Came here to post exactly this :D I also have the collection of Microhobby magazines I copied game listings for, and learned programming by osmosis at a very young age :)
I'm too young for what you guys are talking about, but I've always have trouble articulating how I got [sucked] into computing. It feels like I did a similar thing with HN and the internet in general.
I think osmosis is one of my new favorite ways to put it hehe.
As an old guy, I'd say computers where a pretty unknown thing when we got them... That was new and niche when it all started. So we had the feeling of entering something totally new. But we were alone, on different computers, so a lot of islands...
I guess with internet, it's more like joining something that's rolling on but as big as an ocean..
I don't consider myself a "collector" but I have in my shelf a good pile of Microhobby and Micromania issues from the golden age too. Also I have a few "Programación Actual" issues, but from a later stage (end of 90s IIRC)
