My father was a computer technician, so we pretty much had a computer as long as I remember.  The computer though was an old Tandy computer in which we had to insert those large floppy disk drives to boot it up.

Around 1997 or so, my parents bought a Packard Bell, and then everyone in my neighborhood had a computer.  Most of us were connected to AOL while others had Netzero.  My brother was still in college, so we were able to connect with his college connection.

So, when did the computer boom hit your town?  I know the WWW came in fruition in 1995, but it seems that people buying computes later.

I got my first computer as a household christmas present for my family christmas '95. Didn't get on until 1996 considering my dad was clueless how to make the stupid thing work. A lot of the people I knew got them around the same time, but the usage of them increased throughout my senior year of highschool 97/98 when we were using them for curricular things and to chat and email, IM and all that. Before that it was pretty much the whole page me and ill find the nearest payphone thing.

You know what's funny? I moved to San Jose in April 1996 (the computer capital of the world basically, lol) and that's when I started really hearing about the Internet - that's when it was just starting to become a household word, even if obviously alot of people still didn't have in en masse until 1998, even 99 maybe before it really exploded.

We got our first "modern" computer in late '95 though, it was a CD rom and floppy drive one too. Pretty good for its time though.

My roommate got a Mac in '96 with dialup internet.
When I got married the first time we got our first computer sometime in '99.  We had dialup for a bit then got DSL.
When we split in 2003 I went out and bought my current computer.  Upgraded to cable modem, although right now I'm using DSL and in two weeks will be upgraded to a wireless modem.

Well I got my first computer for Christmas in 1993, which was a Mac Quadra 610, it had a CD-ROM drive which in 1993 was a pretty big deal. I remember it used these CD caddies which you would buy separately (anybody else remember those?), so you would put the CDs in this case and then load that into the computer. http://gbennett.whsites.net/zencart/images/products/CD-Caddy.jpg  It had a 25 MHz processor, ~200 MB hard drive, 4 MB of RAM. In those days I got a kick out of Living Books, Kid Pix, Print Shop Deluxe, Sim City 2000. When I started school I remember they had mostly Apple IIgs computers and a couple Mac LC's. I first got the internet sometime in 1995. Now as to when "everyone" started to get computers that's hard to say, the most average people often lag behind a lot of things, but probably late 90s.

My first computer was in 1982 - after two years of begging the folks to buy one for me. 

Back in the 80s, which was about the time the world shifted from "Computers?  They can't do anything unless you program them first" to "Computers?  well, they can also play video games, but they're a lot more expensive than an Atari 2600", I was pretty far ahead of the curve.

Far enough ahead of the curve that I immediately gravitated to people in high school who also had computers.  From that point on, nobody in my life didn't have a computer.  (And - kinda goes without saying - I had no life :)  So, to answer the original question "1983, about a year after I got my first computer, and discovered the 10 or so like-minded geeks at my high school."

I do remember a similar shift, though by no means as seismic as "no computer at all" to "AOL".  It came when "access to the Internet" went from "something you get at college or at your computer-related job, because it costs $600/month" to something a guy with an entry-level job at a tech company could afford.  Pretty damn cool year, all things considered.

It's fascinating to see that change from the perspective of the other side - people who weren't into computers until the Internet became widely accessible. The change you went through was no less revolutionary than the one I went through.  With the benefit of 20 years of hindsight, it was bigger.  I'd been hoping since the early 90s that the 'net would become accessible, and that computers would be useful for something other than games, spreadsheets, and storing recipes.  Never once did I dream that it would change the way the world does pop culture, let alone the way the world did business.

I got an APL computer ( not Apple, but APL) in 1980 ish?
But my friend got a Commodore 64 around the same time and it was much better than mine.

Our first computer was a Packard Bell, in 1995; followed by an HP Pavillion PC in 1997, and a second HP Pavillion PC in 2000.

Well I got my first computer for Christmas in 1993, which was a Mac Quadra 610, it had a CD-ROM drive which in 1993 was a pretty big deal. I remember it used these CD caddies which you would buy separately (anybody else remember those?), so you would put the CDs in this case and then load that into the computer. http://gbennett.whsites.net/zencart/images/products/CD-Caddy.jpg  It had a 25 MHz processor, ~200 MB hard drive, 4 MB of RAM. In those days I got a kick out of Living Books, Kid Pix, Print Shop Deluxe, Sim City 2000. When I started school I remember they had mostly Apple IIgs computers and a couple Mac LC's. I first got the internet sometime in 1995. Now as to when "everyone" started to get computers that's hard to say, the most average people often lag behind a lot of things, but probably late 90s.


CR-ROM drive....thought that was a cup holder!  :D

My dad got an IBM PC Jr. sometime in 1984.  It was used mostly for his purposes (financial stuff, etc..).  It was nice to have a computer but I secretly wanted a Commodore!  ;D  He must've read my mind, because in late 1985 he got me and my mother a Commodore 128.  I used it for games and to type up homework assignments for school until 1994, when we got a more modern Packard Bell.  Then I bought an IBM in 2001 after the Packard Bell conked out, and now I am currently using a Toshiba laptop. 

First computer I ever owned was the Commodore Vic-20.  Got it for Christmas around 1983 or 1984.  It connected up to the TV and consisted solely of a keyboard.  It also had a external tape deck that was used for learning cassettes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd0fqlP3RkE

I remember it had these POKE commands that you could do to make a ~O~ symbol look like a bird flapping it's wings.  There were more advanced tricks one could do with it, but I only ever learned that one LOL

Ours was a Zenith, and we got it back in 1987.

Ours was a Zenith, and we got it back in 1987.


We had a Zenith tv.  I really didn't know Zenith made computers.

We had a Zenith tv.  I really didn't know Zenith made computers.


Oh they made computers.  I remember them well ...

http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/zenith-100-original/TN_DSC01149.JPG

If I remember, a similar model (Zenith made a few different styles) one can be seen in the video for 'King For A Day' by the Thompson Twins

If I remember, a similar model (Zenith made a few different styles) one can be seen in the video for 'King For A Day' by the Thompson Twins


Not familiar with Zenith computers but the picture reminded me of the Commodore PET

http://superfastcomputer.com/images/commodore_pet2.jpg

My family got an Apple II in 1984.

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/6891/758812-apple_ii_super.jpg

My family got an Apple II in 1984.

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/6891/758812-apple_ii_super.jpg


I remember those Apple computers...my elementary school had a couple of those similar to this one around that time.  :)

Not familiar with Zenith computers but the picture reminded me of the Commodore PET

http://superfastcomputer.com/images/commodore_pet2.jpg


I remember the Commodore PET.  The first time I ever saw one of those was in the video for Pete Shelley's 1982 hit 'Homosapien'.  I always thought the arrow shape they had was strange looking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3KzwpihR_U

Wow it is amazing seeing those pictures of old computers!  When I was in elementary school in the early/mid 90s, we either used Apple II's or something just like them.  By the time I was in 5th or 6th grade, they were upgraded to iMacs.  It is just amazing how much computers have changed.  Seriously, kids now would hardly even be able to identify those old machines as computers!

This is a very good question, I think that in the UK it was slightly later than America. A lot of people on here talk about the internet becoming mainstream 1995-96. This is way too early for where I live, I don't think I could name a single person in my class who had the internet in those years. There was a big change around about the turn of the millennium, so 1999-early 00 many more people had the internet. Until then it only tended to be kids whose dads used computers for work who had one at home, so there was an income and class divide. Unlimited access (year 2000) was also a factor in making the internet mainstream. When I got my PC and internet in 1999 we had to pay by the minute and you were always watching the clock. In that first year I often had the computer on without going on the internet (essays for school, listening to CDs etc,), going online was somewhat of an event. Now of course the internet is completely integrated into everything we do on the computer.

I also think that in the early years of this decade (maybe until 2002) someone in their 30s or 40s could be forgiven for not knowing how to work a PC or the internet, nowadays they would be seen as a joke.