My first computer was a Commodore "VIC-20." It used a "cassette" recorder for data storage and hooked up to a TV. I would have been like 9 or 10. Wish I still had it just for fun!

The first "real" PC I had was an IBM "AT." This was based on the Intel "286" CPU and ran DOS 3.3. I later added a "287" math co-processor, an Intel "Above Board" memory card, and an "EGA" (not VGA) video adapter. Anyone remember any of this stuff? This is the computer I used through high school. It now sits in pieces on a shelf in my office.

Somewhere, in Junior High or early High School, I built a Radio Shack "kit" that could be programmed in Assembly language.

In college (Purdue), the first language I learned was Fortran. I already knew Basic and Pascal from messing around on my own. I also used "punched cards" for a simulation we did in a Probability and Decision Theory class. I picked up "C" on my own and by working with one of my professors. I used to have a copy of Kernigan & Ritchie somewhere.

The first programming class I taught was C++. Most of the classes I teach now involve "applications." For example, my Operations class uses Excel heavily. Mostly for things like inventory management and statistical quality control. I also teach Data Analysis which uses Oracle and Project Management which uses a variety of software packages.

Anyway, this post is probably getting boring, I should stop...

Andrew