My very first computer was a Commodore 64. My grandfather, the day before he died, said to me that I needed to get into computers as they are the future. He gave me some money that day and that evening he passed away peacefully in his sleep. I bought a C64 with this money and I still have it now.
My grandfather had a similar influence - bought me a Vic 20 as my first computer (optical/laser engineer, programmed in C). At 6 years old I did my very first programming in BASIC on that thing, wrote out a typing tutor from a book called Parrot - had a crudely animated parrot head that made noises when you typed wrong. Couple years back tried to find the Vic 20 in my parent's storage and sadly only the box remains :(
Wonderful. My grandfather likewise bought me my first computer - also a Commodore 64. That was truly my entry into the world of IT. Jack Tramiel really made a difference to the world I think by speeding up affordable home computing!
My first computer was also a Commodore 64. We had Commodore 64s in our school and my grade 3 teacher called my parents in for a meeting and told them they need to buy me a computer. My family pooled together and I got one for Christmas -- best present event.
I used it for many many years and I wish I still had it.
My first computer was a C64 also. It cost A$699, plus $99 for the tape drive. In 1982 money. My father's salary was about $40,000 per year then. Can't think of money better spent.
We had to go on a waiting list in Norway to get ours because Commodore had a hard time ramping up to meet demand and so availability depended a lot on market. Probably went on the waiting list end of 1982, and got it spring of '83. Until then we'd been borrowing a VIC-20 for some time.