November monthly poll

[Computer Hope Admin]

For the month of November we thought it would be interesting to see at what age you first started using a computer. You're also welcome to mention what you did when you first started using a computer, what type of computer you started on, etc.

All past monthly polls and results can be found on the Computer Hope poll page.

[Calum]

Dude . . . you missed out the ages from 5 to 8, which is what I need to answer.

[Computer Hope Admin]

Heh. You're way too fast, thanks for pointing it out and fixed.

[Calum]

No problem, and I am scarily fast sometimes.

I was 6 I think when I first started using computers, it was an old AST machine that cost us £50 when the average price was around £500, which tells you something about its performance and lineage.
Windows 95, and I have no idea on the other specs.
Then in '99 we upgraded to a new beast with Windows 98, which lasted us until 2004 or so.  That was when I got into cleaning things (which broke Windows 98 many times) to free up some space on our whopping 10Gb HDD.
Got ripped off on the last PC we bought, and now I use my laptop and old desktop (£30, you can't argue with that) and leave the other PC to the family.

Got kind of sidetracked there, allow me to backtrack.
Basically all I did when I first used computers was use Paint to draw random things, write strange letters and print them on our awesomely noisy dot matrix B&W printer.
Then on the PC we got in 99 I got into playing games, things like Centipede, Battlezone and Blackjack came preinstalled and I got into C&C, Unreal Tournament, and so on.
Since then obviously I do a little more with computers, and I (hopefully) know just a tad more than I did back then.

[kaigun]

I'm gonna date myself here. I first used a computer in 1988. I was 27 years and in the Navy. The computer was a Zenith, I have no idea what the processor was. It booted up with a 5 1/4" floppy. Most of of my work at the time was using a word processing program called Peachtext.   

[Computer Hope Admin]

That's a great history of all your computers Calum and kaigun thanks for sharing your history as well. I actually supported Zenith computers (ZDS computers) in the past when they were merged into NEC. Although at the time I was supporting them we very rarely dealt with 5 1/4" computers.

I believe I was nine when I started first using a computer, which was an Atari ST. I primarily played games, programmed in BASIC, and chatted and shared files on BBS's.

[Jeronimo_Mc_Kinsley]

He he I'm not sure if it was asked or requested, but here'S my first time with computers:
The first time I used a P.C was as I was about 8-9 in Tanzania-Africa in school. We only played games on the computer I think...was fun.
We got our first P.C in 1999 and I was so exited as I put in the Michael Jackson CD : History, cuz I thought I was gonna c him sing and dance on the screen LOL...technology wasn't that far at that time I think. Well anyways we still have the P.C. It's a Compaq Presario sumthing with 200 MHz,40GB,32MB RAM,56k Modem,USB 1.0 x 1 and a horrible grafic-card just don't know which 1.

Now we've got 2 P.Cs and 2 Laptops. The first laptop is about 20 years old though...

[street1 (RIP)]

Okay my first was a Blazer<-----Odd manufacturer name.

It had 4MB ram and a 40MB hard drive. Windows 3.1 and
Dos 5.0.

It did not have a modem.I first went online in 1999 using
a free internet service called FreeInet.

I first posted on any forum in March 2005.The name was
computing.net.There I encountered my friend GX1_Man.

He mentioned Computerhope and I came here.

So, you people can blame him....

[PeckerWood]

I am not real folks............

[soybean]

I see we have to reveal our age here.    I was over 30 when I bought a Commodore 64; the 64 indicated the amount of memory, 64KB.  The first computer in a work environment was an IBM PC with only a 5.25 inch floppy drive,, no hard drive.  The software I first learned to use with it was LOTUS 1-2-3. 

[2k_dummy]

Univac and paper tape; need I say more?

[patio]

Univac and paper tape; need I say more?

Nope.          

[krone2800]

nYAHAAHhahah....

[patio]

I am not real folks............

Au Contraire' ! ! !

[rajkochi]

My first PC was a 486 / 4mb ram / 20mb hard disk / windows 3.1. 
It had a problem which then the engineer could not figure out... My PC used to hang whenever I start some applications .....  after several days.. the engineer found out the a module of memory was not working... so computer had no enough memory to run applications once win 3.1 was loaded.....  I lost a huge amount as memory was very costly at that time...(even the PC itself - I can buy 4 nos. of P4 for that money  today)

[boredom113]

Yeah....im only 15...so ive pretty much been using computers....forever...lol......

[Jonas Wauters]

I don't really know how old I was but it was somewhere between 4 - 8 years
Sow I went for the category 6-8 years.
My first  Internet connection was true Windows Messenger.
I started with developing my computer skills (next to just the basics) 6 months ago.
When I joined CH.
I started with a question and I stayed till now.
I've learned almost everything I know on CH.
And I'm really thankful to all you guys for teaching me everything I know(about PC' and correcting my English). And especially Nathan for starting this wonderful site and helping me out to.

Jonas

[Zylstra]

I was either 4 or 5 years old when I first used a computer, it was our house computer.

Our very first computer crashed at an early age, so I don't remember the specs at all. Our second computer, which worked much better (since it wasn't broken ) was an IBM Model 30, had 2MB of RAM, an unique keyboard (see below*), 80MB HDD, and Windows 3.1 for Workgroups on it. (I think it came from my brothers school)
See picture (not my picture, but almost exactly like it) http://mastodonpc.tripod.com/personal/images/8530-h31.jpg
Similar specs (not quite the same)
http://mastodonpc.tripod.com/personal/8530-h31.html
Edit: Mine isnt quite as new as the one linked to above


*
The keyboard looks EXACTLY like this one:
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/img/2007/04/ms_interview/ibm_kb.jpg
BUT, the IBM logo is on the right side, which is VERY hard to find in that model of computer (its also not a tilted logo, its just a silver square with IBM written in it)
(Similar to this logo: http://wotsit.thingy.com/haj/images/ibm-keyboard-1.jpg but on the right side)

[mavmin]

Technically, since I did keypunch work for a UNIVAC 1050-II in the USAF I guess I was maybe 19 or so but my first real work with a Word Processor and PC was not until I was 34.  Now I am getting close to retiring from an IT career at 56.  I'm come a long way baby from 8 in floppies to an 8 GB thumb drive.  DUDE!  I'm gittin' old!!!!

[Miramikhail]

I was 24  years old when I used computer first time in work .I do not remember the type I think it was NEC work with Dos and floppy disk 5.25 inch. I used  Louts 123 Ms word and a program called Mifes it was a Japanese program for data base
Then my home computer with windows 3.1and another with windows95 so on…
Now I am trying to learn Linux

[michaewlewis]

My dad bought a 80/88 IBM PC for his business when I was about six years old. It had a nice old green screen and two 5 1/2 floppy drives. No hard drive, you had to load MS-DOS 4.0 in one floppy drive to boot the computer and then another programs floppy in the other drive to do anything else.
I remember playing games on gwbasic like nibbles, pango, space invaders, and castle. Wow, those were the days. Oh, and Willy the Worm....

[patio]

Willy the Worm.....

[michaewlewis]

Willy the Worm.....

Did you ever play that game?

[patio]

Step Back in Time...

[michaewlewis]

Step Back in Time...

Thanks patio!!!

[cool.intelli.]

For the month of November we thought it would be interesting to see at what age you first started using a computer. You're also welcome to mention what you did when you first started using a computer, what type of computer you started on, etc.

All past monthly polls and results can be found on the Computer Hope poll page.

[dairyman]

The first computer I used was an IBM with Windows 98.

[Mutinda]

Hey, i used a computer way back in 2003. My friend was introducing me to yahoo mail and liked to hear the WWW.xxxxxx.com. I had such a great interest in computers that in 2005 i joined a college and studied a diploma in IT. In 2003 i could sit on a machine and access my yahoomail on my own. What annoyed me was the fact that there were 4 and 5 year old kids 10* better than me, while i was 21 , and the little knowledge about comps had gotten it from that friend of mine who taught me how to move the cursor with the mouse, and simple operations. I felt 

[boo]

lol, like boredom113, im only 16.
im quite proud to say that i had broadband b4 nearrly all my friends. thats the best i can come up with 
 started using computers very early on i think although we cudnt really afford stuff like that. we bought it anyway!!!

[michaeldadmum]

I first used a computer at about 4 year old and the PC was running Windows 3.1
I started to write programs when I was in form 2

[pascal7]

The first computer I ever used was a Commodore Vic 20 at age 11. I was very currious when I saw it in Kmart. So, for Christmas I asked for a Commodore 64 and that was 1984.

[bigfroglittlepond]

well, i was old (24), but the computer was an IBM 650 with 2k words of drum memory, card reader and punch, and offline accounting machine which could be made to print 80 character card images.  i was an undergraduate at Northwestern and had a job as operator at the comp center.  there was a 709 also which took up a huge ac'ed room, but i didn't use that.

[reubenwu]

Well, I was born 2 years after the WWW, and around 1995 I screwed around with a  486 with 8 mb RAM and a 500 MB hard drive, Windows 95, supposedly "Cutting edge for the time".

[cyborg3]

My first computer was a TI-99. A commodore 64 was an upgrade. The TI 99 was a 61 bit computer as I recall. Remember those annoying tapes.

[fillmore]

I started out on a mac back in elementary school for a typing class when I was 9.

[cliffnook2000]

Geezz...

Think it was 1980 when I first used a computer. A Tandy TRS-80. Back in the good old days when you needed to programme everything yourself in BASIC and spend hours saving to a cassette tape.

You know what...I still have that old Tandy, still in its original box with all instructions.

Must be a museum piece now...lol

Frank

[justice]

  Well when I started was with Compuadd Computer.  That was a 286 I also had a Tandi Shack Computer about that time. In college we were just entering into the 486 area just above the 386. This is when I started building computers my own. That when I discover the high price of parts.  Then I went to buying used equipment and redoing them. From there I work in a few Mom and Pop shops repairing computers.  Net working was starting to get real big when I finally drop out repair shops. I was going broke they were only paying just a .25 over minimum wage.  I not total burn out yet on computers they still tweak my interest   I still read a few magazines to keep abreast of things.  But I still behind times. Still running a 98 system on one computer and a Win Me on the other one.  Both of them got nail with this Malware crap.  I sure can remember when you only had virus to deal with.  This new stuff is increasingly getting worse.  For the life of me I cannot think what is going through these sick individuals minds.  And with all our technology why we can not discover who these designers of this stuff and a break their Knee caps!!!!!!!

[Richard FDisk]

I don't know if atari games count as using a "computer"
or if commodore 64 games count either

but I do remember using the "Apple 2e" with a decrepit tape recorder to store programs etc.
then we got a 5¼ floppy drive for it (Much faster than the tape deck)

used to type
Load "program name"
and it would go find it.

I did all my windows "Training" on a 386sx 66MHz w 8MB RAM 100MB HD and w3.1
it would take 20 minutes to do a search and replace on a fair sized document in WP5.1

I still use 486's & 3.1 for some stuff
and I think M$ should give the windows exploder a face lift with a rewritten w3.1"file manger"
much better and easier to use, anyone remember "F7 (move)" and "F8 (copy)"
and rename would do the whole batch of selected files not one at a time.
and F7 & F8 would give a dialog and you could send files anywhere including to "\ or .."
neither of which are supported now "bummer"

cheers

[Zylstra]

I still use 486's & 3.1 for some stuff
and I think M$ should give the windows exploder a face lift with a rewritten w3.1"file manger"
much better and easier to use, anyone remember "F7 (move)" and "F8 (copy)"
and rename would do the whole batch of selected files not one at a time.
and F7 & F8 would give a dialog and you could send files anywhere including to "\ or .."
neither of which are supported now "bummer"

cheers

You installed the Year 2000 update on that, right?

[Bones92]

I was 9, it was running DOS 6.0, it was a 386 and i taught myself qbasic. Now, i win awards for programming in visual basic 

good ol' DOS

[kuszmania9999]

reading all of this make me happy for you all because have tried many type of old model computers, i hope i were you
Should i buy the old computer then

[patio]

I still use 486's & 3.1 for some stuff
and I think M$ should give the windows exploder a face lift with a rewritten w3.1"file manger"
much better and easier to use, anyone remember "F7 (move)" and "F8 (copy)"
and rename would do the whole batch of selected files not one at a time.
and F7 & F8 would give a dialog and you could send files anywhere including to "\ or .."
neither of which are supported now "bummer"

cheers

Total Commander

About 1/2 way down the page...much better than Windows Exploder

 

[Zylstra]

I would still use my Windows 3.1 computer, however, the hard disk for it completely crashed.
(Then, for fun, I took the hard drive apart once I finally accepted that it was gone, applied battery power, and fried the program control board!)
Anyways, if I could get it to work again (if someone had one of those drives somewhere...) I would.

[adityanm]

The first computer I used was IBM 1402 in 1968. I had to use punch cards and
any mispunch took one more day to debug.

[Zylstra]

The first computer I used was IBM 1402 in 1968. I had to use punch cards and
any mispunch took one more day to debug.

What sort of operation was the computer used for? And was it one single computer, a (what we might call present day) "network" of computers, or more than one individual computers?

[dairyman]

About 1/2 way down the page...much better than Windows Exploder

 

Geez, is Microsoft really that bad?
I suppose it is:



Too bad I have to use Monoposoft Idiot Exploiter.

[hardradio]

Would have been '86 or so I think.. Apple II, Coleco Adam, Com 64....  I think I still have em in the attic at Mom's house.   PC's were crap then.  '89 I think I used my first PC as a college freshman, although I preferred the word processor of the ADAM.

I also actually still have in the box the very first home gaming system released - pong made by atari distributed by sears.  As you fire up your PS 3 and your 360 tonight, say a bit of thanks please

D.

[close9us]

  I kick start with an old model IBM computerr.it has been there before me when i was 8 yrs old. I was the last user. I still hold to some of the parts:  4mb Hard disk and a cover.

[ariadne]

Univac and paper tape; need I say more?

Well, that makes me feel slightly less ancient <grin>

When I first used a computer (so long ago it feels like a previous incarnation) you fed in punched cards and I had to wait a whole week to get my job back (on that paper tape stuff wiv holes punched in it.)

Too bad if you made any coding errors....

Then I got to play with a Linc-PDP8, which only took up one side of a small room...we played lunar landings on it (that was the year of the first manned Moon landing)

Unfortunately I got sidetracked not long after that, but started using computers again in 1998...since when they have been steadily taking over my life...

:D

[patio]

Unfortunately I got sidetracked not long after that, but started using computers again in 1998...since when they have been steadily taking over my life...

Resistance is futile...
Seven of Nine.

[YoKenny]

My first exposure to computers was back in university when I had to write a FORTRAN program to analyze some statistics that where provided by the teacher.

It  had to be documented then the code transfered to 80 column punch cards then submitted through a glass framed window then we had to wait overnight to receive the output in a communal drop box.

It was quite fun at the time.

I graduated and was hired by IBM Canada in May '67 and worked for them for 31 years and had many great experiences meeting many people from around the world and savoring many different foods.

My first exposure to Personal Computers ( PC ) was back when IBM introduced their PC back in '82 because I was in the Canadian Hardware Support center where we had to provide support to the field service personnel to help them fix problems with them if they arose for their customers.

I became involved in the telecommunications area of PC communications as my background in large host based telecommunications helped.

We started out with 300 BAUD http://www.syssrc.com/html/museum/html/modem_noakes300.html
modems but were pleasently surprised when 1200BPS modems came out.

[vkpmany]

For the month of November we thought it would be interesting to see at what age you first started using a computer. You're also welcome to mention what you did when you first started using a computer, what type of computer you started on, etc.

All past monthly polls and results can be found on the Computer Hope poll page.

Hai everybody
Though i m aware of the computers and its usage.. i got an opportunity to work only
during my 30th age.. At that time, P 286 machine  with DOS hardly the computer hard disk had a capacity of working with 1 GB..  [I remember even it is lesser than that]. When i started learning computer we were learning through LAN based activity with mostly C, DBase III, at times FOXPRO, Lotus 123, etc.. Many were using COBOL. Some stray people using Pascal..This is Many from Chennai of India.   

[Peccavi]

Windows 3.1 was my first experience at 12.

[Zylstra]

I honestly figured that a majority of people my age would have used a computer around the same time I did...

[JRMPS]

 

haha yo, i remember my first computer was an apple performa, before we used the tandy one's. i was about 10 to 11.

[DKsupern00b]

I started when Windows 2000 was released.

[Alex_Computer]

Under 5... T'was a Macintosh SE which I still have... Even though I have a 5ghz 2.5 GB RAM desktop.

And now I'm 13! The biggest computer geek you'll see walking down the street at 13...

[patio]

Where did you get a 5Ghz CPU ? ?
Do you work for Cray Research ? ?

[Zylstra]

Where did you get a 5Ghz CPU ? ?
Do you work for Cray Research ? ?

The Cray went that fast? I thought it had gotten to about 200MHz before they kind of... stopped creating Cray computers..

[dairyman]

Under 5... T'was a Macintosh SE which I still have... Even though I have a 5ghz 2.5 GB RAM desktop.

5GHz Processor? 
Now that's fast.

[patio]

Where did you get a 5Ghz CPU ? ?
Do you work for Cray Research ? ?

The Cray went that fast? I thought it had gotten to about 200MHz before they kind of... stopped creating Cray computers..

Cray

Still some of the baddest machines around...if you can afford them.

[Zylstra]

Under 5... T'was a Macintosh SE which I still have... Even though I have a 5ghz 2.5 GB RAM desktop.

5GHz Processor? 
Now that's fast.

Something tells me he meant MHz

Where did you get a 5Ghz CPU ? ?
Do you work for Cray Research ? ?

The Cray went that fast? I thought it had gotten to about 200MHz before they kind of... stopped creating Cray computers..

Cray

Still some of the baddest machines around...if you can afford them.

Checking it out now, interesting
(btw: check your PM's...)

[lemhof]

21 on a univac and card punch/reader - programmed in Fortran.

[mafia_boy]

I was the 1st person in my area to have a Sinclair ZX Spectrum, cant remember the exact date but it was early 80s for sure, all my mates were well impressed @ the time!! makes me laugh when i think back to those days of the 1st home systems!rotfl, it has come a long way since then, I'm 38 now and have stuck with computers ever since!  its been great watching the technology grow and grow over the years and am very excited  about the future of computer tech!

[Gordon]

First computer?  Texas Instrument TI99-4A, or something like that.  Next was Commodor 64.  Only did gaming, could not grasp Dos too well.

[stuge]

I was 15 when I got PC and after then I started using ti

[Zylstra]

It is now December.

[Computer Hope Admin]

It sure is. Seems like at the end of each month the work seems to pile up and I get overwhelmed. However, I'd like to thank everyone who made comments on this poll and more comments are more than welcome. I thoroughly enjoyed reading each of the comments this month. Found it interesting. 

December poll is posted.

[quaxo]

My first computer was 17 years ago... it was a 286 with 1MB ram, 40MB hard drive and a Trident video card. Man that thing was cool back then. First thing I did when I got home was rip the thing apart to see how it worked. Then when I got the new 386 with 4MB ram and 80MB hard drive, I remember how envious my friends were... 

Man, how things have changed. My HP iPAQ is more powerful than my first computer. 

[bookworm1802]

I was in the Air Force, serving overseas. It was in 1994. Man, things have moved quickly!!

[patio]

Something tells me he meant MHz

On that note where would one get a 5Mhz processor ? ?

[Zylstra]

Something tells me he meant MHz

On that note where would one get a 5Mhz processor ? ?

I dont see why it would be impossible... might be intergraded into a motherboard though.

[michaewlewis]

Something tells me he meant MHz

On that note where would one get a 5Mhz processor ? ?

something tells me he was adding the two cores together on his dual core cpu. 2.5GHz x 2 = 5GHz

[patio]

I just asked a simple question....we may never know.

[Frankie0566]

Oh man I'm old!!!  I'm only 41 years old, but been around computers looong time!

The first computer I used was an Apple IIe when I started college back in Jan, 1985.
it was 64KB of memory, with only dual 5.25 inch floppy drives,, no hard drive.  Running BASIC (Beginner's All Symbolic Instructional Code) The software I first learned to use with it was Apple Works and some Basic Programing language in the Computer Literacy class that landed me as the Computer Lab Assistant through work-study program. It has rained a lot since!
I also remember using a Commodore 64 and a 12inch B&W TV as the monitor back in the days of the Atari 2600s a Machintoch (little cube looking one) and a Radio Shack TRS-80.
The next was an Hewlet-Packard 486 running Windows 3.11 for Workgroups. I still have a copy of Windows 3.11 for Workgroups in the original box still ShrinkWrapped.
How you like me now?

[Computer Hope Admin]

Great history with computers Frankie and you're definitely among friends.