1990 - Using "The Oregon Trail" on an Apple IIe in Kindergarten

My father had a computer in our home for as long as I can
remember. I remember him using WordPerfect on DOS to write his
High Holy Day sermons (he is a rabbi at a synagogue in Cincinnati),
and occasionally, playing a very primitive game of computer
solitaire when he was trying NOT to write his sermons. I don't
really remember touching that computer until I was at least 6 or 7,
though.

My first computer experience was with an Apple IIe in the
state-of-the-art computer lab at my elementary school.
Once a week, every class in this K-4 school got an hour of
computer lab time, and we got to do various things on the Apple
IIe's. "Various things" encompassed a learn-to-type program, a
child's word processing program, and the still-loved Oregon Trail.
Playing "The Oregon Trail" is the most vivid computing memory
that I have from my early days, although the learn-to-type
program was definitely helpful. We played "The Oregon Trail" for at
least four weeks of every year from kindergarten to fourth grade
(probably because it was one of the only games available fifteen
years ago, and because it was "educational"), and it never grew old
or tiresome.

I loved playing on those Apple IIe computers. I still have a soft
spot in my heart for the green-and-black screens, terrible
graphics, and complicated start-up and shut-down processes.

And of course, for "The Oregon Trail."

Jenna