No source on the changes afoot then in computing was more compelling than WiReD Magazine. Its first 3-5 years were simply riveting: great insightful imaginative stories and fascinating interviews with folks whose font of creative ideas seemed unstoppable and sure to change the world. Each month's issue sucked all my time until it was read cover to cover and then discussed with others ASAP. That was a great time to be young and alive.
But Wired wasn't alone. Before them, Creative Computing and Byte were also must reads. Between 1975 and maybe 1990, the computing hobbyist community was red hot with hacks of all kinds, hard and soft. No way I was going to take a job that was NOT in computing. So I did. Been there ever since.
The right magazines were worth their weight in gold back then, for sure.
We didn't have internet at home, and I was still in school, so the Knowledge Base articles on the MSDN CDs pretty much taught me.
I still have most of my dev books. I figure if I ever get a huge bookshelf they'll help fill it out, and give the kids something to talk about.