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Comment by area51org | Hacker News Reader

I grew up in a small-to-mid-sized town in California's central valley, east of the Bay Area and SV. We had an electronics class, and as a freshman, I took it.

If you needed parts for a homework assignment, the only store that had them was Radio Shack (yes, they actually sold lots of electronic parts back then). So one day, I meandered into The Shack to get a resistor I needed. Lo and behold, there was a new manager, a guy named Tony. This guy was much friendlier than the previous manager had been. That other manager just tried to get us in and out, apparently presuming we wanted to shoplift or something.

This new guy? Happy to show me the new TRS-80, and though my parents wouldn't pay for one, he scarcely complained as I went back to use it every day for more than a year. I taught myself how to code on that machine, and so I have that freshman electronics class to thank, in part, for my career.

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That's some serious passion for programming. I try to relate to people what "passion" actually means and this is a good example of it.

Thanks! I didn't mention the following year, when I discovered that my high school's math club had built a Process Technology Sol-20 from a kit, and that the computer was available to anyone who wanted to use it (after school). I spent the next year using that, even hand-assembling machine language programs. Obviously the computer captured my imagination as a kid. Maybe as an adult, too. :-)

In the late 80s and 90s, you could still find specific electrical parts at Frys in the bay area, but that quickly faded towards the late 90s. The only place that had a continual decent stock of components was Quement Electronics in San Jose. A now, gone era.

Gratuitous photo share (not my photo) - https://www.flickr.com/photos/xythian/4223283103/

Palo Alto Fry's still has a few aisles of electrical parts and tools.

A few, but not like it used to be :) When I have some free time, I'd be interested in going back and seeing what would be involved in recreating some of the labs these days. I'm curious how many of the parts are available on amazon.

I had a similar experience only for me in the 70's/80's it was Dick Smith Electronics for parts, and then the Computer Age store with its Apple II and Atari stock .. those were definitely different times. The sales guy even gave me a floppy to save my code on - after school, I'd hurry down there to get a couple hours of free computing time. Man, what a rush.

Similar background, only got hooked on the commodore BBS scene... I'd ride my bmx bike holding a box of floppies to a friends to hack on, with the warm smell of manure rising up through the air. (Turlock)

Turlock! I was in Lodi. I do remember the BBS scene fondly; I was in my 20s by that point.

Cool. My first programming experience was as a high school senior going to the CSU, Stanislaus (Turlock) computer lab to play on the Apple II's, and later on the C-64 in that lab. It was my job to be the "lab assistant" for about 6 months before starting school there. (put paper in the printers, make sure equipment stays in the room, show people where the "on" buttons are)

Yeah, a ride down Monte Vista Ave was a pretty "pastoral" experience.

Going from toying with analog electronics to getting to use an actual computer was pretty exciting, at least for somebody in a rural area who could not afford such toys otherwise. Putting simple graphics into the Apple was a stroke of genius and made it quite an experience to play with.

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