On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:08:31 +0000 (UTC), Nad R
> wrote:

>Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>> On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 01:54:25 +0000 (UTC), Nad R
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Dave Smith > wrote:
>>>> On 17/04/2011 5:14 PM, Nad R wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Starting in the Late seventies, TRS-80 Model 1, 4k ram, cassette storage.
>>>>> Later Apple IIe, Apple IIc, Power Mac 7100/66, Power Book G4 and an iPad
>>>>> model 1.
>>>>>
>>>>> My favorite was the Power Mac 7100/66 was loaded and cost $5,000 for
>>>>> hardware alone. It served me well for ten years before the operating system
>>>>> truly became obsolete.
>>>>>
>>>>> Right now, I love this little portable iPad that is now my favorite.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My first computer was a Coco II from Radio Shack. It didn't take long to
>>>> realize how useless Radio Shack is. I ended up getting an XT. I can't
>>>> believe the prices I paid for that machine and accessories, but I sure am
>>>> glad that prices have plummeted. I paid less for this laptop than I did
>>>> for a 20 meg hard drive for that computer.
>>>
>>> I enjoyed the TRS-80, I had fun Programing that simple little machine. I
>>> had dozens of games that others wrote and some I wrote. I learned allot
>>> about computer Programing in those early years.
>>
>> Does a slide rule count?
>
>Could be a calculator not a computer. I would say no. I did own a slide
>rule for about two years.

A calculator IS a computer. The very first electronic computer(s) did
only mathematical calculations, as did all previous mechanical
calculators including cash registers... today's most modern, most
powerful scientific computers only calculate numbers. The early
mechanical adding machines used by bookkeeppers/accountants were
called calculators. A slide rule is definitely a computer, as is an
abacus... I do have a small cheapo abacus somewhere, forgot about
that. Throughout history there have been all manner of counting
devices, variously sized pebbles, beads on strings, even beans... you
have herd the term "bean counter". An ordinary mechanical weighing
scale is a computer. There was no internet until Al Gore came along.