Reflecting on Ancient Computers (2026 update)
- Jan 20, 2012
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 24
In conversation yesterday, the topic of growing up around computers came about. I have always had what seems to be a knack for technology, to such a degree that, out of high school, I would occasionally make house calls to set up printers, home entertainment systems, and computers. Really, though, at least part of that “knack” stems from getting a head start on technology.
Before everyone had computers at home, my dad was in a computer club and, no doubt, we were among the first people in our city to have a P.C. Our first family computer was a Commodore 64 that was purchased in the mid-80s. When friends would come over, in addition to Nintendo, we also had a slew of computer games that we could play, which were all stored on 5″ floppy disks. Opening a program usually went like this:
1) put in the floppy disk
2) Type: LOAD"$",8 then "enter" to load the disk
3) Type LIST then "enter" to display the disk's contents
4) To load, for example, the classic "Paperboy" game, you would input LOAD"Paperboy",8,1 then "enter"
5) The computer would then search for and load the game, which could take a few minutes. A large program would require you to flip the floppy disk over to continue loading. When done, it would say "ready'.
6) Type RUN then "enter"
“California Games,” “Test Drive,” “Skate or Die” – we had everything we needed to keep us entertained stored in a couple huge, plastic floppy disk organizers.
The next step up from the Commodore felt like a giant one, getting a hand-me-down 486 computer…with a space-saving 3″ floppy disk drive! The computer was DOS based, so I had to learn a new set of codes to browse through the directory. Most people don’t realize it, but that same fundamental architecture is still there on computers today – on a Windows system it’s the “Command Prompt” in the Start Menu that most users might occasionally skim past and have no idea what it is. On Apple computers, it's called "Terminal". Opening that bad boy up is like climbing down into the sewer and seeing all these crazy systems you never think about that keep life moving smoothly up on the surface. A word of caution: don't tinker around with these programs without knowing what you're doing. I know of an assistant editor on a TV show who was trying to work through a problem via Terminal and accidentally deleted all the footage for that season, including the episodes that were currently in the works.
That Command Prompt, with its blinking cursor, waiting for you to enter some text, WAS the Graphical User Interface. There was no double-clicking because there was no mouse, and those machines could barely display a picture…. of anything! In fact, seeing an actual digitized image was rare at that time. And it seems like those rare pictures you would see were always of women in bikinis…or less. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Ha!
For us, there was no “world wide web” yet. All we had was this intranet underworld called the BBS, or Bulletin Board System. It was like a localized internet. Sitting at your computer, you would dial up, via modem, the BBS’s phone number and connect to the SysOp’s (System Operator) computer. I never met a SysOp in person, but these guys (and gals) had to have been huge nerds. Almost all BBSs were free, so they were paying for host computers, phone line(s), and electric bills out of pocket. That’s dedication! “The Hole” was the most popular BBS around, as it had three phone lines, so you could chat(!) with other users who were concurrently logged in to either of The Hole’s two other phone lines. A BBS would also allow users to write messages – today’s equivalent of an email – play games, participate in message boards and polls, and download free software and other files.
At this point, the tech revolution was starting to pick up, and my friends were climbing out of “The Hole” in droves, with AOL being the good shepherd. Good ol’ AOL. The interface was brilliant, and their chat rooms were legendary. Remember when proponents of the Internet would tout all the good this interconnectedness would bring – “meet people from different cultures….from all across the globe”? Well that’s how it used to be, before social networking came along. We eventually stopped sending messages to Melisizwe in Uganda and started sending messages to Bob instead, who we know from work and shares our same political views.
Another technological high point was getting my first laptop. It was a Compaq something-or-other that was a Sears clearance item. The clearance case in the store was pretty low-key… probably too low-key. That all makes sense now because I distinctly remember having a conversation in 2003 or so about how how it seemed like Alan Lacy - the Sears CEO at the same - was trying to destroy the company… it felt like he was getting his way. The price of the clearance laptop got marked down from $900 to $600 to $300.
Although I was stoked upon finally buying it, the damn thing must’ve been built from spare parts from the Apollo program. Once the computer was on for a while, something would kick in and start to peg the CPU. The fan would slowly whir louder and louder, the computer would slowly get warmer, and finally the whole system would just shut off.
Finally getting fed up enough with the whole Windows shebang, and getting more and more into audio production, an Apple Powerbook was the next purchase. It was used and dented but still a solid computer. The first owner (I was the third) turned out to be a very minor celebrity who didn’t clean out the contents of the hard drive so well before getting rid of the computer. It was funny seeing her self portraits, including a very surprising one that would have put any "Did she get any enhancements?" question to rest. Making that kind of discovery can feel like holding a grenade… and sometimes you just have to takes steps to protect people who aren’t smart enough to protect themselves.
And now here we are. My Macbook Pro is the coolest, fastest computing device I have ever owned. And just as it’s been writing about the evolution of my own personal techno-world, I will one day look back and think about my fond memories for my latest, greatest computer and just laugh.
2026 update:
The post above was written circa 2012. Since then, I have owned an iMac, a couple Mac Minis, two MacBook Pros (for about a week each), and a couple MacBook Airs. I wouldn't say I'm an Apple "fanboy" - I do have some complaints, but it's hard to break out of that ecosystem once you're wedged into in, nor do I really feel the need to right now.
What I will add to this is that all this technology doesn't necessarily get better over time. The MacBook Pros mentioned in the previous paragraph had a huge flaw in the display technology. I work on a TV show and, while reviewing episodes that were in the works then, part of the screen would momentarily flash if, for example, a dark shot cut to one with a light on in the background... The flash would last for just one frame (1/24th of a second) and was unacceptable for this line of work. At least then, in 2024, the screen technology was different between the MacBook Pro and Air. I gave the Air a try... I love it but, like in the original post, it's funny to think that one day this computer might feel primitive.
It's anyone's guess what kind of technology might be on the horizon. I remain aware and a little uncomfortable with the idea of having always-on listening devices around us at all times (computers, phones, tablets, smart speakers, TVs, watches, appliances, etc.). Yet, it would be amazing to get all work done at a computer via conversational voice commands, never needing to touch the keyboard. If the robots haven't ruined us all in the next 10 or 15 years, maybe I'll revisit this post again and give another update.
"Reflecting on Ancient Computers"
Written by: Justin Kilmer
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