> Does anybody have any old computers still lying about in their house? For example, Amigas, Commodore 64s, Ataris, etc. If so, do you still use 'em for anything, such as playing games?

Growing up, my family had a Sanyo 8088, or 888 or something like that. My dad got it when I was a baby, and used it for a long time. When I was about 6, he let the kids play it because he got a new, fancy, 486. We had all sorts of cool games, like Eliza (the computer shrink. We loved finding the things you could type to make her quit the program), Yahtzee, Space Invaders, and so many other extremely cool (at the time) games.

When my little brother got to be a bit older, about 2, he developed an interest in the little Sanyo. He could walk up, and manage to hit just the right buttons to either crash the computer, or bypass the simple security systems my dad had put on. After having him do that many times, my parents came up with a brilliant idea. We had a toy that was about 12 inches by 8 inches by 4 inches. It was a music box that had a length of paper on roller. When you started the box, the paper would roll and show different pictures. So, my parents put that on a small table, and an old keyboard. . .and my brother would sit in front of that banging on the keyboard for hours.

I think that my dad still has that old Sanyo, but it doesn't work. Too bad, I would love to play Eliza again. I know you can find online versions, but it's so much more interesting in black and yellow, with a computer that took 20 minutes to boot up (after you hit it a few times) that could crash at any moment. ::sigh:: the good old days :) I think part of the allure was how scandalous my sister and I felt typing in naughty words (like stupid, and dang).

Tess