A comment on a previous article led me to an awesome article about 2 boys getting their first computer for Christmas in the early 80s. I wanted to comment on his site, but had to sign up, so I thought I’d say something here. The 80s were THE perfect decade to grow up geek. Home technology was new, and full of promise. Nothing was taken for granted, and kids all over the world treated as fun and games what many others labor away at (and pay for!) in college.

Tomy TutorTheir story inspired me to write about one of my first computers I got for Christmas. One that is nearly forgotten today: a Tomy Tutor. While it sounds like a toy, it had AMAZING graphic and animation capabilities, far ahead of it’s time. I locked myself in my room and honed my BASIC programming skills to a razor edge on this baby. The soft keys and purple space bar sure didn’t hurt it’s appeal, either.