I've been online since 1998, so, just over 8 years.
Me and computers go way back, though, starting with an Atari 2600 around 1981. I ruled at Pacman and [in]famously got through 8 hours of non-stop playing. Being 6 years old, I only stopped because it was bed time.
I also ruled at Real Sports Tennis - I never lost a single game.
Moved onto an Amstrad CPC464 in 1986, which is what first got me interested in programming.
Got a Commodore 64 a few years later and its own version of BASIC put me right off until I got an Amiga 500 in 1991 and a copy of AMOS. When AMOS Pro came along I wrote my first complete game which was published by Alternative Software.
Meanwhile I upgraded to an Amiga 1200, wrote more games - mostly Licenceware and Public Domain stuff, plus a self-published title which I did well to break even with, given that Commodore went bust, then Escom as well.
I started work in March 1998 as a PC games tester for Gremlin Interactive. An achievement, considering I'd never even used a PC before. Got online in 1998 and discovered there was a PC version of Blitz Basic a couple of years later, so got back into programming again.
Lucky I did. Those little games I write that take me a couple of months each have given me a five-figure return so far for very little outlay.