back when i was 4 (or earlier) mum used to take me to her school on inset (teacher training) days, and i was dumped in her school library, where they had lots of BBC micros and acorns

this has to be the main influence, also explains my ability in maths, back then (this is 12 years ago now at least), all i played were maths related games (and was pretty good :P)

at my own school, we had some bbcs and acorns, quite a few times the school let me borrow one of theirs for the weekend to play on (this is year 1 in uk.. so i'm 5-6)

i eventually got my own acorn (if you're in the UK it's the most common one you used to see in schools), that lasted a couple of years.. from then i got my first pc.. a comcrap 486.. to an apricot p75... and on and on