Compute magazine and its glorious, tedious type-in code (2012)

My introduction to programming was this series:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Adventure

You'd type in BASIC programs (line numbers!) that would reveal plot points, usually by deciphering an encrypted message (if memory serves).

My daughter gets a kids' magazine called Aquila, and an issue a couple of months ago it had something about the Raspberry Pi in it and had a load of Python code to type in create some slime mould patterns (https://www.aquila.co.uk/media/432350/spiralcode.html).

That fisking ZX81 - it was fun, but with the bulky 16K RAM Pack slotted in behind it, made using it a precarious pastime.

One little knock, and 99% of the time the Ram Pack edge connector momentarilly lost a contact on one of the lines and the ZX81 would crash hard - and there went 2 hours of carefully typed in (on a membrane keyboard :D ) hexadecimal code, and much grinding and gnashing of teeth a moment later after a stunned, blank stare ;)

And don't get me started on MSX (their machine language entry / editor) lines that didn't checksum. Infuriating...

Back in those days you could find lots of recycled crap by authors who knew nothing but how to cash in on the microcomputer craze, or tons of abstruse theory without any examples. COMPUTE fixed both problems, teaching the theory behind the code it presented while staying accessible.

COMPUTE shepherded me to what has been to me an enormously successful career (great jobs, fascinating work, complete independence, no debt, the ability to take care of two medically expensive children, and my house paid for).

The writing was lively. It was actually edited. Even the colors and illustration were buoyant but not condescending.

The best programs in those days were written in assembly, but assembly listings were way too long, no one knew assembly, and no one could afford an assembler. So most magazines had to repurpose Hangman and Hunt the Wumpus every third article.

COMPUTE's innovative answer was MSX, which allowed users the ability to get a professionally created machine language program without having to subscribe to expensive online resources or to mail in for an expensive floppy disk.

MSX was ingenious and no other magazine had anything like it. It was a short BASIC program you would use to enter the numbers shown (not the first column). The two-digit columns were converted by MSXX to a binary executable. It then wrote the program straight into memory. You could then save your finished program on tape or disk.

The rewards could be splendid. The December issue shown on the right featured Speedscript, a good enough word processor that I was able to make a living with it for years as a technical writer. (Had to hook up an electric typewriter to my PC via a parallel interface gizmo.) Yes, it took me probably 4 hours to enter, but I was literally able to earn a living with it.

Another revolutionary program was Laser Chess. It spawned many imitators, some thriving to this day. I confess I never played it because I was actually too jealous, despite a lifelong interest in strategy games. The game was so good, it just hurt too much.

empressplay's remark about checksum problems is sort of true. It had a crude checksum feature that worked line by line, and occasionally a false positive went through, requiring you to spend a few hours retyping the program. Stil, the only other way you could find new apps this good was to pay way more than the price of a magazine.

COMPUTE actually paid decently, so you even saw people like Orson Scott Card on the payroll. He edited one of my articles but I hadn't read Enders Game. My editor Clifton Karnes is and always was both a first-rate programmer and commercial-quality graphic artist, and was a wonderful editor to boot.

I've made lots of money, bought way too many guitars, and got to work at one of the greatest companies in the world (Microsoft's dev tools division at their peak), but few things were as thrilling as when I became a writer and then columnist for COMPUTE! It had given so much to me--literally, a dream career in very dark times--that I still grateful to be a part of their history.

RIP, COMPUTE! And thank you for 30+ years of working awesome jobs, all of which may have gone into the bitbucket without that first September 1983 issue.

http://www.abandonware-magazines.org/affiche_mag.php?mag=7