I owe a debt of gratitude to Microsoft Publisher. Back in 1997 I was regularly using Microsoft Publisher for my primary school assignments. As soon as I realised that you could use it to create webpages, I was hooked! I was a bit too young at that point to understand coding things by hand, but with Publisher I could dive right in. And I haven't stopped since!
I started with PageStream on the Amiga then later went to Publisher on the PC; I used both of them heaps, primarily for print - got myself a HP LaserJet 4P which was just glorious. Did club newsletters, school works / assignments, cafe menus, everything. Great times.
I actually bought the boxed edition of PageStream with my paper boy money, even though I was just a high school student at the time. That's how much into it I was. :-)
(The skillsets picked up from this along with Assembly on the Amiga transitioned reasonably well into a career of web development and software engineering.)
