That was me, age approx. 11... on a ZX81 (or maybe a ZX80? I can't recall now), at an informal 'computer club' at Tahuna Normal Intermediate in Dunedin... and from then on I was hooked.
I had to use other peoples computers for a while to get my fix, as I was unable to convince my parents to get me a micro - but I eventually got a Spectravideo SV328 MkII (from a little shop called Computer Call at the 'terminus' at the top of Silverton St) for Christmas one year when I was about 13 or 14, and spent a lot of time on it over the next couple of years. (I also ended up working in that shop after school for the person that bought it off the original owner - and the original owner I believe was the guy that produced the Kiwi-MSX magazines - of which I had the full set - all gone now. I also think the original owners brother may have lived in Cromwell and had an appliance / computer store there? faded memories that someone may be able to fill in).
Around that time I also managed to score myself a TRS-80 and an EACA Colour Genie (which I would very much love to get my hands on again) which I played with quite a bit over the next couple of years.
And does anyone remember Eclipse Radio and Computers just down Stuart St from the Octagon? I spent a lot of time messing about on the computers there... fond memories of totally ignoring the "oh no, its that kid again" looks from the staff - my all-time favourite shop in Dunedin. Ever. Period.
As to what happened to all my old computer equipment... well, I'm ashamed to admit that I pulled the TRS-80 apart for 'experiments', and the other two computers eventually went to the tip after my parents got sick of them lying about for years after I had left home. Gone were countless hours of programs on countless numbers of cassettes, countless magazines, and all the hardware. And just recently I've started to wish I had it all back... but oh well...
I would also like to take time out of this into to make a rather belated heartfelt thanks to a guy in Dunedin who's name I can no longer remember (but I think, from memory, he lived on Forbury Rd) who helped me a lot with the Colour Genie, including a bit of machine code, help in building and coding a light pen and a printer interface. I wish I could thank him for the help he gave me then, and the hours he spent teaching me. I still remember with awe the speed difference in moving a pixel around the screen between BASIC and machine code.
On finishing the 7th form at OBHS I went into the Air Force and dropped computing completely due to the sheer effort involved in the training and all the moving about I was doing... but picked it up again some years later (in the 386 days) and got right back into it in a big way... Since then I've run my own IT contracting business, taught computer techs at Polytech, developed websites in HTML and CMS-based sites in Drupal, and have now come full circle and I'm back at school (Canterbury Uni) doing a degree in Computer Science which I will follow up with a post-grad secondary teaching diploma so I can teach computer science at a high-school level.
Most recently (about 2 or 3 hours ago) I purchased a non-operational Spectravideo SV328 from TradeMe - which is what led me here tonight : ) I'm looking forward to getting it home, getting it going and doing something with it (although I really don't know what, just yet). It has no data cassette with it, so I'll need to come up with some way of getting programs in and out - I might just rig something up to save them as MP3's on my laptop or Android phone... who knows... So many projects, so little time
So thats me in a nutshell, thanks for having me here.
Steve