Ok does this mean if I use a computer that still use hard disk I guess Im back in the dark ages and one pc no my first one was a 486 back in 1990 for office use of a data entry 101 state level at the time it took up to much storage and it was expensive getting the belt thing soft ware for the type of fan it had I swear the 486 died at least once a month not on me on everyone...

Pat:

We paid $2,000 for it.

 

Our first Windows machine was about that much. 

I still remember having fits about the mouse. I had no idea what it was or what to do with it.

 

Ours was a locally-built PC with an Intel 386 processor that came with DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.0, about 1990. The machine itself was $1,600, a huge amount for us at the time, and the software - Wordperfect, Lotus 1-2-3, and dBase III+ was about another thousand. I paid extra for a whopping 110 MB hard drive and a 2400 baud modem.

I spent almost a year reading computer magazines to educate myself on the difference between RAM, ROM, hard drives, disk drives, and so on. All that stuff was brand new to me. The 486 chip was available, but it was about a thousand dollars more than the 386, which we didn't pay.

I remember DW was um, "annoyed" because when we went on a 2nd honeymoon I took along a book on PC telecommunications. This was when you had to write your own modem initialization string, if anyone remembers what those are and I was having a hard time getting my head wrapped around a lot of new concepts.

The Internet existed of course, but was not open to mere mortals. You had to have a university, military, or government connection, and it was all UNIX command line. Ordinary people used computer bulletin boards, or BBSs as they were called. I was thrilled when the PC user group I belonged to arranged dial-up access for club members!

Imagine, having dial-up Internet access to the Internet via command-line UNIX right from home! Wow!

My first computer was given to me in 2003 by the very same cousin who now hates me. It was his old PC that he had cleaned up so nothing was on it except for Word and Norton. It had Windows 98. I hooked it up to the telephone. Mom bought me my printer which didn't like the computer. I have an  HP Deskjet5550 printer.

I taught myself how to search the internet with that computer. I taught myself how to send emails. Then I learned about the blue screen of Windows 98. I also developed a really good 4 letter word vocabulary.

In May 2004 the computer modem got fried by a storm just as Mom announced that she would buy me a really good computer if I'd stop cussing. Mom bought me a Compaq Presario with Windows XP-Home. My printer loved that computer.

In December 2006 Mom bought me a HughesNet satallite dish for my computer. Suddenly my computer was fast. Unfortunately, Mom had her heart attack and stroke shortly afterwards.

We had a series of storms in the summer of 2007 and my computer kinda got fried. Then I bought several power strips from Virginia Dominion Power to block power surges. I picked up the phone and I ordered myself a computer from the guys who are my computer geeks. I loved that computer !

Unfortunately, the tower got too hot and the hard drive got overheated. In November 2009 it was replaced by my current computer which the guys set up for me.

I have heard great things about Macs, but no one works on them near my house. I went with Mom's advice of buying a product from a local dealer so it could be repaired easily.

I still have the printer Mom got me; my geek installed a new cable on it back in November.