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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."

15 of 246 comments (clear)

  1. How to get permission from Creative Computing? by AdamBa · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I am wondering who "owns" Creative Computing now, that they got permission from. The reason is because of the books that CC published, Basic Computer Games, and More Basic Computer Games, I think some of those games would be interesting to update to modern BASIC, convert to other languages, etc.

    - adam

    1. Re:How to get permission from Creative Computing? by ni5mo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I would like to see modern computer magazines provide their back issues online. I mean surely they don't derive income from issues over 1-2 years old.
      It would certainly clear some room in my cupboard, 'cause one day my life may depend on knowing which brand of 386 won the editors choice in APCmag.

    2. Re:How to get permission from Creative Computing? by larry+bagina · · Score: 2, Insightful

      they might not make any money off old issues, but there is a cost associated with converting them into a format viewable online. Additionally, there might be issues with who owns the rights to the articles (some contracts may revert ownership after xx years, or might have only specified the magaize had print publishing rights, etc).

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  2. Makes we want to cry... by benbean · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.
    1. Re:Makes we want to cry... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ah yes, when computer magazines weren't 90% ads,

      Put down the crack pipe! Either they were chock full of ads, or they tried to get most of their revenue from high subscription costs and/or cheap writers. The age of ad-funded magazines was a good one.

      Remember when Computer Shopper had great articles, was about 1" thick and cost $2.95? Now it's paper thin, issue price is up to $4.99, there are NO articles worth reading anymore, and no decent ads. I didn't care that half the ads were for porn or "adult" services, it was an easy stream of revenue that kept the quality relatively high at the time. Now it's all crap. The same goes for most other magazines that have been around and/or absorbed by the Ziff-Davis-kiss-o-blandness-empire.

      I say bring back the good ole' days!

    2. Re:Makes we want to cry... by Jonathan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, you are confusing two eras here -- the golden age of Computer Shopper (early '90s) with the golden age of Creative Computing (early '80s). And as someone who remembers both eras, I can assure you that Creative Computing did have fewer ads and more content than Computer Shopper. Then again, nobody I knew (including me) actually read any of the so-called "articles" in Computer Shopper -- we just bought it to find the lowest price for RAM and hard drives in the dark ages before the Web.

      Now, Creative Computing, well, think of Dr. Dobbs Journal with more of sense of wonder and less "learn this new technology and maybe you won't lose your job at the next rightsizing" attitude

  3. I like the old stuff... by acehole · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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!
    1. Re:I like the old stuff... by puto · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Jaysus H Christ on a digital crutch.

      Talk about dredge up a memory! There was a pic of the Apple // case melted and all and it was working!

      Damn I feeling pretty young and chipper til you reminded of that.

      We used to use that as evidence that the Apple was superior.

      That was before Apple Users claimed that Apple *invented* Unix, windowing, and the mouse.

      Puto

      --
      The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
  4. Creative Computing by Angry+Toad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  5. Re:Cross Roads - For Real by bwhaley · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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
  6. Re:This is important stuff! by WasterDave · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.
  7. Re:The Old Byte Magazines by iggymanz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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! :(

  8. Re:Anyone remember Nibble ? by homer_ca · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sure do. Here's an archive of the programs from Nibble. No articles though...

  9. Re:This is important stuff! by runderwo · · Score: 2, Insightful
    The vast majority of people found easier ways of enjoying their computers more.
    They didn't "find" these ways though; they were developed as technology progressed. Once BBS systems became popular, it was easier to trade program listings via boards because only one person had to type them in to begin with. Once diskette drives were standard on most machines, magazines shipped cover disks or had magazine-on-disk publications like Softdisk or Big Blue Disk.

    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.

  10. Re:This is important stuff! by PotatoHead · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.