[Schaumburger]

I have been watching the CNN series "The Nineties." Last week's episode was about technology in the 1990's, and the focus was on how during the 1990's many Americans purchased their first home PC (or Mac).

Do you remember when you purchased your first home computer? What was your first internet service provider?

I bought my first home computer in 1997, I think it was either a Compaq or an HP desktop running Windows 95. Had a dial-up modem, so if I was on line, people calling me on my landline phone got a busy signal. I'm pretty sure my first PC cost over $1,000. America Online (AOL "You've got mail.") was my first internet service provider.

Does anyone use a dial up modem any longer? I don't think the connection would be fast enough for today's internet.

Now I'm on my fourth home computer, a Toshiba laptop that is pushing 5 years old, which will probably get replaced sometime early next year. My office recently switched to Windows 10, so by the time I replace my laptop, I should be pretty comfortable with Windows 10. My work laptop is a new HP, and it really boots up quickly.

As a side note, in this episode, Bill Gates did not come off as a humanitarian as Microsoft was being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for antitrust violations.

[Wiotte]

IBM PC Jr. 1984, cost me $1,500 with the IBM employee discount and easy payroll deductions [emoji51]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Polar Bear]

I'm a PC guy, but my first computer was an Apple II.

[Mikeod]

We got an Eagle back in 1984. CP/M based. I used it for work as well. Sad story. The owner of the company was killed in a car wreck the day the company went public and he became a multi-millionaire.

A bit later we got an Apple II for my son.

Now we have more power in our phones.

[ColdNoMore]

First used was one at work.


1984 IBM-PC-AT


Slash, file....retrieve.

[SFSkol]

Desktop - Epson QX10 1984

CP/M - Operating System
Running Valdoc
W Epson FX-80 dot matrix printer - I still have and use.

Portable -1989 NEC Starlet

CP/M 2.2 operating system
64K RAM
Software included:
Wordstar - Word processor or writing scripts
Calc - Spreadsheets for logging writing expenses
Filer - Cardfile for project ideas and contacts
Telcom - 300 Baud modem - To submit scripts to Hollywood agent


Still have it! Works!

Now running Linux Mint 18.2 (07/2017 release on 2004 Dell 610 (Had XP-Pro). Runs great

[John_W]

In 1992 I had started a mail order business selling new out of print records and import CD's. I was doing a tabloid size display ad in a music trade magazine. A friend had made me a header and footer and I was typing and pasting the entries. He showed me on his computer how easy it was to use Coreldraw 3. After a couple of lessons I went to Circuit City and bought a Packard Bell 486 33mhz 4 MB Ram 13" monitor and tower for about $1100.

I remember going to computer shows throughout the 90's and looking at all the new models each year. You would give the vendors the specs you wanted and they would put together the computer, it was always about $1800. I actually kept that first computer until about 2000 when I needed a Pentium computer for the newer Coreldraw releases. I remember buying that next one from a place in New Jersey that had one of those big display ads in the big Computer Shopper Magazine that you'd see at all the newsstands. I think I paid about $2100 for that next computer, probably included a printer.

[CFrance]

In 1985 we had an Atari with those blue "loops." Then we had a Mac Performa in the 90s. Then we discovered we don't share well, and now we go through them two at a time.

[biker1]

My first home computer was an Apple II. My first "real" computer was a CDC Star 100.

Originally Posted by Schaumburger

I have been watching the CNN series "The Nineties." Last week's episode was about technology in the 1990's, and the focus was on how during the 1990's many Americans purchased their first home PC (or Mac).

Do you remember when you purchased your first home computer? What was your first internet service provider?

I bought my first home computer in 1997, I think it was either a Compaq or an HP desktop running Windows 95. Had a dial-up modem, so if I was on line, people calling me on my landline phone got a busy signal. I'm pretty sure my first PC cost over $1,000. America Online (AOL "You've got mail.") was my first internet service provider.

Does anyone use a dial up modem any longer? I don't think the connection would be fast enough for today's internet.

Now I'm on my fourth home computer, a Toshiba laptop that is pushing 5 years old, which will probably get replaced sometime early next year. My office recently switched to Windows 10, so by the time I replace my laptop, I should be pretty comfortable with Windows 10. My work laptop is a new HP, and it really boots up quickly.

As a side note, in this episode, Bill Gates did not come off as a humanitarian as Microsoft was being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for antitrust violations.

[Schaumburger]

Originally Posted by SFSkol

Desktop - Epson QX10 1984

CP/M - Operating System
Running Valdoc
W Epson FX-80 dot matrix printer - I still have and use.

Portable -1989 NEC Starlet

CP/M 2.2 operating system
64K RAM
Software included:
Wordstar - Word processor or writing scripts
Calc - Spreadsheets for logging writing expenses
Filer - Cardfile for project ideas and contacts
Telcom - 300 Baud modem - To submit scripts to Hollywood agent


Still have it! Works!

Now running Linux Mint 18.2 (07/2017 release on 2004 Dell 610 (Had XP-Pro). Runs great

When I started using a computer at work (my first "real" job at a bank on the far north side of Chicago) in 1983, I was using Word Perfect for word processing and Lotus 1-2-3 for spreadsheets. The first operating system I had to learn to use at work was MS-DOS.

In 1983 only employees at the bank who had PC's at their desks were admins. and other support people. Managers, directors, VP's and up had no clue about using computers at work (unless they had one at home or worked in the IT department at the bank).

Fast forward to the engineering firm I worked for from 1988 to 2015. In 1988 no engineers or designers were using PC's yet. CAD appeared I think in the early 1990's, and a lot of drafting employees had to retrain to learn CAD if they wanted to keep working. My long-time manager, a VP who was 71 when when we both got the boot (a/k/a laid off/reduction in force) in 2015; in my last few years with this company, he was much more proficient in using PowerPoint than I was.

[Kahuna32162]

An Epson 2 E with a whopping 20 meg HD and 64 Kb or ram. 10 inch green screen monitor and an epson dot matrix printer. Bought it at a Computer Center in a mall for $2,500. Salesman told my I'd never fill that 20 meg HD! 1987

Now, HP pavilion dual core with 12 gigs ram, twin 2.5 tb hdd and dual 24" monitors. I think it's time
for an upgrade.

[deano_hoosier]

Well it definitely wasn't a home computer, but I was fascinated by it. A Friden SR 101 electrical-mechanical calculator that would extract square roots which was a wonderful thing in designing gear trains in 1966.

Friden

[yesi3putt2]

In 1963 I went to work for the brand new Columbus Plaza Hotel in downtown Columbus, Ohio . I worked the front desk and when people checked in, I took their info and keyed it into an IBM keypunch machine that spit out punch cards (I went to IBM Keypunch School)..all restaurants and vendors in the hotel had scaners that transfered transaction info to the front desk receivers and punched out cards that on checkout all transactions were included on their final bill....waaay back when

[SFSkol]

My most secure private data storage, where I keep all my confidential information.

[Schaumburger]

Originally Posted by SFSkol

My most secure private data storage, where I keep all my confidential information.

Wow, I haven't seen one of the big floppy disks in many years!