What was your first encounter with a computer?

[rz]

Ombligo wrote:
I almost bought a Commodore VIC-20 at one point just to use as a word processor, but it was over a thousand dollars and I bought a used Underwood 5 typewriter for less than a hundred instead.

What? The list price of the VIC-20 was $299. How could that cost over $1,000?

My first encounter was a TRS-80. My best friend's stepfather was a stock broker and they gave him one to use at home. That was probably in the late 70s. We spent an entire weekend typing in BASIC programs from a book they bought to play some games.