[gvarndell]

I first learned 'programming' using a Texas Instruments TI-58 programmable calculator. I guess that was late 70s or early 80s.
Next step was an Atari 400 (6502 CPU, 16K RAM, membrane keyboard).
I bought the BASIC and Assembler cartridges for it as well as every manual Atari printed.
Even though Atari sold (and regrettably, I bought) a tape storage device, both these machines effectively lacked any useful storage for programs, which was frustrating.
After 2 years exploring and mastering the guts of the Atari using 6502 assembly language, I was proficient enough to land a job at Muse Software, the company that produced the original Castle Wolfenstein games on Apple, Atari, and Commodore computers.
Muse management had the foresight to predict that PCs and C programming were the future, which profoundly benefited my career.