Icons of the last 25 years of computing?

Dj_Jestar said:
Where's the love for these bad boys? :(

800px-bbc_micro.jpg
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I think the BBC computer and it's associated TV series gave a huge boost to the home PC in the UK. Although the BBC was not the most popular, it's TV program made the public aware that compuers were more than just business tools. People who couldn't afford the BBC went out and purchased ZX Spectrums for half the price.
 
bledd. said:
BBC Acorn
Then a 33mhz PC (when turbo button was in, 8mhz without :p) Windows 3.11
Then a 400mhz Dell (Windows 98SE)
Then I built my own and used XP+
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ah yes the acorn, my first ever experience other than the commodore (for get which was first).

Loved it. I remember I was in reception and it stopped working. The teaching assistant got up tried to find help, in the mean time I smacked it with my hand, worked a treat.

I miss them.... :(
 
Logsi said:
Lets not forget who pushed a GUI first out of those two...

Anyone remember the Apple Lisa?

I would say the Apple II is pretty iconic in the home computer timeline. It was the first home computer for many.
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There was also GEOS for the Commodore 64, released in 1986. I'm not sure if Lisa was first or not, but they were very close together. Either way, they were both ahead of Windows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEOS_(8-bit_operating_system)

Hmm, interesting too:
Wiki said:
Following PARC the first GUI-centric computer operating model was the Xerox 8010 Star Information System in 1981[4] followed by the Apple Lisa (which presented concept of menu bar as well as window controls), in 1982 and the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga in 1985.
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This is what I learned BASIC programming on:

SharpPC1211_1.jpg


I still have it, it still works, and I still have ink and paper for the printer 27 years later. :)

Much more information about it. http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/sharp_pc1211_tandy_trs80_pc1.html
 
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My computing history is as follows:-

Commodore Pet
Video Genie
Acorn Atom
Research Machines 380Z
Sharp MZ80K
Amstrad PCW 8512
IBM PC XT
IBM PC AT
Tandon PC & Laptops
Dell PC, Laptops & Servers
HP PC, Laptops & Servers

Not including Casio Calculators, PalmPilots, Jornada & Smart Phones etc
 
I had...

VIC20
BBC B
Spectrum 48
Spectrum 128k +2
Acorn Archimedes
Atari 1040STE
Atari Falcon 030
And then various PCs starting with a 486SX25

Best one was defo....

Falcon030NEW.jpg
 
Dj_Jestar said:
Where's the love for these bad boys? :(

800px-bbc_micro.jpg
Click to expand...

I came across one of these whilst poking round a derelict university the other week. I was very impressed :D

I fondly remember my mate being suspended from school for writing a virus for the BBC Micro.

Code: 
10 print "Infected by virus!"
20 goto 10
 
I remember my dad photocopying the "serial key discs" that Amiga games had on Midland Bank colour photocopiers so I could play the games at home after "borrowing" them :D

Also remember sitting with a book about 4 inchs thick containing the code for some flying game on the Amstrad, it never worked :D
 
Number one Icon for me is the Amiga :D

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It let you do so much on your television.

Another one of my favourites, which helped with miniaturization of PCs computers, the Psion 3:

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Couldn't do an extremely large amount on it and I can't really remember what I used to use it for, but it was extremely good at the time.
 
ZX-Spectrum-128k%2B3.jpg

I had this as my first computer circa 1987.

Then it died in 1993 And i got a 520STe (upgraded to 1Meg - yeah!) and in 1995 or so I got my first pc a Pentium 100 with 16Megs of RAM - feel it baby!

Then 1999 got MY first PC - abit BE-6, a celeron 450 with 128Megs and 6.4 Gig HD custom build. And since then various PCs.

Also had a QL, a +2, and 48K (rubber), a 1040STe and various POS PCs handed down.

Pretty sure I had a PC before the 286 or maybe it was a 286. Ran wordstar from twin 5 1/4 floppys with a green screen and a keyboard you could hammer nails in with.
 
Berserker said:
I don't, and I'm a PC (I do own a Mac but it's not what I use most).

Think yourself lucky you didn't experience Windows 1.0. I did. At least Windows 2.0 allowed overlapping windows. :p

Anyway, my computing history is frightening. These are the ones I can recall using, and I'm sure I've forgotten some...

Vic 20
Research Machines 380Z
ZX81
BBC Model B/B+
ZX Spectrum/Spectrum+
Nascom 3
Dragon 32
Jupiter Ace
MSX Clone (can't remember which one)
Acorn Electron
Amstrad CPC 464
Amstrad PCW 8512
Atari 520 ST
IBM PC XT
Research Machines Nimbus
BBC Master
Amstrad PPC 512
Macintosh II (running A/UX)
Macintosh Classic
Macintosh LC
Psion Series 3 (early PDA)
Various DEC VAX systems (at Staffordshire Uni)
Various other mini computers (including ICL, Toshiba, Sun, Siemens, Wang, IBM)
Too many PCs to count!
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We must have worked together. :D
 
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