My 2p: Don't pay too much heed to the CS crowd. Get a book on 6502 & maybe the Complete Commodore 64 ROM Disassembly. Download VICE, cc65, Contiki OS, lbForth, QEMU. Google Dave Cutler, Alan Kay. Remember the 80s is luxury land it was all done & dusted in the 70s, maybe the 50s or even the 30s. Good luck best wishes all that.