I was thinking about the various computers I've used. I grew up in the 70s when home computers were really rare. I think a friend had a ZX80 when I was about 13, but the nearest I came was playing arcade games like Pong.

My first real experience of using a computer was via one of [these](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletype_Model_33). We had one at school that connected to a local college via an acoustic coupler. That's something you pushed a telephone handset into and it used sound. This was slower than a modem, but fast enough for what this did.

![Teletype](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Teletype_with_papertape_punch_and_reader.jpg/800px-Teletype_with_papertape_punch_and_reader.jpg)


A few years later I got a [BBC Micro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro). It had a mighty 16kB of memory (upgraded to 32kB by me), loaded from cassette and a fairly puny CPU, but I had a lot of fun with it. When I learned about fractals I had to try making my own. Something like this may have taken hours.

![Fractal](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gPpDxP_MOSXTRmCuVcqG8ICaKV4XHTyLnD63JiXz_yRTQ3FQjVigPJQK4ke23p0ZdKqDBhhf01GwR9UXR2-cO7-KdPoT_4IOASV2m3WwAEY-i4VJS2Gugu-2rOXBzwJWou9yzVcnh2-G1sTsP0QtqUiUrLxFn1L6DZLX0_d5vnkBMy_ZneiypRSxRzMg8p5ZBMaPRNI0Ws9h-ZEqbfppITrMsahm_EqISONXiuY6a6vJyymJSaG-FyfhxZi4HK3HTujYjEsm6j8ieJkd9mEKctXdRimRrMAXCxgzVgEd8jka7KLHtmmITdVv3xh5cIMkoZONOHaIiZHS5Qct2rI7xahbG1ga-qVmeXBOOlwSYp1kh53dEZUErm7O2RYGWSBOYS9Z7VeETZ3ZYAgBpozCusFF3fAI2Rxo2RaLA7v5SpISVX31uOT3blKGB-eO0j9GSm_YsiMsb-DGFPPoombSfK6WJFFBfNRwNlLouWh9hVCMo5W-doF_M71-LNjoAK-BvqF6DyAHRoNHoS6K3PlyVTV5yaLvXgsfqgTl1KzSG1ViCrtnB0mFBr9rkFBaUnbNv13yLTHWH-uQ_fsV5Nxzwgt9dplE6ceJaCGiLd26Skd_tXWDC5EJEw=w1433-h966-no)

Although I worked with various IBM compatible computers (now just known as PCs) on DOS and Windows I didn't do much at home with computers for a while. Eventually I bought a second hand [Amiga 500](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_500). That was great for games. Later I got the [Amiga 1200](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_1200). That got upgraded extensively until I was able to use it to emulate a Mac. I didn't get onto the internet for a while, but I was into bulletin boards. I went through various modems in search of more speed.

Eventually I decided I needed to get a 'PC' (I don't like this as a it is used as it just means Personal Computer). I got a Windows 95 machine. That was the last PC that I didn't build myself. I've been through lots since then using Windows 98, NT, 2000. I found Windows frustrating and experimented with Linux. I think it was Red Hat first followed by Mandrake, Knoppix and then Ubuntu, which I have stuck with for many years. I obviously had at least three computers when this was taken. I suspect one was still running Windows as the kids played some games on it.

![PCs](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/w_nhcmWiZYBTdyBPnhoCijwGZJG9Hj3NkDddnHAw9rx5R3zulz8Duk4H7_ZG1nc_pXnZrnwua6BFVKBQ_QWwdMGKUdJvIf33WbmtqK4TOOkjXZrYGWLtZU4UkhOOQd3-xYcfigoVeftKIXuOiujniEJbMpwAfT5r0zJyL443dwxcd3WKZFsDDrLCE2ct8kINLUNTiu3V6SJi7P-zofdUY42i4X8bzQ_R3ztm7eDR8H4rsbiQuoXze1By0w14rod6itOoDMkccSmC75k_q4CgtUnXzcK7OPZtKFOzruomDBGnRDJh9mEL5V2TwjQuDEkIV-ViWaHllEW83HEJy_-rq6YMmQzB1uNKuAklsFgNmdMjM8YoFVeyNZhPN9OW1W4wyCZG6V20F5fbhPIeF7CGFqvTJ3MNDZ-zlsfdvFCTdCXDMUryOyxy7Kcse8zakIAyA4qe-OAPRXQPxzl-4jDl8jteCJboCSQbEgSRAxJvkyrXjbV-_muBvK-HmJevYauf_kyVRlKKK628qFVf73qWkr3KUZk0a17K1qMgMEdUU4hIP-bXcOid5A2bO17hzX6izmaeHC6d8idTVa8ZVau-sWnB1EIGJLFSxmJZzYnMPx9kPqoLn2DfYQ=w1288-h966-no)

I'm not into gaming, so I don't need the latest hardware. I've had my current AMD quad-core for a few years and it is fine for running Ubuntu for all my needs. I've seen a lot of changes over the years. From paper printout to multiple screens. There's a whole other history in the mobile devices I've used.

Steem on!

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