VIC-20

Started reading the Lienhard book, and the first essay runs the spectrum. Sometimes evoking 2001: A Space Odyssey, sometimes recalling my formative technological experiences.



Such as the Commodore VIC-20, the first computer I owned - with cassette drive. Later I upgraded to the C-64, with dual outboard floppy drives and a modem.

I learned to program in BASIC on these, and wrote some simple games. I also retooled an existing (broken) program, and ran a BBS (called "The War Room") during the day through my home phone. (I'd totally forgotten the term "SysOp.") The sole purpose of which was to upload/download pirated video games.

My favorite was Brøderbund's Lode Runner. To this day, I still enjoy using game editors to design my own levels (only the one with the pentagram).