Classic Computer Magazine Archive
savetz writes "I think /. readers will find this of interest: the Classic Computer Magazine Archive serves up the full text from old compter mags: three years of Creative Computing plus every issue of Antic, STart, and Hi-Res. There's also a bit of text from Compute! and Compute!'s Gazette. Everything is there with permission from the publishers."
- adam
Ah yes, when computer magazines weren't 90% ads, and contained genuinely useful and interesting, intelligtently written articles covering a myriad of topics both popular and obscure.
:-(
Where did you go?
It's a Unix system - I know this.
My father actually has a lot of 'OMNI' and 'OMEGA' science magazines, i'm not sure if you guys had them in the states but in Australia they were popular science magazines in the early 80's. It's good to read through theories that either still stand today or have been proven right or wrong.
I read through the reviews of the 'latest' technology the time had to offer, it's quite an interesting read. As well as classic computer ads such as the house that burnt down and the Apple IIe was the only things besides the cat that survived.
Did you know that sega's first consoles had tape decks? The magazines are quite old. I'll scan them one day.
Be you Admins? nay, we are but lusers!
I heard that. Creative Computing was the magazine that got me really excited about computers. The collection of stuff was always eclectic, humorous, informative, and driven by a passion to communicate the excitement of the new world that was opening up. Younger people should be rightly suspicious when old coots start prattling about how much better things were in the day, but I'm here to bear witness that every now and then things really were better, and Creative Computing was one of those things.
Ya 1 & 2, I remember them both too. c64 emu's are around, I've played with them. I probably still have the disk. I could find it if I hunted around for it enough. I have about a thousand disks with games for c64. Damn I loved that thing..
"I either want less corruption, or more chance
to participate in it." -- Ashleigh Brilliant
What the Fu*k happened?
The vast majority of people found easier ways of enjoying their computers more. Most people are a long way short of even understanding programming, let alone enjoying it. Printed program listings were tedious, cover tapes then disks, CD's and finally websites were a godsend.
Dave
I write a blog now, you should be afraid.
The REALLY old Byte from circa 1976 and the next six years was the really good stuff - hardware projects, language design, heavy programming including assembler.
:(
It's what got me (starting at age 12) into all aspects of computers: theory, hardware, firmware, communications, and software.
So sad that it became just another PC Magazine + Computer Shopper. bleah!
Sure do. Here's an archive of the programs from Nibble. No articles though...
My point is, I doubt people were hand-entering code because that act in and of itself brought them some sort of perverse joy. At the time, hand-entering listings was simply what it took to get the code on their system so they could play with it.
LRC, the best-read libertarian site on the web
I agree with this only because most of us do not relate to the computer in the way made popular by these old publications, but I think you miss the point.
Websites, CD's and other media can bring new computer experiences and communication to us, but without anyone evangalizing (sp!) the actual art of computing, our industry will grow stale --a large portion of it has!
Most of us don't care how the computer works, but that small percent that does is what makes the difference.
This is why things like Linux *need* to be avaliable for people to understand and create with. This could be *Bsd, Hurd or anything else that is free as in freedom as long as it is open to those who want to look.
This is also why hacking is *not* a bad thing in and of itself. We paid for the stuff, we should be able to do what we want with it. I could as a kid, nothing should have changed.
Without these two things in place, our 'new' creations will simply be those things that are planned and accounted for. In this context, are they really creations, or just natural selection of the controlled set of possibilities?
The difference is more than you think.
When I was in high school, I was connecting my computer to other things and making them go. Nobody told me computers were bad. Nobody told me it could not be done. Nobody told me that I could be breaking the law by simply learning and sharing with others the results!
When I asked the question, and gave the answer, I really meant this:
Those who built their empires today fear for their future. They were the kids typing in the codes, learning new things and in a position to take advantage of it.
Now they use their position not to further the industry, but to secure their position in it AT THE EXPENSE OF THE REST OF US. This is wrong at its most basic level and a lot of people here know it.
Problem is that most everyone else doesn't!
That is what the fu*k happened!
Now it is not all bad, we all have machines, they are cheap and connected. Good, but getting stale. It's time for the next round.
Somewhere in a small town high school, a group of kids might be computing on whatever they can find. It is likely they are using Linux and learning more together then they could ever learn alone.
Good for them and good for us.
Hope they see a coupla issues of Compute! or Byte! and know that they are doing the right thing.
If they can get the same encouragement and freedom we all did, then perhaps we just might get the benefit, just as our elders did.
Blogging because I can...