My father, an electronics engineer by trade, was restless for most of his life. He constantly sought novel experiences, and he often grew bored with gadgets and machines. As a result, he was known to trade in cars and cameras a few times a year and, while looking back through family photos recently, I noticed the same principle also applied to personal computers.

Between 1981 and 1989, my family owned at least nine different models of personal computers—usually two at a time, with my dad trading out the more expensive ones as time went on.

For example, in 1981 (the year I was born), he bought an Atari 800 for my older brother, then he hand built an Apple II clone himself. In 1984, he sold the Apple II clone to a friend and bought an Apple IIc. In 1987, he sold the Apple IIc and bought an Atari 1040STf. Then in 1988, he bought a Macintosh SE and sold the Atari ST. Somewhere in there he also bought an IBM PC AT clone computer, an IBM PS/2, and a Toshiba T-1000. Phew.

As a result, I grew up around a bunch of different computer systems. (I guess it’s no wonder why I like them so much.) That parade of computers continued throughout the 1990s, too. But for nostalgia’s sake, I thought it would be fun to look back through some of my personal family computer photos from the 1980s.

The 1980s were a special time for home PCs. Before the Wintel duopoly cemented, computer platform diversity flourished—especially earlier in that decade. I was part of the first generation of kids to grow up with personal computers in the home, and there’s no doubt the experiences of my generation (like those before us) laid the groundwork of the computerized world we see today.

I’m hoping that, in the slides ahead, you’ll see slices of history that may remind you of your own childhood, those of your siblings, or even those of your parents if you are young enough. It’s important to appreciate the culture that grew up around these wonder machines during their golden era.