Something like this for me. I was on an Amiga. Later “downgraded,” to Intel PCs. But by that point i was already hooked.

BBSs were how I learned everything because there wasn’t really anybody near me in my little rural area of the world that had a computer let alone knew how to program them. Internet wasn’t public yet, just getting out of the lab.

What I grew up in was the counter-cultural era of tech. Distrust of authority. Freedom of expression. Queer. Weird. Against the War on Drugs, neoliberalism, police, all that.

Demos were huge. Scrolls were also huge. Mods were huge. Good times. When I think of back then I still hold out hope for today.