My first computer was an Apple IIc. Yes, I'm a geek too.

sounds great so far! and i love the Stand By Me references.

First "computer" i ever had was a commodore 64, with those manky green-only coloured monitors, it was about the time that the super mario was coming out on the NES so it was pretty cool at the time. (god i sound old saying that. The commodore was sooo slow cos any game or program u bought had to be loaded up via tape/cassette and it took forever) Anyways i got this game called "paperboy" and always failed at a certain level. Got a cheat of a magazine (by cheat it meant literally typing out about 4 "a4" pages worth of stuff onto the comodore before loading the game up. the worst thing was it only worked once and then u had to retype the whole thing next time u played.... I beat the game though with the cheat!! (hey i was bout 6-7 so gimme a break!)

"My first computer was an Apple IIc. Yes, I'm a geek too.

Posted by Keith Coogan at January 11, 2005 01:32 PM"

um, is this post from Keith Coogan, the actor?
If so, I enjoy your work...

Interesting though - I have no idea about macs other than the ones we used to have in school (1986) where you could program it to do simple math calculations.

Are macs better than PCs? Or just more preferred by supercomputer users?

Thanks

Casey
Orlando,FL

Ahh "Byte" magazine. I believe I copied a game out of there in Basic for my old Vic20 that I purchased at a garage sale.

Heh, the thing I love the most about reading people's stories about computers back in the 80s and 90s is the specs. My first computer had a whopping _one_ whole megabyte of RAM. It was a 386 from Packard Bell...and somehow I now have a job working with computers. (That Packard Bell was the worst computer I've ever encountered; hardware failure all over the place.)

The thing that really hit me about how computing has advanced is when I heard about an 8GB USB key. My parents' computer, bought in the summer of 1999 from Gateway, has a *6* GB hard drive. Oh, how times have changed.

My first computer was a TI 99/4a. I still remember playing "hunt the wumpus" on a 14 inch black and white tv. I also remember spending hours writing a basic program that was, essentially, a ball bouncing around the screen.

When I was in college, my boyfriend had a very lucrative job processing computer punch cards. And later, I had a temp job doing data input on a TRASH-80. Aaack, does this date me?

Later I was a UNIX snob, doing time in the wonderful world of man pages. Grep, grep, grep...

Ever see the film Office Space? It's such a classic; I can so relate...

Hey Wil, I wanted to let you know that you've inspired me to start my own blog. You can find it at:

http://heartmybeat.blogspot.com/

...and I do give you credit in my first post ;-)

I hope the weather is warmer and drier for you later this week here in the Bay Area. (But truthfully....fat chance of that...so bring a raincoat or at least an umbrella!)

Sounds like you're in the "writing zone" now, Wil. Keep going while you're ahead...

For the record, however, you could do much more on a TI-99/4A than play games! It was programmable in BASIC and Assembler and eventually in Small C using a compiler my father ported. I guess you won't be getting that invitation for Texas Instrument's keynote address ;)

My cool uncle had an Apple and my cool friends had C64's but that TI was my introduction into programming. While it was a strange processor I had a good chuckle while doing work for my M.Sc. on Texas Instruments DSPs for cell phones. Those chips are the successor to the 9900 so twenty years after working on that home computer it was actually useful for me to know about TI's funky use of workspaces instead of registers.

Harry

I don't know a whole lot about Macs
though I remember them from when I was a child and we had them in school. I wish I could come to this event,I really enjoyed reading what you are going present at the event. (I really need to take a trip to CA one of these days,lol).

I remember playing around with macs in 1983 while I was in a halfway house. It seems the local school districts all had macs and the teachers that came to help us bone up on our reading, writing and math skills were able to secure about 4 or 5 of them for the halfway house.

They were pretty damn nice, too.

Gee, your friend Kevin's Apple ][ kinda sucked...
I had an Apple ][+ then e, and it was hooked up to a TV, until we eventually got a green and black monitor, and the first game I ever had on it was Gobbler, which was a Pac Man clone.
:-)

And now there's the MAC MINI!

My God! You had a 99/4A, too, Wil? Rock!

My TI was my constant companion through high school...I had the P-Box, the disk drive, the memory expansion, Extended BASIC, all that stuff. I not only played games on it, I wrote some decent games for it. I left it behind when I went to college, though, and the next computer I got was an XT clone about three years later.

I don't know what became of that old TI, but, one day, if I have the money, I might try to find the parts to put one together like I used to have. Or just run an emulator on my Linux box...

One of the wonderful things about your writing, Wil, is that even though there are some stories (like today's about discovering the world of Mac) to which I can't relate through my own experience, I still have a terrific time reading them. My husband, seated at the computer next to mine, asks what I'm laughing at and I just have to say you have to read it for yourself. Those lucky folks who get to attend your talk and the reading/signing.

My uncle had a Heathkit computer that he put together that used a casette (you know that format of music that's gone the way of the 8-track?) drive. Talk about clunky! The only game he had for it was a moon lander simulation. I still think about that when I have hardware problems...
I remember getting the first Mac lab in high school - all those dull beige cased ][c's! Snakebyte ruled.

hey wil,

good luck with the reading etc, its wicked good so far! i wish i could be there to see/hear the rest of it! i'll just have to wait for the web link i guess!

take care,
"long days and pleasant nights"
rach

My first computer was an Apple IIc with 128k of RAM. Yes K not MB! We got it as a christmast present from our mom when we were kids. It was the christmas of my 8th grade year. We LOVED that computer! (You should have seen me trying to talk mom into a 10 MB hard drive for that computer...it was almost as expensive as the computer itself and she said, "No, the floppy drive will be good enough.") My best friend and I programmed all kinds of goofy stuff on it.

Ahhh, those were the days.

That same friend and I will both be there Friday night to hear you read, and we are very much looking forward to it! Thanks again for taking time out to do this on a Friday night!

Hey Wil,

That sounds like it will be a very entertaining speech. :) Good Job! I hope the kids lunches got made after all that thinking? (HaHaHa)I love the Stand By Me beginning, and the story about your Dad. Typical kid stuff, the audiance will giggle to themselves in amusement and nostalgia, and will relate totally.

I have been inspired by you to write again, and below I am going to put my blog addy and I would love you to keep up with it and maybe make a comment if you have time! I only have one entry so far as I created it today but I will post daily and will have some of my writing and stories up soon. Leave a commmet, I would love to see that you are reading it and what you think of my stories.

Oh, I forgot my blog addy so you can visit mine

http://quinceycg.blogspot.com/

I remember MacWorld that year. I was lucky enough to be near end the line for autographs at the Qume booth. I had a horrible crush on you, and we spent several minutes geeking out about Macs and how much we loved them. I'd always been a big fan of "Wesley" - but it was that day that I truly learned who Wil was, and I've remained one of your biggest fans ever since. Thank you for WWDN, and for showing us that celebrities can live their lives with a high level of integrity.

To Casey C in Orlando...

Yep, that's Keith Coogan. He and Wil did "Toy Soldiers" together.

I liked Keith in Hiding Out the best. He was great! Adventures in Babysitting, next. [Although, Elizabeth Shue is the main reason why I like Adv/Babysitting. No offense, Keith!]

Ahhh.. the good old days of the Mac Classic and IIcx. I'm sitting here writing this entry on my 17" Powerbook using VPC (heh don't ask.. work makes me) reveling in the fact that Wil seems to be another die-hard Mac user. After spending many an hour reading entry after entry here, and listening last night to the NPR interview, I went out this morning and bought a copy of Just a Geek to read on the flight back to Dallas. I'm in SF right now for Macworld but unfortunately won't get to see Wil since I fly back tonight. Have fun on Thursday Wil, and I'm sure you'll do fine. From everything I've seen and heard from you, the participants are in for a real treat!

Jeff

Hmm, everyone else feels old since they know what you're talking about. I feel unsufferable young because I haven't the faintest clue! Ha.
But I envy those who'll get to hear your entire story, sounds funny! Have a great time, Wil!

Every time you say "Union Square" I get excited and think you mean NYC. And then I remember, and feel like somehow the center of my universe is on the wrong coast. Tonight in this sleet and rain, the city's a flood.

I hope you enjoy your MacWorld presentation. Your audience certainly will.

Wow, your story about the Apple Computer takes me back in time as when I was in my twenties I had an Apple IIe as my first computer. A friend of mine started a fantastic business back in the mid eighties and he claims he owes much of his success to MacIntosh.

Last summer, I saw an apple IIe displayed in a glass case at a local jr. college here in the Bay Area (part of some exhibition documenting computer evolution). I squealed to my mom, "Look mom, it's our computer!" (At the time, that computer of ours had just been donated to the local Goodwill where they probably just scratched their heads upon receiving it.) Yep, back in the day, we were the only ones in the neighborhood w/ a COLOR monitor hooked up to our apple IIe... Ooohhhh... ;) Enjoyed your preview, thanks for sharing. -t

Sounds awesome so far, Wil! I'm very excited to hear you speak. (I'm your online groupie...I virtually flock to every one of your interviews.) Please do come and visit us again in Portland, OR...pretty please?

i worked with computers at the various radio stations i've been employed at long before i actually owned one...i played a video game on a computer for the first time on a trs-80...the game was space lander...you had to calculate the angle of descent, speed, and fuel consumption of your ship in order to land safely on the moon...i don't know how many times i crashed my ship into the moon before i finally got it to land safely...but there was much joy when i finally did.

! dude ! I had a spectrum. Anyone remember them? the cute squidgy grey buttons, half an hour load times for the worst games ever? Though to be fair I was born in 1984, so I hate to think how long they took to load back then. Keep up the good work. In a fit of foolishness I just decided to buy your books from amazon. Even though I am overdrawn. They had better be good!
John

Ah yes the early Macs.
I never had the luxury of owning any sort of computer in the early days, but my first experience with an Apple was the Lisa!

http://oldcomputers.net/lisa.html

I used one of these incredible machines for all sorts of things, especially graphics at my work... I must admit at times it was more play than work!!

But compared to any other "personal" computer around at the time, it was amazing.

Eventually the Macs took over, for me to some extent, the Lisa had a greater variety of software tools than the early Macs, but still compared to any other pc at the time it was a neat tool.... and toy!!

Unfortunately, I never persued a Mac ownership, ending up going down the pc route.... (mea culpa)!

Wil, thankyou for your wonderful recollection of the impact that meeting Mac made to you.
Again, your landscape of words helps us all to enter your world and relive a part of it and our own as well.

All the best at Macworld and keep on writing about all the joys of life.

Great hommage to Mr. King in your "first time I saw a Macintosh" spiel, Wil. I'm still snickering.

I really feel old. I remember walking across campus in college balling my eyes out because my roommate had dropped my punch cards and they were all out of order...

>

Pook

I'm a late comer to the world of personal computers. However I do remember in the eighties, it seemed every computer I encountered in school was an Apple.

I know most viruses get written for pc windows, but I wonder what other advantages a Mac has. Are they simillar to pc/windows at all?

"Have you thought about selling cars?" Comedy gold. Now we know where you get it, Wil.

First computer I ever used was a Commodore PET in elementary school. First computer my family ever owned was a Commodore 64. My Commodore 128 lasted me all the way through high school and college, and finally died right before I started teaching. For some reason, I went to a Mac rather than an Amiga. Then the Mac died, and I turned to the dark side. But I've used both Windows and Mac machines at various jobs since; I'm biboxal.

Did you really say "Pish" ?

Not to worry you will have them from the beginning. I have used computers since 1981. I am a librarian and we used acoustic couplers to connect a phone (the old kind with a base and the part you held in your hand)to the databases we used. And you had to go to special classes to learn the "secret" language you needed to communicate with the database.
How did we all live in the before times?!

Wil,

Loved your story. It flowed so smoothly. Your parents have a great sense of humor and you have inherited it. Keep up the good work.

Freeman :)

Okay, I gotta share my apple story too. My dad was an early computer fanatic, and he insisted on buying me an apple ][e for my college papers. I found it incredibly intimidating. I was so afraid I would crash it by hitting one wrong button. That's why I was so proud of writing my first paper on it, and the morning it was due, I excitedly hit the "print" button. This was my first paper AND my first lesson in the importance of having enough printer ribbon on hand. (Remember printer ribbon instead of ink cartridges? Why hasn't the nightmare changed with the technology?) Anyway, I had to quickly hand write the paper off the computer screen, and I got a lousy grade on it. This was my first lesson in how a computer affects your writing style. Soon after this, my sister-in-law commandeered the ][e for the nephews. I didn't get another personal computer until 1999.

Wil, the memories you evoke!!

So no one's mentioned the Atari ST line. 520ST here, hooked up to a TV. But it had mostly standard ports, 512K of RAM, and a single sided 3.5 in floppy. Beat the heck out of the Mac pricewise and it had a GORGEOUS color monitor or black and white monochrome that was also very nice. It was my THIRD computer behind the '99 and '64. Lot of PC for the money, good games, useful, etc. What was the name of that $40/mo service you could dial into then back out of to various area codes? Connect PC, PC connect, can't remember...Daddy, what's a BBS?

For the record, I had an Apple][+ when that came out. It could be hooked up to a TV (although we had a dedicated monitor for it) and I did have PacMan for it (and lots of other games). It also had an AppleCat 300 baud modem (later supplemented with the huge 1200 baud expansion board).

And then we got an Apple ][GS. It was a lot better than the Mac. It had a color monitor, mouse, hard drive, lots of programs, better quality sound board, etc. And then Apple dumped it like a $3 hooker and stopped supporting it so they could concentrate on the Mac. And that's the story of why I've never had a Mac. My dad was so pissed that he refused to ever let Apple see another nickel of his money after they stopped supporting (and encouraged vendors to stop supporting) the brand new computer he had just bought.

I do remember 80's computers, probably not as well as Wil, as I was born in 1978, but I do remember. My first computer was an Apple IIc. Back in high school, a year or so after we sold the IIc, my dad threw away all my old disks for it, including the Applesoft Basic disks with my programs from computer camp, all 3 Zork games, and a whole slew of other stuff. He said it was worthless because we didn't have a system to run them on. Sniff, sniff. Now I have one that I got for free. It would be cool if I still had the disks so that I could fire up my old stuff and reminisce.
If anyone is interested in the history of the various models offered by Apple, check out the site: http://www.apple-history.com
It has info and tech specs on all the computers Apple has made. Its pretty cool.
Best of luck Wil on your speech on Thursday. :)
Curt

my first computer is a dell latitude d600 this is my first very own but then again im only 14

Your blog is always an entertaining read, and since you update it so often a WB link to it sits prominently in my Firefox browser. Thank you for sharing your thoughts so purposefully.

Thank you.

Your blog is always an entertaining read, and since you update it so often a WB link to it sits prominently in my Firefox browser. Thank you for sharing your thoughts so purposefully.

Thank you.

Here's a mention of you:
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/6181

Wil,

Thanks for the preview. Loved it! Wish I could make it out to Macworld to hear it in person. Today's keynote must have been something live. I'll bet you got to see his Steveness in person. Ah, two of my heros in the same room. Don't know what I'd do!

My first computer was a Colecovision Adam, complete with Basic compiler, but my brother mostly played games on it. The first computer I bought was a crappy 386. Next came my love affair with the Mac.

And I haven't looked back since. It's nice to use a computer that actually does what you want it to do, with minimal standing on your head.

Best of Luck on Thursday!

My first computer was a TI 99/4A - my parents got it for free as a promo when they recarpeted the house. We had it hooked up in the basement to the Sears 13" color TV. I spent many an afternoon copying Basic programs from phone book-sized manuals, just to see a blocky little man "dance" around the screen.

Later in junior high, I bought a Commodore 64 from a local doctor's son who was upgrading to an Amiga. Some friends and I used to swap programs all the time. In high school, I saw my first Mac in person, a Mac Classic owned by the (wealthy) stepfather of one of my friends. Another friend's family bought a 386 when they first came out (I think it was to the tune of $3K or so) and if we were really lucky, we got to play a game on it every so often...

It's wierd how things like this just seem to come out of thin air when we least expect them to.

I had organized the annual "Transgender Day of Rememberance" memorial here in Indy. When my main speaker fell through, it was up to me to fill the gap. I stressed and stressed and stressed about it... but nothing came. The night before the vigil I woke up at 2am and the memorial speech came gushing out. I couldn't even type fast enough.

Weird how those thinks work, eh?

I wish i was you.

Hey there Wil,

Are you still doing a book signing at Macworld on Thursday? If so, is it happening just after your presentation?

Thanks in advance

The very first computer I ever used was an Atari 800 that my cousin owned. We used to sit hunched over that thing for hours typing in machine language programs. I vaguely remember working on one that was supposed to be a horseracing game, but we never got it to work. As soon as I graduated High School in 1983, I let him talk me into buying the latest system out - the 800XL. I even got an external hard drive for the thing. Big mistake, as Atari never supported the machine and they had a new one out less than a year after I bought it. The XL came with a basic database that I filled trying to catalog all my books. It got relegated to the top of my closet and I think I finally got rid of it a few years ago.

Only one mention of Atari above, and the "newer" ST at that! My first computer was an Atari 800 XL. I hooked mine up to a green monochrome monitor because my parents didn't want me sitting too close to the TV. I guess they read somewhere that computer monitors were not bad for you like TV was.

I also remember those insane cassette tape drives. One rainy day I spent 4 hours typing in lines of game code from BYTE magazine, then "saving" it to the tape. My mom made me lunch, and when I came back to reap the rewards of my labor I discovered that the program (we didn't call them applications back then) hadn't been saved!

My mom went berserk on my behalf. I just shrugged and started typing again. 20 years later she still recalls that story.

Love your blog Wil!

Nice one ! My first computer was a sinclair zx81. I learned my first basic programming on that one. It had 2 KB ram and later i bought a 16 KB ram-pack for it. Later on i bought a zx spectrum. I still have it as a gadget on my desk at the office where i work. The responses i get from co-workers are hillairious :)

Ah macs. They rock. I've loved them ever since I switched from my Atari 800 xl to an Apple IIe in the early eighties. I had to wait for my first Mac until college (couldn't afford one until then), but I've loved them even in my ten-year haitus into pc land. I most recently rejoined the ranks with my new powerbook and 10.3. Apple has revitalized themselves once again. I trust you caught Steve's keynote today. I wasn't there for it, but i got it over webcast, as I'll most likely have to get yours as well. T'is a shame, but work won't spring for the conference. I'll be walking the floor on a day-pass Wednesday, so maybe I'll run into you. I'll be going to the borders gig too -- try not to geek out on you too much. I always love seeing you at signings or events, exchanging a few friendly words. It's nice to see that one of us 'geeks' has found a really awesome gig and is noteworthy enough to be asked to give a keynote at Macworld... just because you're you and you do what you do. Good job, bro!

My first computer was a Sinclair Spectrum 48k, one of the original rubber mat keyboard ones. I remember the keyboard membrane never recovering from Daly Thomson's Decathlon.
I then progressed to a Spectrum Plus (plastic keyboard, same membrane technology underneath). Actually I still have that one languishing in my garage - minus a few keys.
We used to have a weekly magazine in the UK around this time called 'Input' which had source code you could program into your Spectrum/Dragon-Tandy/Commodore Vic.

I was at that Macworld show (or maybe it was 1989), wandering through the booths. "Hey, there's Wil Wheaton".

You and your friend had a telnet session open and were trying to hack into one of the companys' networks (unsuccessfully, it appeared). :-)

I broke my first computer before i could walk, but i was too young to remember what it was.

Penny in the fan slot does it every time!

Congrats on learning the value of an "Apple" early. ^_^

Good luck tomorrow! We'll be looking forward to the webcasts!

OH, and i thought you meant Union Square NYC.... We'd love to have you over!!

~Marj ^_~

My first computer was an Apple ][e, the ones they had at school in the library. The programs they had were ones that taught us how to type and solve math problems quickly, lest the saucers with the answers on them reach the ground first and blow up. I shunned video games for a long time because I was traumatized by the beeping sound the computer made every time I wasn't fast enough and a saucer blew up.

But if there was one game I loved, it was this educational series of games that typically came on two floppies. There were a couple different kinds of games in each edition, but the biggest one was an RPG-ish "Choose Your Own Adventure" kind of game. They were most often history based and the one I remember the most was about the American Revolution. You were some random colonial who had to help do the whole tea party thing and the whole Paul Revere's ride thing. One thing I remember was looking at a map and trying to figure out how far it was between two points "as the crow flies". When you're in the first grade, you don't come across that term often and I kept getting it wrong.

Does anyone here have any idea of what the name of that series of games is?

Awesome story, thanks for sharing :o)

Being the middle child, most of the electronics negotiations were done by my older brothers... and I thankfully got to reap the rewards of their persistance.
The first computer I have real recollection of (aside from a commodore terminal we had at one point and an apple IIe I played lemonade stand on...) Was a mac "classic" that my dad borrowed from work to use at home. The first papers I ever typed for school were done on that thing. A few years later when it was time to actually buy a dedicated family computer, we went and got an Apple IIci. Wow, were we the coolest. It had a COLOR screen, and could play so many more cool games.
I remember learning how to assign little GIFs as icons for folders, and proudly put a pixelated captain picard as my own folder on there.
My brothers convinced my dad to 'upgrade' this thing so many times... we were one of the first families I knew that had an external drive that could play CDs that had GAMES on them (myst was our first cd based game...) an external hard drive (because we typed so many papers for school... really... ;o) a scanner, and an external modem that my parents forever regretted buying. *LOL*

A couple years ago, I dug this thing out of my parents basement, and shipped it to NY. Yeah, shipping probably cost more than its worth, unless you try and price the nostalgia factor. It actually still works, and I could even get online with it if I were very patient....
Maybe I'll just hold onto it for another 10-15 years, and when I have kids, they can hook the thing up and laugh at the pixelated picard proudly emblazoned on a 'katrina' folder holding a half dozen book reports from the 80s. Like a digital time capsule.

Any word of an audio or video webcast or stream available after the show?

Now I have to tell my old Mac/old pc story. Wil, see what you made me do ;)
I used the Trash 80 in Jr high and I remember geeking when someone brought the speaker and the software to make it "Speak." Being young and male, We made it curse, but it was programmed to bleep on a Curse.
I also went to computer camp where I learned more about Basic and Pascale. The pascale software made a turtle move around the screen. Does anyone else remember that software? I wanted it so bad after my parents purchased my very own IIc, but the pascale software was too expensive and I never got it.
I also remember Byte magazine with those really long programs you could copy to the IIc. I used to hate all those pages of data.

People say that alcoholics remember their first drink, so what does it say about those of us who remember our first brush with an Apple computer? My parents worked for IBM and Digital and I still managed to be a child of the Apple. Hearing your story strikes such a familiar chord for me. I remember, fondly, my first Apple IIe and subsequent introduction to the Mac Classic. It's been an endless love affair since. :)
~marnie

Turtle graphics in programming? I thought that was LOGO.

Harry

I hope you have a great time at MacWorld. I love the prelim. I live in the Bay Area and I'm so sorry I won't be able to be at the book signing. But I have read both of the books and I LOVE THEM!!! The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend. Have a great time will!! They're gonna love you !!

Harry Pulley - your father is Clint Pulley?! He's like a worshipped demi-god in 99er circles :)

Hey Jesse,

Yes, Clint Pulley is my father. His Geneve (successor to the TI-99/4A) was finally retired a few years ago though it hadn't seen much use for some time... A bit slow by today's standards ;)

Another bit about LOGO: originally it was developed by MIT with Texas Instruments and the TI-99/4A and the Apple II were the two original supported hardware platforms. Terrapin Software licensed the original Apple II version and still upgrades and sells it today.

Harry

Wil, I'm so excited to attend. I got very lucky this year and my consulting gig bought me a MacWorld Users pass. I didn't tell them, but the best part is that I get to go hear you speak tomorrow! I can't wait, as I've been a long time WWDN lurker, this is my first chance to hear you speak. I might make it to Borders too, depends on work. :-D

Your preview is wonderful!! Makes me wish I could attend!! Best of luck, Wil.

Have read both of your books and enjoy your blog immensely!! You are a wonderful storyteller.

M.

WOW
wonderful - hopefully you can post all of it soon.

I remeber the early mac but didn't get one till the performa series :)

Now my boyfriend works for apple :)
Unfortunaly I haven't been to a macworld yet but oneday soon I hope to go...
Maybe when we move to California :)

I just wanted to say that in my book Thriller is still cool :)

But then again so is most 80's music :D

Does he need someone to take that Geneve off his hands? :)

I was laughing so hard after I read the first line of your presentation I had to come back five minutes later to read the rest of it. :-)

If the excerpt is indicative of the rest of the talk then I think it will go very well.

Oh man, I got my first computer about the same time(C-64). I remember taking a day or two just to type in some of those games from "Compute!" and "Byte". Seemed like the best ones were always written in assembly code and a real pain in the ass to type in. I also remember getting really excited when my school got in the Apple IIgs "Woz" editions in.

'Pish'?

Awesome recollection Will, you have captured the magic of experiencing technology. The splash of 256 wonderful, amazing, enthralling colors. You were way richer than me though, all I could afford was a Timex Sinclair that used a tape recorder to store data files...I never could get that to work right.*sigh* Thanks for the memories.

My dad worked in DEC's (Digital Equipment Corp) software division in the early 80's, but our first home unit was the TRS-80 with the vaunted cassette drive, ugh! Later we had a couple of DEC machines including the Rainbow. I started with Mac's in college (the early 90's) and now I own 3, an Imac desktop and two g4 laptops...back when I started that probably would have been enough power to run NASA.

Hi Harry,
Thanks for the info on the Turtle/LOGO. I did some research and it is the same thing I worked on in Computer Camp. That Turtle brings back so many memories. Who would've thought I could get a job in computers back then.
I do remember those text RPG like games, but I do not remember any titles.
Thriller does rock.

Thanks,
Chris

Believe it or not, my first computer wasn't until the summer of 2000. Windows Millineum. And I still have it! I came from a poorish family too, eating out was always an event. I plan to buy a brand new computer sometime before summer.

HAha, that's awesome! I remember when "the mouse" came into existence. It was this beautiful, strange, slightly scary concept. My grandma tried to use the mouse as a "pedal" when I set up her computer. I had to tell her "Grandma, this isn't a sewing machine, this is a computer and you're stepping on the mouse."

This really *really* confused her at first, but she eventually got the hang of it. :)

You'll do great, Wil! Break A Leg!

Ah, the stories of first computers! I saved my ice cream money for a year to purchase a Vic 20! Never worked right, but I owned a computer. After that came the Atari 65 XE (or was it XL), then an IBM PS2-25. (Ah the joys of 2 3.5 floppies, no hard drive, and running Fortran and CAD programs on a boat anchor! The best thing I can say for that expensive machine is that it was unbreakable. I tried throwing it on to my loft bed in college only to have it miss and crash onto the FRAME of the bed below. It survived with only a slightly bent piece of sheet metal!) After that, well, computers became more affordable, with more 'stuff'. Now if only I could keep up with all of it!

Oh my, what a memory jogger! My first computer was an Atari 800 with a full 64K memory and a cassette deck for backup. I think that cost me about £600 in 1984. Before too long I added a (really) floppy disc drive which held I think about 140KB, and I bought a "disc doubler" which cut a notch on the side of the floppy so you could record on the uncertificated side if you wanted to risk it!

By the end of the 80s, I'd traded up to an Atari 520ST, but was still using the TV to watch the output until one day I bought a high-res black and white monitor at an Atari show in London -- I had to carry it on the train back into the city centre, on the Underground between stations, and on a 160 mile train ride home -- my arms weren't half sore that night! I splashed out on my first modem and a 10 MB (gasp!) hard drive at the beginning of 1994, and started my online career. What a pity there were no bulletin boards in my local call area! That year I went to the World SF Convention in Winnipeg (my first visit to your side of the pond), and there was a panel on the Internet, and one of the questions the audience was asked was "how much do you pay to access the net?". They started with a fairly low cost and people put their hands down as the cost went up... I was the last person to put my hand down as my quarterly phone bill was the equivalent of over Cdn.$700 ! You should have heard the gasps of horror and sympathy :)

Fortunately the Internet developed in this country and by the following year I could access it at nearly-local rates using a 75 MHz Pentium with a 640MB hard drive.

Y'know, remembering all these ancient machine specs brings to mind the Monty Python punchline: "If you tell this to the children of today, they won't believe you!".

Writing you from a PowerBook G4, Titanium, 2001 edition. My first computer was a Commodore 64 at school. I learned how to write my name in flashing letters in Basic. The experience left me so traumatized that many years later, in graduate school, I chose to write my thesis in long hand and type it up on an electric typewriter. Soon after that, I was hired by a crazy woman who was brave enough to tell me, learn how to use these and I'll give you a raise. ::trumpet fanfare::

The computer I learned on was a PowerMac 5200. I was hooked. Jump to tonight, I look around my work area and I have the aforementioned Titanium, the iPod hooked up to the stereo and an old PowerBook G3 that I use for storage. I have attained techno-joy.

seems like the first post for an... [wait for it...] IBM PCjr. Stop laughing. Okay, keep laughing. Lemme know when you're finished.

Dad bought it in '84 for the family. 1 5.25" floppy, 2 cartridge slots, and a wireless keyboard [both the original "chicklet" one and the regular one], 128k ram [stock] PLUS a Tecmar jr. captain & jr. cadet add on modules that went on the entire side of the box to take it all the way up to 512k, just like full on PC XTs & ATs. [kickass!] heh.

Well, my first 'real' computer was a Timex Sinclair 1000 that my grandfather built for myself and him as a joint gift. we had a blast on that thing! He taught me to code, and I taught him how to game, LOL!
the Times is gone, and so is my Grandfather, but I now have a HP running Win XP (Yeah, I know, it's not an apple, LOL! Sorry Wil!) I too came from the 'working class' of the food chain, so I've been there as well.

Good luck at MacWorld Wil! you're gonna hit the mark, I know it!

I am writing this from the WiFi area at the Expo on Wednesday night. Can hardly wait till tomorrow! Thank you Wil for being soo talented.

remember that episode when you were granted the wish to be a grown up? that was cool.

Good intro. Refreshing clarity about the specifics of your computer use in the past (most people are like, "oh yeah I had one of those Radio Shack deals, TRS-something" back then.

There are only a handful of "white trash" or otherwise "poor" computer users from a score ago :-); since it's such a small group, you'd probably be wise to delete your reference too it at the conference (so you don't alienate the yuppie progeny at Mac world).

signed
80's poor mac user

Have fun at MacWorld, Wil! Wish I could attend one of your readings someday....it would be great to see you on stage again.

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Em

You forsaked your TI? I miss mine a lot...

Wil,
Good story about those days. Your book event will go well as always.

FG

I dont even remember what my first computer was. All i know it was 95 or something and I was overjoyed to not have to use the computers at school that so many people touched. I have a thing with germs. The whole i would be wondering who touched the keys, did they wash there hands after using the bathroom,and/or did they wipe their noses. I also wasnt allowed to anything to the computer but turn it on and use it only for basic reasons. I was still content to not some unknown ailment and not suffer a horrible death from germs. Yeah, i was a wierd kid and am now a wierd adult.
Anywho, the one thing that stood out from your whole story was you packing the kids lunches. I thought that was sweet.

A new fan, just unlurking to say "hi."

Saw you during your days at Acme in LA and you were funny. Good to hear that you will be speaking at MacWorld. Your story made me consider that what might be familiar to one is a completely new and stimulating experience to another. I'm an older geek, but this is my first MacWorld.
Break a leg.

My first post! Woohoo! :)

The first computer I used was a C64 of my brother's. Great games, and it only took an eternity to load them! After saving money from working at a warehouse, I bought my first computer, a ColecoVision ADAM add-on with printer and spare power supply.

Since then I've been through many computers from a C128D to many PCs from the Tandy 1000EX to my current Athlon 1000. I also have a couple of Beige G3 PowerMacs that I'm using for email and learning web page design.

My first computer was a TI-99/4A! That's an awesome story, Wil.

I love what you have so far! It's going to be a great presentation. I'm shooting you tons "Awesome MacWorld Mojo" right now. :)

Wil, how did it go?

Ah, the joys of the early computer. Our first home computer was an Atari 800XL--I must have been around five. We had the oh-so-spiffy cassette drive, and my dad did all sorts of crazy programming on it. In about '86 we went the PC route, and I've never looked back (as an engineer, I don't have much choice, at least at work), but I have some early memories of the Apple IIe at my little Catholic grade school. Anyway, what you had written sounds wonderful--even as a non-Mac user I can appreciate it!

I have no MAC, but I am still a geek. I am thinking that if I was to make a lot of money someday I would buy the best MAC and the best PC, and then race them.

Downhill.

And then I would go get some beer.

Yes.

That is what I would do.

This is brilliant! Good luck and hopefully you'll get some cool Mac freebies out of it.

Cool, Wil. I had a TI99/4a, too! I remember the long nights, playing Munchman and A-Maze-Ing. I never had Hunt the Wumpus, I'm sorry to report...but sometimes, I thought I was the only person ever to have one of those. Then again, it was 1991 when I started using them, so maybe we were just a touch behind in the times...

Why only 2400 baud? In 1988, you could have gotten a 9600bps modem -- but certainly not a NuBus one; it would have had to have been an external one. Also, you would have has to choose between the two competing 9600bps standards of the time. A v.32 modem would have cost you in the neighborhood of $1500, while an HST modem would have been considerably less expensive.

Hey Wil,

I have been thinking of you this morning as I know you have been nervous about todays speech. I am sure it is done by now, so, how did it go?

Wil's presentation at MacWorld was very funny and very well-received. Wil, you looked completely comfortable up there.

Thanks for being so friendly and gracious in the book signing, and putting up with photo requests as well. It was a great honor to meet you, if only for a few seconds!!

Great story... told in a way that you do best. Love it. Thanks. BTW, I had a Xerox 8088 with the biggest dot-matrix printer attached that you've ever seen. My upgrade included ADDing a hard drive and going from 56K of memory to 128K. I think I still have that RAM somewhere.

1984 I saw my first PC. a PC jr. And thus my love affair with Pcs began. :)

Hehehe, the logic of kids! I love this :)
----
"Have you thought about selling cars?" my father asked.
----

I'm a PC girl myself, but all the best with the show! I'm sure they'll love it! :)

Oh, Wil, is the compulsory email address thingy really necessary? I have no problem with you having mine (and you already do), but I always seem to get extra spam whenever I post on a guestbook with my real email addy, especially one this popular. I completely understand if you need to keep it :), but I'll just have to post a fakey address for now (my real one is python2004 at gmail.com )

Hmm, after posting, I see that email is kept invisible anyway ;) I am officially a dork, just ignore me :)

Do you still have that book? Or your old Computer?
Those would be cool to have when you talk!
I'm a sucker for visuals!

Ah, the Mac. It must have been 84 when I first saw one. My ex worked for a computer company and we would drag that thing home, or to visit family to show it off. We loved the MacPaint program.

I remember going to the US Festival and Apple sponsoring a whole tent of technology and a satellite link with Russia?

I did my first desktop publishing in maybe 85 or 86. It was very wow.

I miss the old days. We now ALL have Paint even on Windows and it takes WAY more to jazz us.

Good luck with a magnificent presentation and signing.

Hey Wil!

I had the pleasure of attending your keynote this morning at MacWorld and was just blown away. You rock!

Unfortunately, even though you and I are but a year apart in age, I wasn't fortunate enough to own anything but an Atari 5200 growing up. Pong was the best game in the world and we had to hook the thing up to our huge console tv. Still, we had the coolest thing on the block at the time.

I didn't find out about my geekiness until my early 20s when my husband told me I was some sort of computer savant. I seem to have this knowledge and have no clue where it came from. Hmmm, still don't know.

Anyhow, you were awesome and it was a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for sharing you.

Vicki

I missed your talk at MacWorld today. But I did come in at the end and I bought Just a Geek. Started reading a couple hours ago. I know I am in for a good time. I identify with geeks and working stiffs. You are one who can write.

I did not get your autograph; there was big line, and I HAD to prioritize and see AppleScripting the iApps (I paid for User Conference).

I gave the polite guy at your autograph table a copy of my still-unpublished comic book; a little gift for you that cost me nearly nothing. I thought you would be interested because I have a STNG satire in it.

I like your book. You should try reading "If Chins Could Kill," by Bruce Campbell. Another working stiff in the acting biz.

P.S. A teenage crush on Troi? When I was that age, it was a crush on Uhura.

P.P.S. Macs are WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL. I heart my iBook.

It was a pleasure to see your Macworld presentation today. You're a fine storyteller, and you brought back a lot of memories of my early Mac days. I used to have a HAL 9000 beep sound, too (I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave...)!

I'd love to see you get into fiction. And I hope you can come to Chicago...you have my card.

As an aside, Andy posted a short story about interrupting Wil at his performance.

http://www.cwob.com/yellowtext/yellowtext0105.html#72592

At 13, I'd ride my bike to Computer Mart to and annoy their tech Rick Inatome with stupid questions, and touch the wood-sided Sol-20 and the elegant, visionary Digital Group. But by the time I actually had money to buy a computer, the Apple II was it!

About that time, my dad was selling TI 990 minicomputers. Those had a TMS 9900 microprocessor, just like the TI 99/4!

I recall games in BYTE were pretty dull. The only fun one I remember was Mike Mayfield's ubiquitous Space War/Star Trek text game, Doom of the 1970s.

Sweet! You have a way with words that makes it sound like I could have been there with ya, !!

Boy was I mad when I heard a few days after booking my flight for Thursday morning out of Oakland that even though I was at MacWorld I was going to miss your talk. I almost stayed and took a later flight, but I had to be at work by noon. Oh well, some day maybe I'll be lucky enough to hear you speak live!

So, what did you think of the new toys? :-)

My first experience with computers was in the early 1970's. At work we had this hugh IBM punch card processor. You programmed it by physically plugging wires into holes on this 12" x 18" board; the finished program looked like a big bowl of spaghetti. There was a 6 foot long card sorting machine that sorted the cards alpha/numerically and a 6 foot long printer that weighed at least a ton. Every time we called a repair man he said he would pay us to throw this machine in the river.

Freeman

circa 1986 Apple IIc - fav. game: Taipan (precursor to CIV, SIMS et al.), although I'd done an Apple intro. at night school a few years earlier. Aaah .... the good ole days, insert floppy, load program, eject floppy, insert floppy ... save ...

""Thank you for thinking of us," my father said, dryly.

I beamed. This was going very well."

that. was. too. funny. XD

~Milla

My (brief and slightly lame) recap of Wil's appearance at Borders in San Francisco is here http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=juverna&tab=weblogs&uid=187602787 and there's a link to photos!

http://www.yourmaclife.com/qt/mwsf05/wwheaton.html
This is a great Interview with Wil.
Enjoy!!

Nice Goats Bud!!!!

Jeff

Hey Wil,
I got a chance to see you speak at MWSF05. I really enjoyed it, and I hope to see you speak again. I bought your book the day before (hoping that you'd sign it, and you did!) but I stayed up until 3 in the morning reading it Wednesday night. I swear, I couldn't put it down. I'm looking forward to reading your book of fiction.
Incidently, my first computer was a Commodore VIC-20 on which I wrote my very first computer program. It didn't do much, but I was only 6.
Shawn

Did a quick Google for Wil at MacWorld, hoping that someone had pics or a recording of his talk. Well, only found one picture, really. And all I have to say is - Wil. Best. Shirt. EVER. Nice choice!

Click Here to see the one and only pic I found of Wil on the big screen at MacWorld SanFran

For the HTML Impaired:
http://macworld.nathos.com/

I have some more pictures from Wil's presentation at Macworld, posted at http://homepage.mac.com/flounder/PhotoAlbum5.html

Wil, thanks for the great stories at the presentation. I bought your book and read it on the flight home. My fiancee wants to steal it next because of the stories that I read to her out of it.

Great entry, Wil. Wish I could have been there to hear your speech in person. Such a tantalizing tidbit. Love that red and black shirt you wore while being interviewed by yourmacworld. And, to be totally trivial, your hair looked excellent.

Your memory for childhood events is amazing. You were definitely destined to be a writer. I’m looking forward to your book of family stories. I think those are your best ones.

My first computer was an Apple II. Not a "+" or "e". Serial number A2S1 10480. I remember how the computer store had it running a LOGO program to control a turtle and keep it from falling off the edge of the table. It was 16k upgradeable to a max of 64k. A monitor that had a switch for 40 or 80 column green screen display. A Panasonic cassette tape recorder for input. One of the few things I did was to program the Star Trek game to give me 99 torpedoes instead, what was it, 5? Although I remember spending hours typing in programs from Creative Computing, I sadly found out that I wasn’t a very creative person myself and really didn’t do much with my very expensive toy.

I bought a Mac years later which just one day stopped working. Now, I've turned to the dark side and have a Dell running Windows XP to be compatible with my work computer. Sorry I let down the team.

sorry for being off topic, but I would like to alert Wil's Canadian monkies that the World Poker Tour Hollywood Home game is airing right now on StarTV in Canada. This is not the episode with Wil in it, but hey, we gotta watch them all right! This is the one with Norm MacDonald, Lou Diamond Phillips, Richard Kines (sp?), Lolita whatshername, Fred Willard, and Camryn Manheim.

um, that should have said Richard Karn.

Okay, so this is totally OT, but I just can’t believe no one mentioned this yet. Usually I find the golden globes boring (just as they were this year) but my boyfriend and I watched because Patrick Stewart was nominated for The Lion in Winter. When the guy who played Peter Sellers won instead (not just over PS but over Jamie Foxx who made an amazing portrayal of a gang leader in a TV movie) we got fed up and turned it off (The show’s only saving grace was that Glenn Close thanked PS when she won an award for the same movie).
We heard the next day that Shatner won an award (for his drama series, I can only guess?) and was completely drunk on stage. Made such a fool of himself that people at his own table were looking at him funny when he sat back down again. The best part? He had the gall to actually say to a bunch of GOOD actors when he got on stage, “Hi, I’m William Shatner.” Gee, thanks for sharing buddy. Cuz we certainly didn’t know that before ya said it.

I cannot believe no one’s mentioned this yet! Wish I could have seen it. Though the cringe factor was horrific I hear. LOL.

Hey, I didn't see it mentioned but Wil was in the LA Times January 6. Congrats Wil!

I have been randomly selected as a 2005 Bloggie panelist, and have thereby become drunk with power:

Bow down, oh thou celebrity nerd, and repent!

I fully admit that the first computer I had access to was an IBM (and as a result it's just what I've always used). I remember one of the very fist computer games I played... Castle. A Text-based... yet graphical game. God how ancient that thing is now. Heck... I still remember playing with Calico and Atari. :P

Good luck with your presentation, Wil! I know programming can be a bitch. I've been discovering the delights and horrors that is Macromedia Flash. :P

I don't have an interesting/amusing computer story. I'm only 25. I don't know what a Commodore 64 is! Lol. I bought my first computer 4 years ago, it was a Compaq from Radio Shack. The 128 memory isn't good for much nowadays so I bought a new Dell last week. It rocks.

Just wondering if Wil died. Last time he was dissappointed no one inquired. I'm a regular reader and I'm jonesing for some "Wheaties". Damn cold in florida today. Someone should really kick the body on the floor maybe he is not asleep.

Wil--

I caught your MacWorld presentation and very much enjoyed what you had to say. Unfortunatelly I had to dash off to the MacIT conference or I would have stuck around for your book signing. Great job fellow Mac geek! Love your blog...keep up the great work!

i realize this has nothing to do with what is written here...but wil, you need to check out this album. steve earle the revolution starts...now. right up your alley. at least i think it is.

Great entry Jen Z, you captured the night great. If anyone would like to read another synopsis of the Borders chat, you can check out [my thoughts]

Great entry Wil! I love the story. I remember the very first time I saw a Mac too - in the computer lab at school where the entire lab was filled with PCs (386's), except for on the lab monitor's desk, there was a Mac sitting there: his own personal Mac - he couldn't stand being away from it all day, so he brought it in with him every day.

Any chance of getting a video download of your presentation somewhere? Wish I could have been there in person.

>If you have a Gmail invite, why not donate it to gmail4troops.com and help a soldier feel a little bit closer to home?

What kind of sick world do we live in where American troops would have to use free email services like hotmail and yahoo? Jesus Christ it is awful.

flyhive.blogspot.com

Will, I thought your presentation at MacWolrd was great and so was the reading at Boarders. I am glad I got a chance to see both and the book is great!

More pix/vids from Wil's appearance at MacWorld:

http://rzeszut.com/photos/sfvegas05/pages/CIMG0037.html

http://rzeszut.com/photos/sfvegas05/pages/CIMG0038.html

http://rzeszut.com/photos/sfvegas05/ww.mov (Quicktime, 30-sec video)

wow, my first computer was a commadore vic 20, then a c-64...i actually miss the tape drive..and being able to edit the source to cheat on the old games...anyone remember "Blue Meanies From Outer Space" ? taught myself how to read so i could 'hack' that game when i was 4.

I was a Commodore 64 person starting at age 5 or something like that. We later went back in time and picked up at vic 20 at a garage sale, and then another 64 for parts for the good one. Destroyed that joystick port.

I also have a Wil newspaper sighting, not a very nice one though! Although I think it may be just this guy, he's always a meany! (sorry for sounding like I'm 7)http://www.metronews.ca/column_tube_talk.asp?id=5647&cid=650