How did I miss the computer glossary in the Sears catalog? Especially in 1983, which I’m pretty sure is the year I bought a book of computer terms. It cost me $2.99, which, for me, was quite a chunk of change–and I mean that literally, because at the bookstore I dumped a bunch of pennies on the counter. I quickly realized that having a cool book of computer terms was pretty useless when I didn’t have a computer, and only got about five minutes once a week to use the one we had at school. It took me longer to figure out that by punching in the right numbers and turning it upside down I could make my Texas Instruments pocket calculator spell “Oh hell”.
It still stings, especially when I now know that an equally useful glossary was just sitting there in the bottom part of the den cabinet. The upper part held my father’s Playboy collection.
