Interested in knowing how people learned/studied computers

KeyesZX · 18-Jul-2006, 02:19 AM #1

Okay, well, in the fall, I enter College. I chose Computer Information Systems, which leads into Information Technology etc. Anyways, I wanted to know what all the admins, mods, and other members who are exceptionally skilled with computers studied to become so adept. Did you self teach yourself? Thanks for any insights you can provide

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etaf · 18-Jul-2006, 05:57 AM #2

I trained as an electronic engineer, went to college and studied electronic and electrical engineering - followed up with digital techniques / then went into instrumentation and process field service - left that and went into computer service - when the machines filled three floors of office blocks and 10MB drives where the size of washing machines

then moved into management, Process engineering, management information , business planning, but when the PC started to be popular I took an interest and my friends and family wanted help with PC's etc - so self taught PC stuff

ferrija1 · 20-Jul-2006, 07:15 PM #3

85%--Trial-and-error

10%--People telling me stuff
5%--Learned in the internet.

I haven't gone to college, though in a few years I will and I will probably do something with video/audio production, recording, ect. or I will do something related to computers (well that makes sense, me being a Tech Support Guy member.)

ekim68 · 21-Jul-2006, 12:18 AM #4

I took a different path through hardware. But, with resources like TSG, you can learn until
you don't want to....I think if you like it, then every day's a new day...And, college provides
a very good means for hands-on experiences...Go For It...

Wolfeymole · 21-Jul-2006, 07:42 AM #5

First started on Sir Clive Sinclair's good old Spectrum doing a bit of BASIC programming but the damn thing broke so I got a Commadore but the syntax was different,

Time went by and I obtained a ball and chain and some rug rats (Wife and kids) then I obtained extensive MS Office certifications and am now embarking on an A+ cert with all the many angle that that can achieve.
Like etaf I have done work for mates etc and have lost count of the times I have formatted hdd's, re-installs and so on.

**valis** · 21-Jul-2006, 08:19 AM #6

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolfeymole

First started on Sir Clive Sinclair's good old Spectrum doing a bit of BASIC programming but the damn thing broke so I got a Commadore but the syntax was different,

Time went by and I obtained a ball and chain and some rug rats (Wife and kids) then I obtained extensive MS Office certifications and am now embarking on an A+ cert with all the many angle that that can achieve.
Like etaf I have done work for mates etc and have lost count of the times I have formatted hdd's, re-installs and so on.

With the exception of Sir Clive Sinclair's Spectrum (think it's a bit odd to have heard of the former, but zip on the latter), that is my story verbatim. Always fiddled with them, people always came to me to fix their rigs, and finally decided that I liked it enough to make a living doing it. Got my A+ cert, should have my N+ come August, and as Wolfey stated, pretty extensively trained in Office certs as well.

Good luck.

v

MNG0304 · 21-Jul-2006, 09:22 AM #7

I started with Heath Kits, moved on thru the altair/TRS DIY kits phase to military telephony for the hardware side of things. Self taught on Fortran IV and Cobol thanks to my Dad having access to a mainframe and having some time for me to try a few things, learned BASIC and some assembly code (6502 and 8088) thanks to the CA education system giving middle schoolers unlimited computer access and finally went to community college for a while and picked up DOS, C and a bit of ASM.

danmcman · 21-Jul-2006, 10:21 AM #8

I started on DOS systems, playing games and things that my Dad would show me from time to time. Took more interest in high school, getting into HTML, C++, and VB 6 programming. Got my first rig when I left for college, studied in the same major as yourself

Computer Information Systems, and learned a lot more about the back-end processes of systems, OSs, and networks. I now work tech support for an electronic health records system company, where the Internet comes in handy figuring stuff out. I learned most of what I know about computers from just playing around a lot and helping friends and family.

College, for me, didn't teach me so much practical application, but layed out more of a framework for me to start learning more about specialized areas (ie. hardware, networking, web development..). It gives you the tools and the opportunity to explore the things you're interested in. Take some time to read books while you're there too, they help a lot, even though I hate reading

Have fun this Fall @ school! I'm jealous

zergpc208 · 23-Jul-2006, 04:33 AM #9

Well there are many people on this list that are very skilled with computers like Cheeseball81 or Cookiegal and how they keep up under major work load of about 245 threads every 2 days about malware problems and reading HijackThis long.

I can't get over how busy that form is .Most people will say it is too busy and walk away well Cheeseball81 or Cookiegal stays in that form..And the hardware section of this group is also very busy about 155 threads in 2 days .In 5 months from now it may double the work load..

Also Triple6 and AcaCandy are very skilled with computer hardware and how they deal with big work load ..I cant get over how busy this site is .

zergpc208 · 23-Jul-2006, 05:01 AM **#10**

Ya I'm still rading book on basic computer hardware.The book has its pros and cons.It is very simple for the average user..But it is talking only on the hardware in 2005 and does talk about the hardware from 1990 to 1004.And it only has about 200 pages ..So many of quetion I have are not are not answered

And on some topics it does not talk too much about it .The book is very colorful and easy to read.Good for some terms like what is this or what is that.

just_a_nobody · 23-Jul-2006, 02:55 PM **#11**

A good book that you might want to check out is Scott Mueller's Upgrading and Repairing PCs, you can get it on Amazon.com.

zergpc208 · 23-Jul-2006, 07:14 PM **#12**

Quote:

But it is talking only on the hardware in 2005 and does talk about the hardware from 1990 to 1004.And it only has about 200 pages

A spelling problem.

But it is talking only on the hardware in 2005 and does NOT talk about the hardware from 1990 to 2004.And it only has about 200 pages

Looks like I have to go to school and learn how to spell..

**JohnWill** · 23-Jul-2006, 08:46 PM **#13**

Quote:

Originally Posted by zergpc208

Well there are many people on this list that are very skilled with computers like Cheeseball81 or Cookiegal and how they keep up under major work load of about 245 threads every 2 days about malware problems and reading HijackThis long.

I can't get over how busy that form is .Most people will say it is too busy and walk away well Cheeseball81 or Cookiegal stays in that form..And the hardware section of this group is also very busy about 155 threads in 2 days .In 5 months from now it may double the work load..

Also Triple6 and AcaCandy are very skilled with computer hardware and how they deal with big work load ..I cant get over how busy this site is .

I'm miffed, I didn't even get a mention.