{ "attachments": [ "550abf85102b.jpg" ], "comments_archived": true, "date": "2003-06-13T23:06:40.000Z", "layout": "post", "title": "Newly Digital in 1983", "wordpress_id": 425, "wordpress_slug": "newly-digital", "wordpress_url": "http://www.decafbad.com/blog/?p=425", "year": "2003", "month": "06", "day": "13", "isDir": true, "slug": "newly-digital", "type": "entry", "postName": "2003-06-13-newly-digital", "html": "

I caught Gizmodo 1983 this week,\nalong with the news\nthat NBC may be revisiting the old 1983 scifi series \"V\", and I was reminded that that\nwas right around the time I got my first computer. I've been meaning\nto write something for Newly Digital,\nso here goes:

\n

My history with computers starts a few years earlier than 1983,\nthough. I think it was during the first grade, when I was a hyper,\neasily bored kid. I would get class work done quickly and early, yet\nforget to turn it in. Then, I would disrupt class until I was somehow\ncalmed down or sent to the principal. I seem to remember that, once,\nI was caught scaling a classroom wall via the curtains. How far I\nmade if before being caught, I'm not sure, but it seemed like miles\nto me at the time. I remember being the only one happy about it.

\n

One day though, the usual trip to the principal changed. I remember\nhim as a tall, bald, and imposing man whose breath always smelled\nfunny. (This was long, long before I knew about coffee and had become\nhopelessly addicted myself.) The man scared me, since he was known\nhave spanked students in the old days, and though he wasn't allowed to\ndo that anymore he still had the power to call my Mom. And I'm pretty\nsure most everyone knows the little-kid terror of that.

\n

\nThis particular visit, though, he led me back into his office, and sat\nme down in front of an\nAtari 800\nand a TV screen. Though I had\nalready been introduced to video games via our Atari 2600 at home, I\nhad little idea what this thing was.

\n

He showed me how to turn everything on, and introduced me to a stack\nof workbooks as tall as I was. Each book was about 1/4\" thick and the\ncover colors were a rainbow of progressive difficulty. He told me\nthat he was trying to decide whether or not to start teaching\ncomputers in the school, and that these books were what the company\nsent him for classes. He wanted me to try them out for him and see\nwhat I could do with the computer before he bought more for the\nschool.

\n

From then on, when my class work was done, I had a pass to go to the\nprincipal's office and work through the books with the computer until\neither I ran out of books or the year ended. I worked mostly on my\nown, with a heavy sense that it was something special I'd been trusted\nwith. As the principal went about his daily work, I was barely\nsupervised with this expensive machine, and I felt I needed to prove I\nwas worth it.

\n\nMy grades and my behavior improved as I tore through the workbooks in\nhis office. There was so much to learn and play with. I remember\nwith unusual clarity writing a program that asked me for my birthday\nand replied with my age in the year 2000. It dazzled me that\nsomething I programmed into the computer could tell me about myself,\nall grown up, in the twenty-first century. You know, the year when\nall science fiction stories came true! But there I was, playing with\nthe stuff of sci-fi already.\n\n\n\n

And the greatest thing, as the books began to ask more creativity and\noriginality from me in my assignments, I felt my mind stretch. I'd\nnever quite felt that before, and it was so amazing. Part of it was,\nI'm sure, just a property of the elasticity of the brain at that age,\nbut I'm sure my time at the computer helped. Every day, I remembered\nand could do more. My thoughts were becoming more ordered and\norganized, as programming the computer required it.

\n

But, after a few months, observing my obvious enthusiasm for the work,\nthe principal took me out of his experiment. I was disappointed but\nhe told me that he'd decided to build a computer lab and turn what I'd\nbeen doing into a real class for everyone in the school. I crossed my\nfingers: There were still plenty of books left to get through, and I\nwas just getting to the fun things like graphics and sound.

\n

When the school's little computer lab was finally opened, all the kids\ngot sorted into groups of five or so, and each rotated through a\nweekly schedule of hour-long visits. When my group's turn came, I was\ncrushed: I found that there were no assignments, just Pac Man and\nMissile Command and a smattering of math and vocabulary games. We\nwere handed joysticks and told not to touch anything else.

\n

\nThese machines were Atari 400's \nand looked so much less advanced than what I'd been used to. I\nremember there being an intense nervous aura radiating from the\nsupervising teacher on duty in the lab, just waiting for one of us to\ndestroy these things. And, when I asked if I could have a BASIC\ncartridge to work on some of my programs, I told that if I didn't\nwant to participate in the computer activities I could just go back to\nclass. As bitter as a first or second grader could be, I was.

\n

See, I'd gotten teased a bit for the special treatment in the\nbeginning, but I didn't mind. And, now that everyone played with the\ncomputers, I got teased for not being so special anymore. What I\ncouldn't get across to anyone, not even my teachers, was that they\nweren't getting what I had. There was so much more they could have.\nWell, I'm not sure my thoughts were so mature at the time, but I felt\nlike everyone, including me, had been cheated.

\n

\nSo that ended my education in hands-on programming, temporarily. I took to\nreading more computer books, often bought from the school book fair,\nlike David Ahl's\nBASIC Computer Games.\nLacking a computer of my own, I read and ran though the\nprograms in my head.

\n

\nFor the next year or so, I had sporadic access to computers. My Uncle had a\nTRS 80 Model III\nthat he let me use during visits. That thing mostly\nconfused me though, as I was introduced for the first time to an\nalternate flavor of BASIC. And still, there was the not-mine feeling\nand my Uncle's protectiveness of his expensive business machine.\nMy grandparents also had a\nVIC-20,\nbut sans tape drive or hard drive, so every visit was starting over\nfrom scratch. Nothing would substitute for what I'd had: My own time\nwith the machine, doing things myself, building one thing atop another.

\n

Then, the\nCommodore 64\narrived at the local K-Mart. I was in love. This was it for me, and\nI raved about it constantly. I never quite expected to get one,\nthough, since the thing was expensive, especially for a kid my age. And\nbesides, computers were always something that someone else had. But I\nguess I must've really gotten on Santa's good side, because I was met\nwith this surprise on Christmas morning that year:

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n

That first computer was really something. It was mine, given to me by\nmy family as a whole. No one protecting it from me, fearing I'd break\nit.

\n

So I attacked it. I learned everything about it, buried myself in\nbooks and magazines, figured out how every bit of it worked and could\nbe used. More than once, I'd gone at it with a screwdriver to see\nwhat was inside. Then I went at it with a soldering iron to add\nthings like a reset switch and RCA audio output. I made friends with\npeople at a local computer store, and they let me be a guinea pig to\ntest new software and hardware for the thing. At one point in fourth\ngrade, I learned 6502 assembly, printed out a disassembly of the\nmachine's kernel, and mapped out what everything did. I still have\nthat print-out, bound with rubber cement, and full of my scrawlings.

\n

That Commodore 64 would be my gateway to all sorts of further hackery\nand geekery, as well as a means of meeting more of my kind. After\ngetting a modem, it became my entry point to local (and not-so-local)\nbulletin boards, and eventually my first tastes of the Internet. I\nwas still using that Commodore 64 up until my last year of High\nSchool, coincidentally the year of the machine's last production\nrun.

\n

I've had other computers since that Commodore 64, but it was opening\nthat box on Christmas Morning that let me continue the process that my\nElementary School principal had started for me, and I haven't stopped\nsince. I love to feel my mind stretch, and I love to take things\napart and see what's inside.

\n\n\n\n

shortname=newly_digital

\n

Archived Comments

\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n", "body": "I caught Gizmodo 1983 this week,\r\nalong with the news\r\nthat NBC may be revisiting the old 1983 scifi series \"V\", and I was reminded that that\r\nwas right around the time I got my first computer. I've been meaning\r\nto write something for Newly Digital,\r\nso here goes:\r\n

\r\nMy history with computers starts a few years earlier than 1983,\r\nthough. I think it was during the first grade, when I was a hyper,\r\neasily bored kid. I would get class work done quickly and early, yet\r\nforget to turn it in. Then, I would disrupt class until I was somehow\r\ncalmed down or sent to the principal. I seem to remember that, once,\r\nI was caught scaling a classroom wall via the curtains. How far I\r\nmade if before being caught, I'm not sure, but it seemed like miles\r\nto me at the time. I remember being the only one happy about it.\r\n

\r\nOne day though, the usual trip to the principal changed. I remember\r\nhim as a tall, bald, and imposing man whose breath always smelled\r\nfunny. (This was long, long before I knew about coffee and had become\r\nhopelessly addicted myself.) The man scared me, since he was known\r\nhave spanked students in the old days, and though he wasn't allowed to\r\ndo that anymore he still had the power to call my Mom. And I'm pretty\r\nsure most everyone knows the little-kid terror of that.\r\n

\r\n\r\nThis particular visit, though, he led me back into his office, and sat\r\nme down in front of an\r\nAtari 800\r\nand a TV screen. Though I had\r\nalready been introduced to video games via our Atari 2600 at home, I\r\nhad little idea what this thing was.\r\n

\r\nHe showed me how to turn everything on, and introduced me to a stack\r\nof workbooks as tall as I was. Each book was about 1/4\" thick and the\r\ncover colors were a rainbow of progressive difficulty. He told me\r\nthat he was trying to decide whether or not to start teaching\r\ncomputers in the school, and that these books were what the company\r\nsent him for classes. He wanted me to try them out for him and see\r\nwhat I could do with the computer before he bought more for the\r\nschool.\r\n

\r\nFrom then on, when my class work was done, I had a pass to go to the\r\nprincipal's office and work through the books with the computer until\r\neither I ran out of books or the year ended. I worked mostly on my\r\nown, with a heavy sense that it was something special I'd been trusted\r\nwith. As the principal went about his daily work, I was barely\r\nsupervised with this expensive machine, and I felt I needed to prove I\r\nwas worth it.\r\n

\r\n\r\nMy grades and my behavior improved as I tore through the workbooks in\r\nhis office. There was so much to learn and play with. I remember\r\nwith unusual clarity writing a program that asked me for my birthday\r\nand replied with my age in the year 2000. It dazzled me that\r\nsomething I programmed into the computer could tell me about myself,\r\nall grown up, in the twenty-first century. You know, the year when\r\nall science fiction stories came true! But there I was, playing with\r\nthe stuff of sci-fi already.\r\n

\r\nAnd the greatest thing, as the books began to ask more creativity and\r\noriginality from me in my assignments, I felt my mind stretch. I'd\r\nnever quite felt that before, and it was so amazing. Part of it was,\r\nI'm sure, just a property of the elasticity of the brain at that age,\r\nbut I'm sure my time at the computer helped. Every day, I remembered\r\nand could do more. My thoughts were becoming more ordered and\r\norganized, as programming the computer required it.\r\n

\r\nBut, after a few months, observing my obvious enthusiasm for the work,\r\nthe principal took me out of his experiment. I was disappointed but\r\nhe told me that he'd decided to build a computer lab and turn what I'd\r\nbeen doing into a real class for everyone in the school. I crossed my\r\nfingers: There were still plenty of books left to get through, and I\r\nwas just getting to the fun things like graphics and sound.\r\n

\r\nWhen the school's little computer lab was finally opened, all the kids\r\ngot sorted into groups of five or so, and each rotated through a\r\nweekly schedule of hour-long visits. When my group's turn came, I was\r\ncrushed: I found that there were no assignments, just Pac Man and\r\nMissile Command and a smattering of math and vocabulary games. We\r\nwere handed joysticks and told not to touch anything else.\r\n

\r\n\r\nThese machines were Atari 400's \r\nand looked so much less advanced than what I'd been used to. I\r\nremember there being an intense nervous aura radiating from the\r\nsupervising teacher on duty in the lab, just waiting for one of us to\r\ndestroy these things. And, when I asked if I could have a BASIC\r\ncartridge to work on some of my programs, I told that if I didn't\r\nwant to participate in the computer activities I could just go back to\r\nclass. As bitter as a first or second grader could be, I was.\r\n

\r\nSee, I'd gotten teased a bit for the special treatment in the\r\nbeginning, but I didn't mind. And, now that everyone played with the\r\ncomputers, I got teased for not being so special anymore. What I\r\ncouldn't get across to anyone, not even my teachers, was that they\r\nweren't getting what I had. There was so much more they could have.\r\nWell, I'm not sure my thoughts were so mature at the time, but I felt\r\nlike everyone, including me, had been cheated.\r\n

\r\n\r\nSo that ended my education in hands-on programming, temporarily. I took to\r\nreading more computer books, often bought from the school book fair,\r\nlike David Ahl's\r\nBASIC Computer Games.\r\nLacking a computer of my own, I read and ran though the\r\nprograms in my head.\r\n

\r\n\r\nFor the next year or so, I had sporadic access to computers. My Uncle had a\r\nTRS 80 Model III\r\nthat he let me use during visits. That thing mostly\r\nconfused me though, as I was introduced for the first time to an\r\nalternate flavor of BASIC. And still, there was the not-mine feeling\r\nand my Uncle's protectiveness of his expensive business machine.\r\nMy grandparents also had a\r\nVIC-20,\r\nbut sans tape drive or hard drive, so every visit was starting over\r\nfrom scratch. Nothing would substitute for what I'd had: My own time\r\nwith the machine, doing things myself, building one thing atop another.\r\n

\r\nThen, the\r\nCommodore 64\r\narrived at the local K-Mart. I was in love. This was it for me, and\r\nI raved about it constantly. I never quite expected to get one,\r\nthough, since the thing was expensive, especially for a kid my age. And\r\nbesides, computers were always something that someone else had. But I\r\nguess I must've really gotten on Santa's good side, because I was met\r\nwith this surprise on Christmas morning that year:\r\n

\r\n
\r\n

\r\nThat first computer was really something. It was mine, given to me by\r\nmy family as a whole. No one protecting it from me, fearing I'd break\r\nit.\r\n

\r\nSo I attacked it. I learned everything about it, buried myself in\r\nbooks and magazines, figured out how every bit of it worked and could\r\nbe used. More than once, I'd gone at it with a screwdriver to see\r\nwhat was inside. Then I went at it with a soldering iron to add\r\nthings like a reset switch and RCA audio output. I made friends with\r\npeople at a local computer store, and they let me be a guinea pig to\r\ntest new software and hardware for the thing. At one point in fourth\r\ngrade, I learned 6502 assembly, printed out a disassembly of the\r\nmachine's kernel, and mapped out what everything did. I still have\r\nthat print-out, bound with rubber cement, and full of my scrawlings.\r\n

\r\nThat Commodore 64 would be my gateway to all sorts of further hackery\r\nand geekery, as well as a means of meeting more of my kind. After\r\ngetting a modem, it became my entry point to local (and not-so-local)\r\nbulletin boards, and eventually my first tastes of the Internet. I\r\nwas still using that Commodore 64 up until my last year of High\r\nSchool, coincidentally the year of the machine's last production\r\nrun.\r\n

\r\nI've had other computers since that Commodore 64, but it was opening\r\nthat box on Christmas Morning that let me continue the process that my\r\nElementary School principal had started for me, and I haven't stopped\r\nsince. I love to feel my mind stretch, and I love to take things\r\napart and see what's inside.\r\n\r\nshortname=newly_digital\r\n\r\n
\r\n

Archived Comments

\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n
\r\n ", "parentPath": "./content/posts/archives/2003/2003-06-13-newly-digital", "path": "2003/06/13/newly-digital", "thumbnail": "http://www.old-computers.com/museum/photos/atari_800.jpg", "summary": "I caught Gizmodo 1983 this week,\nalong with the news\nthat NBC may be revisiting the old 1983 scifi series \"V\", and I was reminded that that\nwas right around the time I got my first computer. I've been meaning\nto write something for Newly Digital,\nso here goes:\nMy history with computers starts a few years earlier than 1983,\nthough. I think it was during the first grade, when I was a hyper,\neasily bored kid. I would get class work done quickly and early, yet\nforget to turn it in. Then, I would disrupt class until I was somehow\ncalmed down or sent to the principal. I seem to remember that, once,\nI was caught scaling a classroom wall via the curtains. How far I\nmade if before being caught, I'm not sure, but it seemed like miles\nto me at the time. I remember being the only one happy about it.\nOne day though, the usual trip to the principal changed. I remember\nhim as a tall, bald, and imposing man whose breath always smelled\nfunny. (This was long, long before I knew about coffee and had become\nhopelessly addicted myself.) The man scared me, since he was known\nhave spanked students in the old days, and though he wasn't allowed to\ndo that anymore he still had the power to call my Mom. And I'm pretty\nsure most everyone knows the little-kid terror of that.\n\nThis particular visit, though, he led me back into his office, and sat\nme down in front of an\nAtari 800\nand a TV screen. Though I had\nalready been introduced to video games via our Atari 2600 at home, I\nhad little idea what this thing was.\nHe showed me how to turn everything on, and introduced me to a stack\nof workbooks as tall as I was. Each book was about 1/4\" thick and the\ncover colors were a rainbow of progressive difficulty. He told me\nthat he was trying to decide whether or not to start teaching\ncomputers in the school, and that these books were what the company\nsent him for classes. He wanted me to try them out for him and see\nwhat I could do with the computer before he bought more for the\nschool.\nFrom then on, when my class work was done, I had a pass to go to the\nprincipal's office and work through the books with the computer until\neither I ran out of books or the year ended. I worked mostly on my\nown, with a heavy sense that it was something special I'd been trusted\nwith. As the principal went about his daily work, I was barely\nsupervised with this expensive machine, and I felt I needed to prove I\nwas worth it.\n\nMy grades and my behavior improved as I tore through the workbooks in\nhis office. There was so much to learn and play with. I remember\nwith unusual clarity writing a program that asked me for my birthday\nand replied with my age in the year 2000. It dazzled me that\nsomething I programmed into the computer could tell me about myself,\nall grown up, in the twenty-first century. You know, the year when\nall science fiction stories came true! But there I was, playing with\nthe stuff of sci-fi already.\n\n\n\nAnd the greatest thing, as the books began to ask more creativity and\noriginality from me in my assignments, I felt my mind stretch. I'd\nnever quite felt that before, and it was so amazing. Part of it was,\nI'm sure, just a property of the elasticity of the brain at that age,\nbut I'm sure my time at the computer helped. Every day, I remembered\nand could do more. My thoughts were becoming more ordered and\norganized, as programming the computer required it.\nBut, after a few months, observing my obvious enthusiasm for the work,\nthe principal took me out of his experiment. I was disappointed but\nhe told me that he'd decided to build a computer lab and turn what I'd\nbeen doing into a real class for everyone in the school. I crossed my\nfingers: There were still plenty of books left to get through, and I\nwas just getting to the fun things like graphics and sound.\nWhen the school's little computer lab was finally opened, all the kids\ngot sorted into groups of five or so, and each rotated through a\nweekly schedule of hour-long visits. When my group's turn came, I was\ncrushed: I found that there were no assignments, just Pac Man and\nMissile Command and a smattering of math and vocabulary games. We\nwere handed joysticks and told not to touch anything else.\n\nThese machines were Atari 400's \nand looked so much less advanced than what I'd been used to. I\nremember there being an intense nervous aura radiating from the\nsupervising teacher on duty in the lab, just waiting for one of us to\ndestroy these things. And, when I asked if I could have a BASIC\ncartridge to work on some of my programs, I told that if I didn't\nwant to participate in the computer activities I could just go back to\nclass. As bitter as a first or second grader could be, I was.\nSee, I'd gotten teased a bit for the special treatment in the\nbeginning, but I didn't mind. And, now that everyone played with the\ncomputers, I got teased for not being so special anymore. What I\ncouldn't get across to anyone, not even my teachers, was that they\nweren't getting what I had. There was so much more they could have.\nWell, I'm not sure my thoughts were so mature at the time, but I felt\nlike everyone, including me, had been cheated.\n\nSo that ended my education in hands-on programming, temporarily. I took to\nreading more computer books, often bought from the school book fair,\nlike David Ahl's\nBASIC Computer Games.\nLacking a computer of my own, I read and ran though the\nprograms in my head.\n\nFor the next year or so, I had sporadic access to computers. My Uncle had a\nTRS 80 Model III\nthat he let me use during visits. That thing mostly\nconfused me though, as I was introduced for the first time to an\nalternate flavor of BASIC. And still, there was the not-mine feeling\nand my Uncle's protectiveness of his expensive business machine.\nMy grandparents also had a\nVIC-20,\nbut sans tape drive or hard drive, so every visit was starting over\nfrom scratch. Nothing would substitute for what I'd had: My own time\nwith the machine, doing things myself, building one thing atop another.\nThen, the\nCommodore 64\narrived at the local K-Mart. I was in love. This was it for me, and\nI raved about it constantly. I never quite expected to get one,\nthough, since the thing was expensive, especially for a kid my age. And\nbesides, computers were always something that someone else had. But I\nguess I must've really gotten on Santa's good side, because I was met\nwith this surprise on Christmas morning that year:\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThat first computer was really something. It was mine, given to me by\nmy family as a whole. No one protecting it from me, fearing I'd break\nit.\nSo I attacked it. I learned everything about it, buried myself in\nbooks and magazines, figured out how every bit of it worked and could\nbe used. More than once, I'd gone at it with a screwdriver to see\nwhat was inside. Then I went at it with a soldering iron to add\nthings like a reset switch and RCA audio output. I made friends with\npeople at a local computer store, and they let me be a guinea pig to\ntest new software and hardware for the thing. At one point in fourth\ngrade, I learned 6502 assembly, printed out a disassembly of the\nmachine's kernel, and mapped out what everything did. I still have\nthat print-out, bound with rubber cement, and full of my scrawlings.\nThat Commodore 64 would be my gateway to all sorts of further hackery\nand geekery, as well as a means of meeting more of my kind. After\ngetting a modem, it became my entry point to local (and not-so-local)\nbulletin boards, and eventually my first tastes of the Internet. I\nwas still using that Commodore 64 up until my last year of High\nSchool, coincidentally the year of the machine's last production\nrun.\nI've had other computers since that Commodore 64, but it was opening\nthat box on Christmas Morning that let me continue the process that my\nElementary School principal had started for me, and I haven't stopped\nsince. I love to feel my mind stretch, and I love to take things\napart and see what's inside.", "needsBuild": true, "prevPostPath": "2003/06/02/blo-gs-gone-wild", "prevPostTitle": "Blo.gs Pings Gone Wild", "nextPostPath": "2003/06/19/flash-agg", "nextPostTitle": "Desktop server + Flash GUI?" }