was my first step into the world of MS-DOS

was my first step into the world of MS-DOS Welcome to a Laptop AC Adapter specialist of the IBM Ac Adapter
Welcome to This Old Tech, a new column devoted to vintage gadgets, electronics, computers, and video games. By “vintage,” I mean things that are generally at least 10 to 20 years old or otherwise obsolete. Most people throw this stuff away, but I know I’m not the only one who likes to keep the tech and their stories alive. I’ll be starting with a classic Toshiba laptop that served as my entry point into the world of primordial computing.
But first, a bit about me: I’ve been writing about vintage computers and classic video games for the past decade, first for my blog and later for many other publications, including PCWorld.
I started collecting old computers and video games as a teen with adapter such as Lenovo 3000 G450 AC adapter, Lenovo 3000 G550 AC adapter, IBM ThinkPad i2600 AC adapter, IBM ThinkPad T22 AC adapter, IBM ThinkPad i1500 AC adapter, Lenovo 3000 N500 AC adapter, Lenovo IdeaPad S10 AC adapter, Lenovo IdeaPad S9 AC adapter, Lenovo ThinkPad R60 AC adapter, ibm lenovo T60 AC adapter, IBM thinkpad R60e AC adapter, IBM ThinkPad Z61 AC adapter. After 20-plus years—eons in tech time—my large collection (including associated media, accessories, and literature) fills a good portion of my garage. I also have a lot of old books and magazines—perhaps too many, as you may come to find out later.
It’s been an amazing privilege to play host to this mass of historical artifacts, but it’s also been tough keeping all of it from decaying into a pile of moldy rubber and steel. Thanks to hours of tinkering and research just to keep everything alive, I developed a deep practical knowledge of computer and tech history. I’ll share that with you as I dig into boxes and pull things from shelves for this column.
The invention of the digital computer will drive this column, but the computer (specifically, the microcomputer) has been incorporated into so many different types of products that my topic possibilities are nearly endless. So I’ll be covering video games, cell phones, and calculators, as well as various computers. I also may go into the technologies that made modern gadgets possible, such as the QWERTY keyboard on a typewriter.
What better way to start than with my first experience with an IBM PC-compatible machine: the Toshiba T1000.
When I was a kid, IBM PC-compatible computers seemed impenetrably complex and daunting. As I watched my father use one at work, I often wondered, “How does he type so fast?” And most importantly: “How does anybody know what to type into the little blinky prompt to make it work?”
Enter the Toshiba T1000 laptop, circa 1989. My older brother taught me how to insert a floppy disk with Tetris on it, turn it on, type DIR, then type TETRIS to run the program. As mundane as it sounds now, it was a transformative experience for an 8- or 9-year-old kid. (I had previously played around on an Atari ST and a Mac SE, so I had the mouse down pat. But a command prompt? That was serious business.)