I guess I was always a geek...

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I often like to "watch" videos in the background. I really more listen to them and often ignore them. I do this while doing other things on the computer. If I really need to focus, I switch to music. I don't really like the silence though.

Well, tonight I happened to click on a video from The 8-Bit Guy on an old Z80 computer for kids.

While he was talking about it and the single line LCD I started to remember..."Hey, didn't I used to have a computer like that? Except mine was blue and grey..." Well yeah, apparently I did.

It was called The VTech PreComputer 1000, and you can read about it on Vintage Computing and Gaming.

Now days, if you bought this shit for your kid, unless he was a massive geek, he might throw it at your head. Even then, he might still throw it at your head, because this shit is so locked down and doesn't even have a video out, unlike the Advantech I.Q. Unlimited, which was also by VTech. Both use Z-80's though. So if it had been a bit more open, and maybe at least had a few more lines on the display, it might have been a lot cooler.

But for some reason I remember playing with it a lot.

While other kids were playing with GameBoys, I was playing with a Z-80 clone, programming BASIC on it, and playing trivia on it.

I already knew BASIC from my TI-99/4A, so I did play around with it a bit on this dumb little computer, but it was so limited by that dumb little single line LCD.

I honestly don't remember what I played on it mostly...but I do remember playing with it a lot. I even brought it with me on trips in the car.

That's right...when I was a kid I brought a Z-80 clone with me on road trips to play trivia...

I also remember the pretty big manual...so I must have gone through it a lot...whatever was in it.

I'd actually love to see a hacker friendly version of this to come out cheap enough that it can be easily bought by a ton of people, and introduce new young geeks to programming, and maybe even hardware hacking and mods. There have been a few things like this over the years, but the design of the VTech PreComp 1000 was actually pretty good, when it came to the shell and keyboard anyway. It had a real qwerty keyboard, minus the num pad or arrows, and thick plastic construction and a massive handle. It was made to be lugged around by kids. I'd love to see something like that, with arrow keys preferably, and an old school CPU, fully hackable, with old school games. Maybe a Z-80 clone. Maybe a 6502 clone.

We lost a lot since those days. Back then it was easy to program. It was build into every computer in the main menu. You didn't even need an extra game cart or anything to play with a coding language. I'd like to see something come out like that again for the new generation. Maybe it would only be for the geeks...but if it even was loved by a few kids, wouldn't that be enough?

computers freewrite childhood memories palnet
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(Edited)

Every time someone mentions BASIC, I'm sent back in time to my days as a student in highschool. I sat next to the intercom. It would make a tone to alert the teacher. The teacher would then walk up to it and speak to the office. I learned how to code the musical notes from a magazine I had. I'd sit there, make my computer make the exact same sound as the intercom, then watch the teacher get up, walk across the room, push the button and keep saying "Hello hello. Yes? Yes? Hello?" Nothing. Nobody home on the other end. He'd go sit down and I'd do it again.

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LOL! I feel sorry for your teacher...

I also wish I had figured out something like that back then. XD We had Windows 3.1 computers in high school though...and they were massively outdated.

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This was mid to late 90's. Windows 95 era, but we weren't even using windows 3.1. I remember setting reminder alarms that would go off at the same time for everyone, placing a message full of obscenities on every screen in the room. I think that was a feature that came with the word processing suite we used to use, though I could be mistaken. Nobody knew it was me. I was probably one of a handful of kids that actually had a computer at home, and knew how to use it. Everyone else was just confused.

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LOL! You are so lucky you never got caught. That's something they'd probably act like was a really big deal...even if it wasn't.

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All those kids thought they got hacked.

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Poor stupid kids...

Though technically you kinda were doing unauthorized access...since you weren't authorized to do what you were doing to them.

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