~02~

~2~
~15 Years Ago - 1984 - Age 22~
"Access to computers, and anything
that might teach you something
about the way the world works,
should be unlimited and total."

-- The Hacker Credo, from the book "Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution" (1984) by Steven Levy

    "Happy Birthday, son!" smiled the slightly overweight father with the receding hairline. Setting the shiny green-wrapped box onto the kitchen table, John Anderson looked over at his wife Michelle, then back at his son. Nervously, he added, "We knew you wanted this, so..."

    "What?" With a dumbfounded expression, Tommy turned to his old high-school buddy and best friend in the next chair, Willie Preston.

    For me?

    Scratching his head of curly dirty-blond hair, Willie shrugged mischievously, "Go ahead, open it."

    Tommy hated, or was embarrassed, that he still lived with his folks. But with hardly enough money or the ambition to go to college, living at home and working at his dad's small television and computer repair shop was the next best choice. At least he got paid. And family moments like these weren't all that bad.

    "Open it," his mom urged knowingly.

    Tearing off the wrapping paper with still-skeptical eyes, Tommy finally caught the shocking picture on the box. A Commodore 64 home computer!

    "Whoa!" he gasped in unexpected ecstasy. "Oh my God!"

    "You like it?" his best buddy grinned.

    Unable to tear his big brown eyes from the box, Tommy soaked in all the pictures and repeated all the words he could find. "Commodore 64... Advanced Color Graphics, Professional Sound and Music, 64K Memory..." Anxiously, he turned it over to its side, "An expandable computer system... Plus Advanced High Resolution Color Graphics, Professional Music and Sound Synthesis, 3 Independent Voices, each with 9 Octave Range, Unique Sprite Overlay Graphics, 64K Memory Power..."

    "Hahaha!" Willie laughed. "I knew you'd like it!"

    "Hell, yeah!" the birthday boy stared in disbelief. Hell, yeah! My first real computer!

    "Come on," his best friend had an idea, "let's hook it up to your TV!"

    "Yeah!" he quickly agreed and glanced at his dad. "Thanks, Dad!"

    Following Willie up the stairs, Tommy never saw the tears of joy that streamed down his mom's cheeks and were swiftly wiped away.

    End of ~2~

~02~	~2~ ~15 Years Ago - 1984 - Age 22~ "Access to computers, and anything that might teach you something about the way the world works, should be unlimited and total." -- The Hacker Credo, from the book "Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution" (1984) by Steven Levy "Happy Birthday, son!" smiled the slightly overweight father with the receding hairline. Setting the shiny green-wrapped box onto the kitchen table, John Anderson looked over at his wife Michelle, then back at his son. Nervously, he added, "We knew you wanted this, so..." "What?" With a dumbfounded expression, Tommy turned to his old high-school buddy and best friend in the next chair, Willie Preston. For me? Scratching his head of curly dirty-blond hair, Willie shrugged mischievously, "Go ahead, open it." Tommy hated, or was embarrassed, that he still lived with his folks. But with hardly enough money or the ambition to go to college, living at home and working at his dad's small television and computer repair shop was the next best choice. At least he got paid. And family moments like these weren't all that bad. "Open it," his mom urged knowingly. Tearing off the wrapping paper with still-skeptical eyes, Tommy finally caught the shocking picture on the box. A Commodore 64 home computer! "Whoa!" he gasped in unexpected ecstasy. "Oh my God!" "You like it?" his best buddy grinned. Unable to tear his big brown eyes from the box, Tommy soaked in all the pictures and repeated all the words he could find. "Commodore 64... Advanced Color Graphics, Professional Sound and Music, 64K Memory..." Anxiously, he turned it over to its side, "An expandable computer system... Plus Advanced High Resolution Color Graphics, Professional Music and Sound Synthesis, 3 Independent Voices, each with 9 Octave Range, Unique Sprite Overlay Graphics, 64K Memory Power..." "Hahaha!" Willie laughed. "I knew you'd like it!" "Hell, yeah!" the birthday boy stared in disbelief. Hell, yeah! My first real computer! "Come on," his best friend had an idea, "let's hook it up to your TV!" "Yeah!" he quickly agreed and glanced at his dad. "Thanks, Dad!" Following Willie up the stairs, Tommy never saw the tears of joy that streamed down his mom's cheeks and were swiftly wiped away. End of ~2~