http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 4:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
My first "traditional" PC was a store-brand PowerSpec bought at Microcenter in 2001 or so. More recently in 2004 I decided to try building my own PC, and built one in 2004 which I am still using currently (a Socket 754 Athlon 64 3400+ with an MSI motherboard and a 6800GT graphics card). ]]>Aug 12th 2006 4:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 4:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
More info about early Ataris:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_400]]>Aug 12th 2006 5:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
Then came the Coleco Adam. What a waste of effort there, I learned LOGO and it had that loud a$$ daisy wheel printer. But oh do I miss 2010: a text adventure from the good-ol cassette tape.

I feel old now! thanks!]]>Aug 12th 2006 5:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_International).
It was a lot of fun. I got paid to test Scott Adams' adventure games. What a blast! I then upgraded to an Atare 800, and an IBM PC with an Intel 8086 chip. 4Mhz! It screamed!]]>Aug 12th 2006 5:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/The last time I saw a Commodore Pet was in the computer history display at the PowerHouse Museum in Sydney.]]>Aug 12th 2006 5:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Things looked up when I got a disc drive and could load a game in 5 min. rather than 30!
I still have it and a bunch of old discs that still work. I set it up occasionally and have a play, till I get bored with it and pack it up for another 2-3 years hibernation.
]]>Aug 12th 2006 5:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/All the software came on cassette tapes, I could not afford the massively expensive Helios 8" floppy disk system to make a full CP/M system. But I did have one extravagance, a 300 baud acoustic coupler modem. I used it to connect to my university's mainframes to do my programming class assignments, and to do programming and data entry work in my spare time.
I love my old SOL, I still have it, and it still works, but the keyswitches have rotted away, so I can't type into it or actually do anything on it. I'm still searching for replacement keypads to restore the machine to full working status.
As far as I'm concerned, the SOL-20 was the first true Personal Computer, it was the first microcomputer to assemble all the standard components (except the monitor) into one cabinet; it had a keyboard, CPU, memory and expansion card slots, and video output all inside the machine. At that time, the only rivals were single-board machines like the Apple 1, or naked CPUs like the IMSAI and MITS boxes.]]>Aug 12th 2006 5:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
I remember spending countless hours playing Space Quest IV and King's Quest V, along with Pirates, Sim City and the first Test Drive game.]]>Aug 12th 2006 5:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
My first personal computer was a TRS-80 Model I w/LEVEL 1 BASIC. 4KB RAM and a Cassette recorder/player for storage! Before that I had the opportunity to program some portable computers at my Jr High School.

]]>Aug 12th 2006 5:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
]]>Aug 12th 2006 5:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 5:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 6:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
Eh guys those were not pc's! My first pc was the IBM XT]]>Aug 12th 2006 6:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
quick succession of hand me downs came : amstrad 1512 where the graphics card AND computer power supply was built into the monitor. 386 packard bell. modern age comes with a 120 pentium Digtial!

variety of pcs followed until 2003 when I bought a powerbook and it was all over. welcome to apple land after that and six more macs.]]>Aug 12th 2006 6:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 6:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
My first PC was the family PC my father bought for us (and his start-up business). It was an Apple II+, and came with 16K of memory, and he upgraded it to 64K -- And purchased an add-in 64K module. The store clerk tried to talk him out of it, in that he felt there was no way we would ever use 128K. My father was using it Visi-Calc -- And ran out of memory within a month or two.

But that was several years after I was chosen to participate in a pilot program to learn BASIC on my school system's Digital PDP-11. That was my absolute first experience with computers.

This meant I could kill time at the mall's Radio Shack playing around on the first TRS-80 when it came in. It was helpful while my mother and sisters would shop.

My first owned computer was an Apple IIp, which I took to college. The school had just purchased a collection of 128K Macs (I believe it was from the first batch made), and when I started to learn PASCAL for engineering classes, they had bought a second batch with 512K -- There was always a fight between the enginnering and English students to use the newer PCs.

Ah... Those were the days. It's amazing when I look at my PocketPC, and realize that it has SO much more computing power than any of those old machines.]]>Aug 12th 2006 6:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 6:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 6:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
]]>Aug 12th 2006 6:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
I find it funny, that computer was top-of-the-line for it's time. It's time was just 11 years ago. :P]]>Aug 12th 2006 7:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 7:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 7:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
And me. My first IBM PC was an old 8088 IBM monster desktop, that I picked up in 1996 to add to my personal mini museum of old PC's.

Glad to see a few more TRS-80 users. My first ever PC was a TRS-80 Color Computer (CoCo) I. It came with 4k, and was upgraded to 64k.
]]>Aug 12th 2006 7:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 7:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
Here's to MODs, Wolf3D, SPISPOD, Gravis Ultrasounds, BBS's, LoRD, Sierra Adventure games (the originals where you typed the commands), and not being the athletic kid on your block! Cheers!

... oh and the first time you got to see Quake run on the rich kids new Voodoo FX.

btw, what ever happened to the Duke Nukem 3D sequel?]]>Aug 12th 2006 7:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/but i started out with an AcerAcros, equipped with the "award winning" Buttons OS..yeah..

sitting around in the basement somewhere with a proud "Pentium, Intel Inside" sticker and, ohmigod, a 4x CD-rom drive for blazing fast data access]]>Aug 12th 2006 7:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 7:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Such progress !

]]>Aug 12th 2006 7:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/MY first PC was a Dell Ispiron 7000 (1997) Lappy (although at 10Lbs it was rarely on my lap) yeah that thing rocked a Pentium 2 at 400Mhz, 128MB RAM (later upgraded to 256MB) and an even more massive 14GB HD...]]>Aug 12th 2006 7:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
I was only 9 or 10, so my limit to the computer was built in games. Later we added a 10 Gb hard drive and some RAM.

It was also at this time I learned to hate the Best Buy computing department and AOL. I still have a healthy hatred of both.

I got a new computer after that one that (then) was maxed out. I'm still on it now, though I've upgraded it.

Next I plan on getting an iMac for my mom and having it dual boot, and for myself I'll get a pc laptop.]]>Aug 12th 2006 7:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 8:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
10 Print "hello"
20 goto 10
you had to press to get the cursed thing to stop.

When the time came, I had the hardest time grasping what a "hard drive" was.]]>Aug 12th 2006 8:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/It was good for running Grand Prix - just, used to get my mates over and we used to do the take your turn multiplayer action.
I remember it had Qdos on it instead of windows - although I did have windows 3.0 disks, but it wasn't worth installing. Had all the manuals for it and everything though.
Oh and another thing, it could play Wolfenstein 3D and Gorillas.
]]>Aug 12th 2006 8:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/Aug 12th 2006 8:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
No hard drive (Although upgrades were available), floppies only, but I loved using it.]]>Aug 12th 2006 8:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/
Remember DeskMate? What about that wacky lightpen (pre-mouse)?

For Christmas my dad bought me a whopping 128k memory upgrade (now I was pushing 256k - gobs of memory!). I remember the price tag on the memory upgrade - $99.95, and it was an expansion card.

My geek friends were jealous. Just me, solo flight and my RGB Tandy monitor. Those were the days.]]>Aug 12th 2006 8:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/12/the-ibm-pc-turns-25-engadgets-first-pcs/]]>Aug 12th 2006 8:52PM