclair.
To make a long story short, my next computer was an Atari 800xl, probably a Christmas present, and I even had a floppy disk drive this time – taking the same size disks as the Apple 2. Later even adding a 2nddisk drive, which was invaluable at pirating games (copying from one disk to another). Goodness knows how many of those disks I owned(boxes and boxes of them that had 99% games). Later, I would sell it and get a Commodore 64, as it had many many more games available for it. However, I quickly learned that the Commodores disk operating system was far inferior to the Atari’s – not only was it much slower, but it was much less reliable.
Which brings me to the conclusion of my story. I’ve been surfing the auction site,looking to buy an 8 bit computer system – to take me back down that nostalgic road of my childhood. One thing is for sure, the prices of the 8 bit computer systems now fetch a premium, for what they technologically are. I dismissed a Commodore system. I looked long and hard at the Atari systems. I’ve actually decided to go full circle and get the first computer I had ever been exposed to – the Apple 2. First I thought about getting the original Apple II, but after reading up on several of the models, I’ve decided to get an Apple 2c. It’s the one that had a 5 ¼ inch disk drive (unlike the2c plus that has a 3 ½ inch drive.). I have my other reasons, but that’s not the point of this post. I kinda want the Apple 2 because it’s what I always wanted as a kid, but couldn't afford at the time. I want to plot some pictures with it and explore some other things on it. And now, I can finally afford one.
I’d love to read about anything nostalgic, be it a camera, a toy, or whatever, that you have bought, or pondered buying, to take you back down that nostalgic road.
Regards,
Michael
Last edited by Michael Piziak; 06-06-2022 at 10:57 PM.