It is fair to say that the best thing the 80s ever had to offer people, was the possibility to be born in it. I’m not saying 80s was a particularly bad decade, but it definitely had its dark moments, which we don’t have to go into detail.
From the perspective of real-time imagery, the 80s, and especially the early 80s, really was the best era to be born in, if you just happened to be interested in computers and such. And I, for instance, learned quickly that I was.
To be born in 1980 means that I have an optimal vantage point, which covers the most crucial developments, the Cambrian Explosion, in the history of real-time imagery, starting from the release of Commodore 64 in 1982. I consider C64 as a tipping point after which strive to graphical excellence in home environment really started happening. “But you were only two years old when C64 was released”. Yes, but our family got the C64 not until 1984, so the decent software was already there, just waiting to be played with. So I had only lived four years without any exposure to real-time imagery whatsoever, four years of which I can’t remember a thing. But I remember clearly the first time when I saw Pitfall II: Lost Caverns running on C64 in the Christmas of 1984.
This means that the evolution of real-time imagery is an integral part of me growing up, and of my very being. I have the privilege to be watching real-time medium to evolve up close, of which future researchers can’t be anything but envy. It’s like being an Egyptian watching the pyramids being built.
The 80s wasn’t so bad place to be in after all.
Pixel Counterrr 