I started programming in college on a VAX system. Back then, I didn't even have a monitor. You just typed on the keyboard and the printer would spit out what you typed. They you would compile the code and run it.
I was so excited when they added monitors so I could finally cut, copy, and paste! WooHoo!
I remember the Leading Edge computers. They were assembled down the road in Canton, MA.
I used Wordstar on my Compaq portable. (more like luggable) It weighed 35 pounds, had dual 5.25" floppy drives and a tiny monitor.
I eventually replaced one of the floppy drives with a 20MB Hard Drive.
This is what it looked like:
http://www.vintage-computer.com/compaq_portable.shtml 
