Why are you a computer enthusiast?

[Ithanul]

On 4/14/2019 at 7:56 AM, VegetableStu said:

i feel like i'm less of a computer enthusiast and more of a "how does this thing work" and "how do i get this to do that" person ._.

Same.

 

I had a friend that had a custom built computer.  Asked him where he got it.  He told me he built it.

Yep, I had to go try building one because I'm like, o cool, I can build these!?     Nothing to do with gaming or coding or the internet.  I just wanted to see if I could build one.  Plus, I like learning new stuff.  Reason my current interest is messing around in CentOS 7 minimal install atm on my third rig.

[Robert J.]

On 4/13/2019 at 5:26 PM, r2724r16 said:

So basically... I have nothing better to do with my life.

Yes. You have summed up my entire life into eleven words. always thought Id be more than the geek down the street but sadly life doesn't turn out great for all of us.  

[solarflare]

It clicked for me and also when i was young i both couldn't afford to have others do my shit for me "pre 2000's" neither could my parents really they could afford the parts but not the tech rates we didn't have that kind of change around to waste on a pc i mostly gamed on. 

 

So i guess i started off just to sustain myself 

 

Eventually i became a enthusiast in high school after that i took some college classes etc after knowing most jobs suck .. A+ etc was around then but no one cared about it much.. 

 

After that i dropped into a computer tech job in my local town and just got better since. 

 

So basically i didn't have a choice really 

[Fasauceome]

I'm a PC enthusiast because I kept chasing that ultimate gaming experience dream. What sparked it was that I knew I could usually do better for the money, no matter what I was gaming on. DS for my first ever gaming system, Wii for my first home console, Xbox not too long after, I was always somewhat aware of the PCMR and, more specifically, the DIY enthusiast space. My dad learned that I really liked computers so he bought the family an iMac, good intentions but we definitely were looking for a gaming PC. After a few years of gaming on it, I struck gold with a friend's old PC, and have been on the upward climb ever since. I don't know how I learned that building your own PC was the best value but thank goodness that was correct.

[Boarder]

On 4/15/2019 at 8:16 AM, jones177 said:

In the 70s I read a Life magazine article about an supercomputer animating a chrome ant. I wanted to do that. About the same time I read about some of the first flight simulators and I wanted to do that too.  

 

In the early 80s when the first personal computers had a price drop I bought my first computer. An Atari 400 . Back then computers came with programming languages so I took a few courses to learn. I also joined a computer club to see what the community was doing pre-internet. Later I joined GEnie and CompuServe and they aloud me to use the WWW even though it was only a CLI back then. 

 

I wrote programs through the 80s and the early part of the 90s. When I started game programing I found that the graphics part was more fun so I concentrated on that.

 

Like photography before it, my computer hobby had to pay for itself and the connections I got through the computer club helped a lot. These side jobs became 1/3 of my income by 1995 and all my income by 2005. The jobs included programing, software training, early IT, desktop publishing desktop video, 3D and 3D animation. 

 

I did not make a cent being a wantabe game developer but I leaned how to become very efficient and since I have zero talent, that is what allowed me to thrive.      

 

I retired this time last year. My hardware no longer has to pay for itself and that as not happened since the Commodore 64.

 

I did my chrome ant in 1987. It took several days to render so no time for redos.

I did not see it in 24 bit color until 1990 when I got my first 24bit frame buffer.

 

 

Yes. 1987 RT.

 

A blast wasn't it? 

 

I was crazy about my Commodore 64 back in the 80s. I also wanted to make video games and made quite a few with Basic. Not until I got the Programmer's Reference Guide (for Xmas thanks mom) did I discovered the world of sound and graphics. Also learned some assembly language and Compiler programming.

 

I was serious about the C64 and learned everything all I could with it. A diehard that when everyone got IBMs I did not budge from the C64. In fact I sold a game to Compute! magazine. 

[Zannah]

On 4/13/2019 at 5:21 PM, NachozR4Ever said:

Why are you a computer enthusiast? 

I remember being a toddler and watching my cousin play games on his computer, I was fascinated. I remember the feeling when he finally let me play. It was Treasure Mountain on his Windows 95, and my parents bought it eventually for me. I played it everyday for months and months, and have been hooked on computer games since. Computers are far more than a console, it has my budgeting, my pictures, resumes, I do everything on my computer. I can't live without one. 

[jones177]

2 hours ago, Boarder said:

A blast wasn't it? 

 

I was crazy about my Commodore 64 back in the 80s. I also wanted to make video games and made quite a few with Basic. Not until I got the Programmer's Reference Guide (for Xmas thanks mom) did I discovered the world of sound and graphics. Also learned some assembly language and Compiler programming.

 

I was serious about the C64 and learned everything all I could with it. A diehard that when everyone got IBMs I did not budge from the C64. In fact I sold a game to Compute! magazine. 

Yes.

 

After the 64 I got an Amiga 500. I saw F/A-18 Interceptor being demoed and had to have one.

Later I got a A2000 with a 300mb HDD and later turned it into a A2500. I finished with Commodore with the A3000(68040).

My first 286 was on a daughterboard in my A2000. 

 

I did game programing and playing on the Atari 800 and later on the Amigas. The 64 with GEOS was my daily driver. 

 

My first PC that was not in my Amiga A2000 was a 50 mhz 486 I bought to play Doom.  $1600 just to play one game. Those were the days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

3 hours ago, jones177 said:

...The 64 with GEOS was my daily driver...

I hated GEOS with a purple passion; it was a humongous RAM hog!

[NickToye]

Why am I a computer enthusiast? Well, it probably started when I had a Commodore Vic 20,  so I always loved games, then I had the Spectrum 128k +2 and then the Atari ST FM.   

 

Systems sadly relegated to the archives.  

 

But the seeds were sown.  I saw the future was in digital technology and positioned myself career wise to take advantage of that.  

 

Got my 1st PC in 1993 and my first taste of building with components.  Teletext card anyone?

 

I then moved over to what some would say the dark side and got my 1st of 5 iMacs, and that is when my career as a web designer/front end developer was born.  

 

I love technology, love how lives can be made that little bit simpler with smart devices, and get frustrated when the tech is not available.  

 

I enjoy the anticipation of something new, ground breaking and science fiction meets science fact.  But most of all I have a need to put something cool in all facets of my life, hence why I have arrived at almost full circle with my first ever gaming machine.  

 

Their is a downside to this obsession.

 

I want graphics cards that cost 2 grand, why? Because they exist.  

 

I want more led synced lights then the mother ship on Close Encounters of the Third Kind has, why? Because it’s available.  

 

As people enjoyed paintings from the Renaissance.  Increased productivity in the Industrial Age, made money through capitalism.  I want to lead a smarter fun life through technology.  

 

And that is why I am a computer enthusiast.   

 

 

 

[rickymohk]

I can't even explain to my friends, who stick their life with PS4 and claim they can game with low price, good quality, without facing cheaters and any hassle and never turn on their PC again, why I'm still loving PC. I just stick my life with my PC and don't know why but I am happy with it.

[Steven123123]

I'm not a computer enthusiast. I came here to defend potatoes.

[ItIsMII]

I Guess the main reason is that I spend a lot of work-time and personal time behind my computer, and I always research ways to improve workflows and spend the limited free time I have as efficiently as possible. Even though it's hard to classify gaming as an "Efficient" use of time.

[NickPickerWI]

I am an enthusiast because I have an endless amount to learn. And learning motivates me.

 

I'm an enthusiast because I love hearing about the technical challenges that companies face and overcome (and sometimes not) when creating new products.

 

I'm an enthusiast because I enjoy seeing the style and the visual elements of different companies on what used to be a purely technical set of objects. They look like awesome futuristic devices, and yet, they're basically just circuit boards with marketing. The marketing fascinates me.

 

I'm an enthusiast because I enjoy listening to other enthusiasts and their content, from Linus, Jay, Kyle, Paul, Steve...everyday heroes who built something from nothing more than learning.

 

And I'm an enthusiast because I enjoy learning something that seems so difficult and complex, and being able to talk to people about how it really isn't. To be able to teach other people that it isn't this impossible world, that they can do this, too. That they don't need to spend oodles of money on HP, Dell, and Apple, to know when something is sketchy or dank. To help, and to raise the level of the ocean to raise all ships.