I'm 39.
My first computer at age 14 was a Commodore 64 that I saved up for after taking a BASIC programming class on an Apple II. Adding a Koala Pad and its included paint program was my first foray into computer art.
I pre-ordered the Amiga 1000 when it was announced in 1985 and took home one of the very first ones with a green screen monitor! I was disappointed that I couldn't view the Mandril hires IFF at 256K RAM that was circulating back then and almost immediately ordered the front plate memory upgrade to 512K. Next up was a 1080 monitor and external floppy drive.
Sometime after Commodore released the Amiga 3000, they had a special "trade-in" deal where you could get $1000 off for owning a A1000 without trading in the actual machine! I had to go with my boss to the controller of the company I was working for then to ask for a pay advance so that I could make the cut-off date. The controller, visions of Lotus 123 in his head, tried to talk me into getting a PC instead!
This is the machine that really started taking me places. I eventually maxed out the RAM with 70ns ZIPs, 4MB/$200+ at a time, and bought a Retina BLT Z3 and 12x18" Wacom tablet. ImageFX and Imagine took me beyond DeluxePaint.
At university they had a Video Toaster system with LightWave that I was able to use a bit and then later I worked under a National Endowment for the Arts grant doing animation. The NEA grant paid for an Amiga 3000 system with an OpalVision card.
I eventually put together my own Video Toaster Flyer system in an A4000 that was always overheating so I kept the lid off and trained a fan on it. It looked like Frankencomputer with all the bits hanging out and the SCSI octopus for the audio and video drives.
I later sold the A4000 and traded away the A3000 for a Compaq Proliant server, a decision that I came to regret. I kept the A1000 for memory's sake. This was around 2000.
Now, six years later, I've started buying Amiga bits and pieces again to revive an idea I once had for an installation art piece, and to explore other tech that I couldn't afford back when it was all shiny...
Sorry for all the long wind...!
Stivan
