RobArt Penguin

Daily writing prompt

Write about your first computer.

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My first computer was a bust. My uncle was a gadget guy and he loved models, as did my father. When kids were getting models of ships and cars, I got a model of the Wankel Rotary Engine. I never heard of it, but my uncle knew all about it … and he told me in extensive detail, 😦 My model was supposed to be a workable and moving illustration of the engine. Unfortunately, a kid did the gluing (me) and the thing never worked right. My uncle wasn’t daunted with his model giving. Before the internet, before personal computers, my uncle knew all about computers, like the room sized monstrosity at Iowa State University. He gave me a model to demonstrate the principles of the computer, the world of binary calculations. It was like a “connect four” vertical board, but more complicated. Again, assembly required careful craftsmanship, something a kid usually doesn’t have patience for. It never worked and I had a hunk of plastic and screws and numbers that was suppose to be like a computer. I couldn’t even play “connect four” on it. Decades later, when the personal computer craze began, my wife gave me her hand-me-down Mac. It was tiny, but I didn’t have to assemble it. Phew!