I’m feeling a little nostalgic this morning. The WSJ included an article about the rebirth of an 80’s classic, the Commodore 64 computer. This 2011 reincarnation of that classic computer is definitely light years more robust. It was never cosmetically sexy, but during its time the Commodore 64 was a great little PC. It could do math programs to help with school, you could use it to study Spanish or even play Magic vs. Larry basketball video games. And for me, it was the first computer I ever owned.
As opposed to some of my colleagues that grew up with the Apple II/Macintosh or other IBM products, I was a Commodore 64 kid. I can thank my aerospace engineering father for providing such a great gift. Though he often used it for his own work, he encouraged me to spend time tinkering on the Commodore and learning about technology. And when they launched the Commodore 128 a few years later I was lucky enough to “upgrade” to that one as well.
Like my friends who entertain me with stories of how they let their young kids play on iPads and iPhones in 2011, I too learned through those early interactions with my Commodores as a kid. This device is what originally captured my interest in technology gadgets and probably fueled my pursuit of a career in this field. Here’s to hoping that the same will happen for the next generation of technologists.
