I was born in the summer of 1969 (now 55 and semi-retired). My generation has witnessed some of the most radical technological shifts in human history—until the next one. We went from radio and black-and-white CRT TVs to experiencing the explosion of computers and the internet.
For us, knowledge came first from our parents and, if we were lucky, an encyclopedia at home. I still remember people coming to our house, trying to sell us books!
First Encounters with Computers & Gaming
My first experience with a "computer" was when one of my uncles returned from the United States, bringing a gaming console that connected to our black-and-white TV. It had only one game—PONG. I must have been around eight years old, and for me, it was absolutely mind-blowing! It was the most incredible thing I had ever seen.
My first gaming console was the Atari CX with cartridges. I was 11 or 12 years old.
By the time I was 15 or 16, I would take the bus downtown every Saturday just to visit computer stores and see the latest machines on display. I still remember the:
- Oric
- ZX Spectrum
- Commodore 64
- Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, which had an incredible game called Parsec and a speech synthesizer that could say "Good job, pilot!" in an almost human voice.
Programming & Early Computers
I got my first computer, a ZX Spectrum 16KB, but when I went to buy it, they didn’t have the 48KB version in stock. I had to wait months before I could finally upgrade it. That wait felt endless, but when I finally exchanged my 16KB to the 48KB version, it felt quite an upgrade since I was able to load much larger and better games that sometimes took about 30 to 40 minutes to load from the tape!
Programs were loaded using cassette tapes and a tape player. This was the machine where I learned my first programming language—BASIC.
College Days
Later, when I went to college, I got my first PC with an 8088 processor. I still remember debating whether I would ever need a 10MB hard drive. (Spoiler: I was wrong.)
On that computer, I had my first real gaming obsession—The Ancient Art of War by Brøderbund.
By the time I was finishing college, I had upgraded to a 386 with a turbo mode of 25MHz.
This was the computer where I installed ORACLE and learned SQL, COBOL, Fortran, Pascal, dBase III Plus, and Clipper. It was also where I first worked with some of the most widely used software of the time, including WordPerfect (the predecessor to Microsoft Word), Lotus 1-2-3 (the predecessor to Excel), and the incredible Ventura Publisher.
Ventura Publisher was the first desktop publishing software I ever used and my first experience with a graphical user interface (GUI). However, since mice were not standard at the time, it was designed to allow users to do everything using only the keyboard. For months, I worked with it without a mouse, handling every function entirely through the keyboard. Then, one day, I reluctantly decided to buy my first mouse and try it out. My productivity instantly quadrupled. It was unbelievable! From that moment on, I never looked back.
It’s also the computer where I installed my first Sound Blaster card, and for the first time ever, I heard sound coming out of my PC. The very first sound effect I remember? A creaking door opening from one of the Leisure Suit Larry adventure games. I had connected my Sound Blaster to my stereo, and the sound was unbelievable.
The game that really hooked me at the time was Dune by Westwood Studios. Probably the first awesome real time strategy game of all times. I played through all three factions (Atreides, Harkonnen, and Ordos) at least three times each. The soundtrack was absolutely amazing. I found out recently that you can play this game online on a DOS simulator.
During my College Years I touched, and used:
- Punch cards – The literal "coding sheets" that were fed into machines.
- 8-inch and 5.25-inch floppy disks – Before the 3.5-inch floppies, these were the standard.
- 3.5-inch floppy disks – My first Windows installation was Windows 3.1, which came on 11 3.5" disks.
By the time I finished my Bachelor’s in Computer Information Systems, I was already working professionally as a SQL programmer. That’s when I realized something important:
👉 I enjoyed programming, but I didn’t want to do it as a full-time job.
Army Days, University and the Internet beginning
At that time, there was no internet. Instead, we connected via 54kbps modems to BBSs (Bulletin Board Systems), where we would chat and play text-based games.
After completing my military service, I moved to the United States to attend George Washington University for my Master’s in Parallel and Distributed Computing.
By November 1995, as I was finishing my degree, the internet was just starting to emerge, but it was nothing like the internet we know today.
During my time in the US, I worked extensively with ADA and C++, and I even learned other obscure programming languages like SNOBOL. (which by the way I adored!)
Returning Home & The Internet Boom
In the summer of 2000, I installed my first SUSE Linux distribution, only to realize that my Voodoo 3dfx graphics card—brought back from the US—wasn't supported out of the box. This meant that I had to RTFM and manually recompile the kernel, a painstaking process filled with countless failed reboots. But when I finally saw the mouse pointer appear, signaling that the graphics card was properly recognized, I felt like I was the best programmer/hacker that ever walked the earth!
When I returned from the US, I also brought back a Palm Pilot, a cutting-edge device at the time. It had memory cartridges and a personal calendar appointment system—features that, back then, felt nothing short of revolutionary.
I first discovered the modern internet in the 2000s, long after my return home.
Right now, I am semi-retired, and I am looking forward to seeing what the next 10, 20, or even 30 years will bring.
I strongly believe that seven major technological fields will completely reshape our future:
- Biotechnology – Especially in extending the human lifespan.
- Quantum Computing – This will revolutionize everything and accelerate knowledge beyond belief.
- Driverless Cars – Automation will completely redefine transportation.
- Nanotechnology – Tiny machines, big changes.
- Renewable Energy – Energy independence will reshape global economies.
- Artificial Intelligence – The reason I started this blog.
- Robotics – They will be the slaves of the 21st century, driving economy and one step closer to the the Universal Basic Income (UBI).
Why I’m Learning AI Now
I feel it’s time to get serious about AI.
I have been a subscriber to ChatGPT almost since its launch, and to be brutally honest, I am not impressed.
I expected way more considering the billions of dollars invested in AI research.
So I am embarking on a journey where, despite my long experience with computers, I will treat myself as a beginner and start from the ground up.
To stay consistent and accountable, I created this blog to:
- Document my experiences
- Track my knowledge and progress
- Reflect on successes and failures
- Maybe help others along the way
This is my Personal Guided Master’s in AI, and I’m excited to see where this road takes me.
