CP/M

The first home computer I ever bought ran with a CP/M operating system. It was a small computer, containing two floppy disc drives (a big deal at the time, for which I had to pay extra). The monitor and keyboard were both extra components to be bought. I bought a CP/M system because I wasn't very impressed with the DOS systems that were then available. Little did I know!

At the time, I had a boyfriend named Dave, who was a computer scientist. He bought a DOS computer, which was his first home computer, except for a computer he had built himself. He called it the "POS-1," (standing for "Piece of 'Shit-1). After he bought his first DOS system, he gave the POS-1 to my two younger sons.

Together, Dave and I wrote a book, Algorithms for Personal Computing. Creating the manuscript was difficult, because my CP/M system was different than Dave's DOS system. Dave would write a program in BASIC, then add explanatory comments. I would then take the program, copied onto a 5-1/4" inch floppy disc, and translate it into a format my computer could read. Then I'd edit Dave's text commentaries.

The book is long out of print, and yet, I've found that it now sells in used-book sites for about $45. It was only $14.95 when it was first printed.