It was 1981 and I was a freshman in high school. More than anything I wanted a computer. Not just any computer but an Apple 2+. Nowadays it seems like everyone has a smartphone and/or a laptop/desktop, but back then having your own computer was less common especially if you were my age.
The problem was that the computer I was interested in cost $1000 which was a lot of money today and even more so back then especially for someone 14 years old. What did you get for $1000? Not much by today's standards. It only bought you a computer. No monitor, no printer, no modem, not even a hard drive. It only came with a disc drive. A light on the disc drive turned red and whirred when you put the floppy disc (software) inside to load.
One cool feature though was that you could hook the computer up to with an r/f modulator up to any television. Fortunately we had an extra 27 inch color TV and I was able to play games and communicate on a large screen. That would probably be a good feature today, but I have a feeling the companies want to make extra money, or maybe are just being efficient.
One other fond memory I have is that my childhood friend Bruce, who now runs a tool company, helped me install and negotiate my first modem. I remember the sound the computer used to make when connecting to a billboard. It was like the early AOL/fax machine connections. The problem was that at first the modem didn't work. Back then you could open up the computer and install the parts. Not so easy today. My friend Bruce called up the local computer store owner to complain that the modem wasn't working. The conversation went something like this.
"Mr. Yoon, the modem isn't working"
Mr. Yoon would reply, "It is working."
"No, Yoon, it's broken." Bruce replied adamantly.
This went back and forth until finally Mr. Yoon relented and replaced the modem. Whatever happened to the customer always being right? To this day when things go wrong in life we refer to it as "Modem dead."
There were also some issues too with certain websites. Back in the early 80's It was like the wild wild west. There were no censors or software to protect children and some people we encountered probably were predators. Fortunately though nothing bad happened.
There were many also happy memories. I remember fondly being in a computer store in White Plains, New York playing a text adventure game called Zork. What I liked about that game was that you could problem solve and have an escape for several hours. It not like computers today with all the graphics you had to use your imagination. Over time new games came out. My friends and I used to joke when a dirty text adventure was released that we all had to play.
One of favorite games was Castle Wolfenstein. It was a program that the user got to kill Nazi's. It was a fun game, but every once in a while I got scared because you would hear German words from one of the people in the game.
Over the years the computer games have become more and more advanced and the graphics more realistic, and I'm not even talking about using VR goggles. I can only imagine what that's like. A true another world.
Many years later, when I was living in my own apartment, my mother called to inform me that there was a flood in the basement and my computer was damaged. She told me that she threw it out. I was very upset, because of all the fond memories the computer had given me and it was also my first introduction to computers. In addition, I found out that a working apple computer was worth several thousand dollars if I was so inclined to sell it. What a loss.
Fortunately I still have all the software in my closet and most importantly the memories I have using that computer. It was my first computer, and like many things in life. You always remember your first.
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