[donw]

I second this. Growing up in a family with a continuous lack of money, I was always having to work with computers that bordered on ancient -- the manual for my first computer was actually written in Sumerian on a clay tablet.

Having to actually learn to work with the system at a base level will be incredibly useful once you start to pick up more advanced concepts, and I imagine that the history of computing might be a topic in which you can find interest as well.