Not to age myself, but exactly 40-years ago in 1982, I trotted myself to the local ComputerLand store while attending the University of Denver (DU). I worked my way through college on the Trans Alaska Pipeline and had bunches of cash after the summer gig was up and I returned to school. I purchased one of the original Apple II+ personal computers with an external hard disk, 80-character upper/lower case card and a Hayes 300-baud modem for roughly $3,500 (over $13K in today’s dollars). It changed my life forever.
So how did I become the world’s first Cannabis Technology timesharing service? Back in these days when knights ere bold and Kings owned the gold, you had to complete required Basic programming courseware on the VAX at DU in the Computer Science building. Often, you’d sit in the hallway at 10pm waiting for your time allocation (there was a shortage of IT lab resources).
Viola – I quickly discovered that I could dial-in to the VAX from my apartment with my Apple II+ and turn my PC into a dumb terminal to complete my Basic programming assignments. Fellow students started stopping by the use my Apple II+ to do the same. I worked on a barter arrangement; my guests compensated me with weed.
More importantly – this experience taught me that the “PC” might just be a thing. Indeed, it was!
PS – I recently bought a vintage Apple II+ off eBay to complete my full circle story (and it makes for a great keynote speech prop)
