Re:You made me a programmer (Score 1)

My first paycheck out of college went for a ZX-81. I'll agree with the original poster that that stinky little 2K ram machine made me understand computers far better than I ever could have with DOS or anything else. I would get my subcription to Popular Electronics (or whatever magazine I could wheedle) out and key in a program or two from each issue, then start playing with the statements and variables to see how things would change. At $150 it was affordable for a first-year teacher and reliable enough (with cassete drive and 16K expansion brick) to keep going. I still have it and its descendant, a Timex-Sinclair 1000, boxed up with a crapload of newsletters. It's part of my retirement fund. I just hope they'll be worth something significant in 2020.