[kinard]

I was bought a ZX81 after I pestered my parents for months, unfortunately they were not particularly well off, so they couldn't afford a tape recorder, which meant I had to write my own games (copied from magazines at first of course).

I now own a couple of software companies and have had the good fortune of making my once hobby my career.

Lucky us!

[ddalex]

I'm definitely grateful to my parents for shelling out (after ~1 y of begging) for the first computer, an ZX clone; then for a 386 !

I think starting on a ZX was a blessing and a curse at the same time :) I shaped my career, but I continue to think of processor cycles and RAM as being very expensive in terms of time :(

[tpmx]

Heh, there may be something to that "curse".