DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters here that I didn't make up myself. I don't own Lizzie McGuire, but she's not actually born yet at the time of this story, anyway.
"So, that pattern of lights, On-Off-On, represents the binary number 101, which is 5 in the decimal number system that humans prefer. Therefore, the computer is telling us that the next digit in pi is a 5."
Sam had finally taken up on Larry Tudgeman's offer to come over to his place to see his computer, and Larry was demonstrating how to use it to calculate the value of pi (π).
"Well, I'm not really very fluent in binary," said Sam. "I wish that thing could speak English."
"It'll be better when I get a video terminal; I'm saving up for it now," said Larry. "And, with the terminal, I'll be able to program the computer in a higher level language than the binary-based machine language I'm using now; it's not quite plain English, but the BASIC programming language uses a lot of English words like 'PRINT' and 'NEXT'. An interesting thing about it is that the BASIC programming language for the Altair computer wasn't made by the company that manufactured the computer itself; instead, a guy named Bill Gates started a new company, called Microsoft, just to make and sell software for computers, such as the BASIC interpreter he wrote. That's a brilliant idea, starting a company to sell software; that's where the big money is going to be. Computer hardware is going to become a commodity item that will keep getting cheaper as technology improves, but it takes real smarts to create the programs that make the computers do useful things; the people who do that will be the ones who really profit. I tried to get my dad to invest in that Microsoft company, but he wouldn't do it; he thinks computers are just a fad."
"I don't blame him," said Sam. "I wouldn't invest in a company called 'Microsoft'. When you invest in a small company, you're doing it because you hope they get big and make lots of money, but what does it tell you when a company has 'Micro' in its name? It means that they're small, and proud of it, and they'll never get big… wouldn't it be pretty stupid for there to be a huge company with 'Micro' in its name? And 'Soft' isn't very good, either… if I actually had any money to invest, I'd want to put it in hard assets… something with solid value. 'Soft' sounds weak and mushy."
"OK… so, you and my dad can pass on it," said Larry, "but somebody is going to get rich on that stuff… just wait. But meanwhile, I'm too poor myself to even get a display terminal for my computer… unless, maybe, I can sell off some of my comic book collection."
"You've got a comic book collection?", said Sam. "Cool… can I see it?"
Larry showed Sam some of his comics. "And this one is my most valuable issue, Fantastic Four #1. When it came out in 1961, fourteen years ago, it sold for a mere dime. The next issue, the cover price went up to twelve cents, and now the current issues are a quarter… that's inflation for you… but collectors are paying anywhere from a hundred dollars and up for this issue now. Pretty neat capital appreciation, huh? Especially considering I got my copy at a used-book store for a nickel!"
"Wow," said Sam, "I didn't know comic books could be so valuable. It makes me feel bad that I didn't stop my mom from throwing out my comics when we moved from Michigan. But I wanted to be sure everybody knew I had outgrown those childish things. At least I kept my baseball card collection."
"I never was into sports myself," said Larry. "But comics aren't all childish; some of them get pretty sophisticated. You should check out the new X-Men; Marvel just gave that series a major revamping, and it has some very complex and thoughtful plotlines."
"I guess I'll give it a look," said Sam. "I liked the X-Men back when I still read lots of comics, though it seemed to be the least popular Marvel comic then. The whole thing about mutants being outcasts, teased and persecuted, was something I could relate to, since I got treated that way, and didn't even have mutant superpowers to compensate for it."
"Here, I'll let you borrow these: Giant Size X-Men #1 and X-Men #94 and 95; they're the start of the new series. Just try to keep them in mint condition; I suspect they'll be valuable some day, just like that Fantastic Four comic, once the fans catch on and X-Men becomes a hot series. Maybe there'll even be X-Men movies and TV shows some day."
"Thanks," said Sam. "Is it OK if I let Jo read these too? She seems to like some of this fantasy stuff too."
"Sure, if she's careful with them too," said Larry. "So, are you two still dating?"
"Well, after that roller-disco embarrassment, neither of us have really had the nerve to bring up dating again, but we see one another all the time because our lockers are right together… we're getting to be friends, but who's going to make the next move to go beyond that?", said Sam.
"Sorry," said Larry, "but I'm hardly the one to come to for advice on dating and relationships, since I've never had any."
"Quite all right… I'm not sure I want to get into any sort of relationship anyway… that can be nothing but trouble. Oh, on a completely different subject… I notice that you have a color TV in your house."
"Doesn't everybody, these days?", said Larry.
"You don't know my parents," said Sam. "Where technology is concerned, I figure that they'll finally decide to enter the 20th century somewhere around the year 2001. We've still only got a black-and-white TV."
"Poor deprived kid… somebody should report your substandard housing to Child Welfare!", said Larry.
"Anyway," said Sam, "I was wondering if you'd let me come over Saturday and watch the opening game of the World Series on your TV."
"Well, like I said, I'm not really into sports," said Larry, "but I also don't really get people coming over to my place very often… even nerds like me can get lonely. Sure… come over, and bring some friends, if you have any. So, who's playing in this World Series, anyway?"
"The Reds and the Red Sox," said Sam.
"That sounds so… monochrome," said Larry. "Why do you need a color TV for that? You could just put some red plastic over your black-and-white screen, and it would look the same."
"Very funny," said Sam. "But this looks like it might be one of the most exciting World Series ever; the Sox are trying to break their curse – they haven't won a World Series since 1918 – but the Reds are one of the hottest teams in baseball, full of great hitters like Pete Rose, so it's going to be a real battle."
"That does sound like it would be exciting, if I had any interest in baseball," said Larry. "But do come over, and see if you can bring some more people… I might get a chance to show them my computer too!"
"OK," said Sam. "And one more thing… do you think I can come a little early and watch Land of the Lost in color too? I've always wanted to know what color the Sleestaks are!"