My computer history 1970s-1980

So I started to think about all the various computer systems I've owned and run across over the years and I wondered if I could actually remember them all. Here goes...


1978 : While visiting my Uncle's house in CT, I got to play with one of these:




The coleco Telstar Alpha. As I remember it, it was a 2 player only game system so I had to bug my Uncle(s) to play with me. It was a precursor to the Atari 2600's Combat game. The best part of this system was the tank stick controls which really felt like it would be how a tank should be driven (from an 8 year old's perspective).

1979 : My friend David (who was spoiled rotten), got the first Atari 2600 on the block.





I distinctly remember the all night "Adventure" session that myself and my two best friends set upon. Having a strict father, I was forced to go home early and when I came back bright and early the next day, my friend Mark was still playing. It was the first official all-nighter video game session that I can remember. My friend Mark eventually got his own 2600 (from series re-branded as Telegames). And my Mother bought one for me in 1980. I had many cartridges but my favorites were Asteroids, Pitfall and Yars Revenge. My friend Mark got frustrated very easily and actually destroyed his Family's "large screen" Curtis Mathes TV by violently pushing it into the wall. My own father, who was an electronics engineer actually covered for him by telling his parents that the Atari destroyed the TV. True story! Mark left a wake of Atari joystick destruction.

To be continued!