We didn't actually get a computer until 1993, when I was seven or eight. It was a Mac IIcx that I think my dad must've got through a discount at the Hennepin Tech, where he worked, because that was the only computer we actually bought until 2000 - in between, we got another 68k Mac as a hand-me-down, and a Pentium II machine as a gift from relatives. (My dad, as you may guess, is a bit of a cheapskate.) I tried to get into programming on both platforms, but was continually stymied by the lack of good development tools (not like today where you can just download Dev-C++ or FreeBasic and get going!) I developed an interest in the C64 after reading about it - it had Basic built-in, it must be a perfect machine to program on, right?
Yeah, I didn't actually do any reading about Commodore BASIC before getting one :laugh1:
Anyway, even though the BASIC sucked, the machine itself was intriguing, and it got me reading up on Commodore, where I heard about the Amiga, which sounded basically like what my beloved old Macs would've been if you were allowed to get your hands dirty. I didn't actually get ahold of an A500 until 2001 (talk about late to the party!)