Screaming Penguin

In 1977, Kenneth H. Olson, the founder of the Digital Equipment Corporation, observed that "there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." He was right: nothing computers were used for at that time was useful at home. Home users rarely needed to crunch actuarial tables or take care of weekly payrolls. But in 1979, the Apple II+ hit the market, and suddenly it made a lot of sense to have a computer at home. I spent the summer of 1979 waiting to enter the fourth grade and learning to program in Basic, keying in programs from magazines and writing my own. Not one did anything remotely practical: they told dumb jokes, displayed bad art and played annoying, shrill tones. Each new impracticality was a fresh delight. I was hooked through the bag. Though it was years before I did anything practical with a computer, my fingers have hardly left the keyboard since.