My new toy

I have finally given in to temptation and bought my myself an iMac (OK, so my PC dying on me may have given me the final push I needed). It's lovely! I was told I would never want to go back to a Windows PC...I need no further convincing.

It's funny thinking back to the first computer I had and how much they have changed since. My parents bought a Commodore Vic 20 for me and my brother when I was 7 back in 1982 (yes, that is giving my age away)- I can remember thinking that it was the best present ever...looking back now, it was so basic as to be untrue! Yet, we spent many a happy hour playing Jelly Monsters (a version of Pac Man) and Adventureland, which was a very annoying text adventure game that you could never complete.

Our next computer was a ZX Spectrum 48k, followed by a Spectrum +2. What I remember most about these computers was how you had to wait for ages for games to load from the tape player only for them to fail at the last minute...so annoying. We also spent hours following instructions on how to write your own basic computer program. Typing line after line of commands with the final excitement of typing 'run' usually resulted in a series of random sounds or a screen that flashed different colours. Why did we bother?! Our favourite game of the Spectrum era was 'Chuckie Egg', another basic platform game that was highly addictive. I also quite liked 'The Hobbit' adventure game but you invariably ended up in the room with a high window from which escape was never found.

I first used a computer at school when I was about 10 when the first BBC computers were starting to find their way into classrooms. I can't remember much about how we used them so I am guessing they weren't that interesting! We had basic IT lessons at high school, and the introduction of an intranet email system when I was in the 6th form created much excitement- we would spend our lunchtimes in the computer room messaging people who were sitting only a couple of seats away from us! University introduced me to early Apple Macs, but it wasn't until I started to work full time that I first used a Windows PC and later had my own home computer. Now it seems strange to think of life without a computer and access to the internet.

I love my new iMac!