I really am the most predictable kind of nerd…

It was cool to go over 8000 subscribers, but I had my eye on a different milestone… and I hit it today!

8086.

…and an hour later? 8088.

I don’t expect those numbers to mean anything to most people, but to me, they were pretty important. The 8086 was the first x86 processor from Intel, and it was the basis for the first IBM PCs. The 8088 was the cost-reduced part with an 8-bit data bus (rather than a 16-bit bus). I had a Commodore PC-10-II. 8088. 640kb RAM. Dual 360kb 5 1/4” floppy drives, and later a 40MB RLL HD.

Maybe I would have ended up in the same place today, without that PC, but I seriously doubt it. I self-taught on DOS, BASIC, Pascal, C, and assembly - pre-Internet. I was a hardcore kid.

And now you know a little more about me.

Thanks for the subs!