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Comment by Scubabear68 | Hacker News Reader

Heavy nostalgia for me thinking of computer magazines. We were fairly poor, but I could afford Byte magazine. Late 70’s and early 80s I absorbed computing like a sponge from about age 10, with my only time using actual computers in stores like K-Mart. When I saw the ZX-80 kit in Popular Electronics I started my begging to dad. Then the ZX-81 came out along with its sister the Timex-Sinclair 1000, and it was finally cheap enough for my dad to manage it.

I didn’t care about the membrane keyboard. Or the tape cassette inputs. Or the crashing from the 16k ram pack. It was a computer, and it was mine. And I started applying all that Byte knowledge.

I barely attended college, and didn’t need to. Byte, and its lesser sisters was a far better education for me.

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I remember Byte magazine too. When I discovered it and was able to subscribe, every issue was full of exciting new ideas, amazing incredible list of endless companies selling pc stuff. My grandfather signed up for it, and then I later got my own subscription. I was in high school, and I loved the tech world. I don't know why I didn't try to get a job in some computer repair shop. I was lucky enough to have an atari 400, the casette drive, the chiclet keyboard. I learned basic, then I hand assembled 6502 assembly to do stuff. I had that great book, De Rei Atari, and I did some crazy stuff like a little assembly on the vertical blank interval to do some wacky visual effect.

This was a foundational time for and probably millions of future engineers. I wish I could go back to that time ;-)

I got an Atari XE when I was a kid. In addition to Byte for news, I always had to pick up a copy of Antic, an Atari specific magazine with listings (mnany simple games) in each issue to type in. Mostly in BASIC and some assembly.

In India we had (still are? I don’t know) Chip, Digit, Linux For You and similar computer magazines. I learned so much from them, they showcased a whole variety of things, hardware parts reviews, interesting PC builds, nifty tricks and so on.

But what I looked forward to most was the included CDs. They would contain so many software, trial wares, free wares, game packs, screensavers, Winamp skins. It was like being a kid in a candy store.

Hey, I had a very similar experience. Growing up in Bombay in the late 90s, chip and digit were literally my introduction to computing. Though I was not that much into gaming, they made me a fan of computer architecture, of graphics cards and so on. I guess being a nerd hanging around lamington road, almost harassing the shopkeepers for deeper tech specs of every component was more education than any university could ever provide.

Then came Linux for you, and made me try my first Linux distro - xandros 2003. Then there was the complete 3 DVD Debian distro on LFY made me create an openmpi HPC in college among so many other things completely ignored by the formal education system.

I think there is a real value to limited, quality information like these magazines that the internet ruined. Devs these days have unlimited information at their fingertips - the internet and now chatgpt. But now the onus is on us - are we asking the right questions?

This stirred memories for me. My introduction to Indian computing magazines came later and my first Linux distro was a version of SuSe in 2007. I also fondly remember the free Linux CDs and DVDs that were around at the time. The magazines were one source, Ubuntu was another. The free Linux CD project was yet another.

You raise a good question about drowning in the flood of info on the internet. The lack of gatekeepers has upsides as well as downsides. One of those downsides is the lack of quality control. The Linux and computing magazines in India were very high quality and they got a lot of people interested in computing.

I remember Computers@Home. Convinced my parents to buy me my first PC after reading that magazine. The included CDs were a delight. Internet was so slow that I only ever played game demos from the CD. Haven't thought about that magazine for years!

I have a similar nostalgia for the days I waited for Byte magazine to be translated into its Arabic version in Jordan and distributed in other countries in the region. Those translators would be sought after and get high salaries-$10k per month for other computer magazines-PC and Winmag magazines,in the late 90s, those would be photocopied and distributed in Yemen, Libya and other countries in the region. I subscribed to an e-newsletter from Winmag Karen Kenworthy, who wrote for Windows Magazine and Winmag.com for almost a decade. One Winmag author-Mike Elgan- is still active until now.

In 5th grade, around 1980, I would skip school lunchtime and spend it in the school library instead. The library had all the computer magazines, and Byte was my favorite. I would rather read these computer magazines than eat. I saved my lunch money every day and saved up enough plus some birthday money to buy an Atari 400 and a small black and white TV. I was in heaven. I eat pretty well now, and no doubt those early magazines and my first computer led directly to my prosperity all these years later.

In 5th grade, around 1998, a friend and I spent a few lunchtimes in the library decoding the Ultima Online rune alphabet from known town names on the paper map. In retrospect we probably could have just looked it up online but I think we hadn't yet developed the search-everything mindset.

I hadn't thought of this in a long time before your comment reminded me.

>a friend and I spent a few lunchtimes in the library decoding the Ultima Online rune alphabet from known town names on the paper map. In retrospect we probably could have just looked it up online but I think we hadn't yet developed the search-everything mindset

It's very sad to realise that that feeling is never going to come back.

Heavy nostalgia for me too. I grew up in a small town that didn't even have a library back at the time. The monthly magazine was my only source of information and I still keep every single issue in my attic - that's how precious they were to my.

+10,000 for Popular Electronics reference

"Used over and over till they were tired and torn. Like a broken clock that can't tell time. Like a thick ass book that's filled with wack rhymes."

https://youtu.be/eH8RhX2Veog

This is incredible. Thanks for sharing!

Reminds me of: https://cabel.com/2023/11/06/dak-and-the-golden-age-of-gadge...

My journey is very similar

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