Please don't assume that we third-worlders didn't have 8-bit computers when we were kids. Here in India we had at least two licensed clones when I was 10: dB Spectrum Plus, a ZX Spectrum+ clone by deciBells Electronics and SCL's clone of the BBC Micro B. I hacked on the Beeb at school until I got a Spectrum of my own at home.

I'd posit that it's not necessary to being a good programmer anyway.