Childhood Computing
16 hours ago
- The author discovered computers at age 8 in 1992 when transferred to a new school with a computer lab in a small industrial town.
- Access to computers was limited to about two hours per month, using old IBM PC compatibles with monochrome monitors, no hard drives, and floppy disks.
- Logo programming was learned through pen and paper at home, with programs tested on graph paper before running them on actual computers.
- The author's first 'free and open source software' experience was sharing a Logo program that drew a house with animated dashed lines, copied via notebooks.
- Early computer games included Moon Bugs, Space Invaders, Bricks, Grand Prix Circuit, and Digger, which inspired the author to eventually write an Invaders-like game in 2022.
- The author fulfilled a childhood dream by creating 'Andromeda Invaders', a game with auto-play mode, decades after first being inspired by Space Invaders.
- Strong sensory memories persist from the computer lab: buzzing sounds, POST beeps, and a distinctive smell that still triggers vivid recollections.