The only codec I installed with quicktime was the wmv support. Weird.

[link] covers most of my quicktime codec needs.

Popular Mechanics review of the top six computers. Of 1982. [link]

The IBM PC had just been introduced.

From PM:

It used to be that programs were easy to copy and change. But manufacturers began to lose money as many people made copies of software and gave them to their friends.

Now, many manufacturers have figured out how to “copy-protect” discs. A copy-protected disc—like a cartridge—can’t be copied or changed.

To our mind this is a disaster: Most people learn programming by changing programs to fit their own needs. This capability of customization is what makes computers so attractive. New ways of copy protection will probably be found soon. Until then, a computer owner may have to put up with being “locked out” of his own machine.

eta:

All the companies which make these computers... are referred to as "primary manufacturers." Companies which make software or hardware to "fit" one of these machines... are called "secondary manufacturers."

I've never heard that terminology.

Popular Mechanics review of the top six computers. Of 1982.

I've used all six of those computers.

I've used all six of those computers.

You win. I never used the PET.

The PET's the one I probably used the most. Or possibly the Apple II. The computer club my dad signed me up for way back when had a whole bunch of PETs and TRS-80s (as all us right-thinking people know, this is, of course, pronounced Trash-80), and we had a II at home.

The computer club had a small smattering of the other computers, so I had much less exposure to those, and mostly I encountered the IBM PC in my dad's office (he was a professor of education, specialized in technology in learning -- I've been ahead of the computer curve pretty much my whole life).

I had an Atari 400 rather than an 800, but that was a fun computer to program. There was good documentation on where to poke and peek values in memory to make the graphics work. I wrote a few video games for it (they games sort of sucked, but hey I was in middle school and/or early high school at the time).

Hmm... we had a II, my cousins had the TI99, friend had the TRaSh80, dad's work got an IBM pretty early on, and uhmm, someone (that kid across the street from grandma's that I used to hang out with all summer?) had the Atari.

(Yeah, it was probably him. He also had the most awesomely complete set of Star Wars action figures I've seen before or since. Geek.)

The fun part about going back that far, of course, is how particular it all is -- one person had a computer, so you'd have a chance to play with that model.

(Also, as an educational technology nerd, I just love that your da was doing the stuff back then.)

I wish I'd had more patience for learning programming at that age. I think I'd be much better off right now, financially, anyway.

I used to go to stores and write programs on Commodore 64s. Then I'd run the program, walk away and watch from a distance. The screen would say, "DO NOT PRESS ANY KEY." Then when someone did press a key, the screen would start flashing all sorts of colors while this hideous, siren-like wailing would blast from it.