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Software Distribution By Vinyl
townxelliot writes "Beige Records is home to the intriguing 8-Bit Construction Set. Their record has the distinction of being "the first ever use of the vinyl recording medium for software distribution - the inside tracks are audio data which can be dubbed to cassette tape and booted in your respective atari or commodore 8-bit computers". Samples of their music ("entirely programmed in 6502 assembly language") are available for download."
Basicode (Hobbyscoop) was distributed on flexi discs..
This page has data on various vinyl records with computer data stored on them. Most of which are about 20 years old. So they're not the first to distribute computer data on vinyl.
10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
20 GOTO 10
If you want weird software distribution, the BBC (and Channel 4) broadcast software through teletext services at one point as well.
Although that wasn't data as sound, teletext uses unused parts of the picture.
10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
20 GOTO 10
When I worked on Commodore User (UK mag) in the 80s, we gave away a flexi-disc as a covermount. It was basically a floppy plastic record. One side was a Heaven 17 track and the other, IIRC, was a datatrack designed to be recorded onto tape then loaded on a C64.
Rainbow Magazine used to ship with a floppy record every once in a while.
It had the same code on it that was listed in the magazine in text, but the record came without the typing and type-o-ing.
Rainbow Magazine was a magazine with content based around the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer.
Never ask for directions from a two-headed tourist! -Big Bird
Cheers,
Ian
If you Listen To TFA, you'll realise that this isn't just software written to vinyl, this is software encoded in music, that happens to be written to vinyl. That is, the assembly code, when played back, actually SOUNDS like music. This is completely different from having a data section at the end of a vinyl disc (for all of you who have been using that as a "this has been done before with..." example).
'tho listening to some Speedy-J tracks, sounds like there some data encoded in those!
-2A
The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
Well, it's possible in theory, there was a vinyl-based video system called SelectaVision / VideoDisc.
Though, the discs themselves used read mechanism that was very different from LPs, and also had far higher groove density than LPs; if you store analog video on LPs, you probably get either a very short video or a very bad resolution.
"The looser the waistband, the deeper the quicksand", or so I have read.
hi folks
thanks for the debate on our record, hope someone likes the music anyway. obviously not the first data on vinyl [just never bothered to change the webpage in 5 years] and actually not the first time the 8-bit construction set has been slashdotted. but nonetheless it's always a pleasure to see what people think.
we received an anonymous and very interesting email in early 2002 detailing some patents regarding software distribution on vinyl. i'm appending it below for interested parties.
thanks again
& peace out nerds
paul
paul AT beigerecords DOT com
*****
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 23:59:03 -0500
Distribution of computer programs on vinyl records
was done in the early 70's by several different
researchers. First, a guy named
Allan B. Chertok. He has several patents in this field,
which I would recommend that you guys read:
US Patent 3,662,350 (1972)
US Patent 3,740,733 (1973)
US Patent 3,662,354 (1972)
Also- Norman L. Harvey. This guys was a real genius.
Check out his patent: US 3,755,792 (1973).
This is not to say that your work is not "original"
and "cool". But please- give credit where credit is due!
*****