The state of the art in 1982 was the Apple // (or ][) and as a gifted student in our school district’s Intermediate Enrichment Program I had access to one. Once a week. I brought my pencil, graph paper, code samples and a ruler to conquer the mysteries of microcomputers and write a program.

Later I would buy my own home computers and continue to use Apples in school. As I approached college age and considered my future I was faced with business machines that still used punch cards or magnetic tape. Rarely was there a color screen or Random Access Storage. Hard drive arrays were still refrigerator sized, custom built beasts I could only see at Berks Campus and Penske Leasing.

I was spoiled by Apple, TI, Commodore, Amiga. Mainframes and boring IBM model 30’s were not catching my attention. I left computer for a time and only returned after graduating and getting jobs where LANs had made PC’s an acceptable business tool and the occasional Mac could be found in the art department.

Tags: Jim, Geek