Author Topic: Really OT: the Byte magazine covers (Read 5230 times)

Francois · « **on:** April 04, 2015, 11:04:11 PM »

Now I know it doesn't get much more OT than that... (OK, it might be right up there with the rest of the OT stuff) but here's a trip down memory lane.
Anyone remember the old Byte Magazine? That monthly bible of the personal computing world?
Well I do and I've just stumbled onto a page where every issue's front page is scanned and archived.

There's something about this old skool illustration combined with fascinating new technology that still strikes a chord with me.
Like it's been said a million times before: the future was better in those days.

For your personal enjoyment, here is the link
http://www.jsommer.com/ByteMagCovers/CoverGallery.php

KevinAllan · « **Reply #1 on:** April 05, 2015, 12:00:48 AM »

Yes I do remember the mag. Funnily enough, only this evening I downloaded Free Pascal so that I can reminisce about my time programming with Turbo Pascal v5.5, over 20 years ago.

Kayos · « **Reply #2 on:** April 05, 2015, 09:05:13 AM »

Think I saw an Oric 80 on one of them, a true handheld pc that ran on AA batteries and iirc a form of dos, I had lots of fun with the one I aquired

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #3 on:** April 05, 2015, 11:06:03 AM »

Delicious find, Francois

Twenty years ago, I squeezed into a career in IT through the side door aged 28 and have spent the intervening years waiting for the tap on the shoulder from the Talent Police. I'm also a history buff by nature, so I find myself drawn irresistibly to the history of computing through shows like The Computer Chronicles (available online still if you want to spend a few months catching up on 1980's computing), or reading up about arcane and obsolete operating systems on Wikipedia. SO, this collection of Byte covers ticks a lot of my boxes.

LT · « **Reply #4 on:** April 05, 2015, 12:57:24 PM »

where does the film go?

Francois · « **Reply #5 on:** April 05, 2015, 02:33:13 PM »

Not much film in there, though I remember seeing a polaroid printer on the Computer Chronicles and it was really fascinating. It used some fiber optics to print on 600 film. There was a blinking light and suddenly kajiii and out came the print. Resolution was good too.

Ed: did you get to watch the Computer Bowl episodes? This was very interesting and offered some very funny moments.

I remember spending my childhood's Sunday mornings watching this. I think I must have seen them all from the first encyclopedia on laserdisk to the xerox phased printers, click drives and all...

Francois · « **Reply #6 on:** April 06, 2015, 03:25:23 PM »

Wow! I was looking through my stuff and just discovered this!
I didn't even know I had one in my closet!

It's an original Leon Approved graphic tablet computer that's complete with a light pen!

Just have a look at this beauty!

David A-W · « **Reply #7 on:** April 06, 2015, 10:08:39 PM »

I didn't really get IT back in the '80's - and looking at these covers reminds me why. I somehow seem to have made a living out of it over the past 30 years though.

Francois · « **Reply #8 on:** April 06, 2015, 10:29:13 PM »

I always loved IT, especially in the early days. Back then you had a feeling of being a pioneer simply by doing stuff people never thought possible.
But nowadays, things are so easy on modern computers that you can't impress people with many things.

I remember showing someone an animated demo (from the demoscene... remember those?) and simply being told "so?"... then I told them that it was a highly efficient program written in assembly... and the answer was simply "so what about it? It doesn't do nothing but move little bars on the screen."

Boy do I miss those days... copying Vic-20 datasette tapes with a sound system... playing Donkey Kong with my 16k memory extension...

sapata · « **Reply #9 on:** April 07, 2015, 03:00:32 AM »

Wow... they're work of art!
Some of them reminded me the Kraftwerk sleeve from "Computerworld"

Flippy · « **Reply #10 on:** April 07, 2015, 09:08:09 AM »

Kaypro 1 by berangberang, on Flickr

I have not one, not two, but three Kaypros in the closet.

One I've had for ages, the other two I got a few years ago because they were cheap and existed.

Bryan · « **Reply #11 on:** April 07, 2015, 04:18:53 PM »

Quote from: Flippy on April 07, 2015, 09:08:09 AM

I have not one, not two, but three Kaypros in the closet.
One I've had for ages, the other two I got a few years ago because they were cheap and existed.

My father has one or two of those in his basement plus a Sinclair ZX81. I remember when he got the ZX81, we hooked it up to our old Black and White TV and were so excited that we could type letters on the TV. He still has our Pong game console as well.

I remember in college my girlfriend borrowed the Kaypro to type a big mid term paper. She had little or no experience with computers. She was almost done typing it when she accidentally bumped the plug with her foot and unplugged it. She had not been saving the file and lost everything. After a lot of crying she got back to it saving every sentence.

Francois · « **Reply #12 on:** April 07, 2015, 08:53:39 PM »

What always makes me laugh is the definition of "portable" that we had in those days!

johnha · « **Reply #13 on:** April 07, 2015, 11:37:16 PM »

That was the heyday of computer magazine covers - they all seemed to lose the creativity when the PC became ubiquitous. Like the machines, the '80s micros were a great learning experience, compared with today where a lot of Computer Science graduates don't really know how computers work.

I've got several '80s micros in the loft - still more interesting than any of the modern stuff.

tkmedia · « **Reply #14 on:** April 08, 2015, 03:07:47 AM »

when computer user wanted to make, create and get work done instead of hitting like and repost buttons.

KevinAllan · « **Reply #15 on:** April 08, 2015, 09:42:36 AM »

Quote from: tkmedia on April 08, 2015, 03:07:47 AM

when computer user wanted to make, create and get work done instead of hitting like and repost buttons.

It could be argued that the Raspberry Pi is a step back to those times; however I must admit I've hardly used mine.

Francois · « **Reply #16 on:** April 08, 2015, 02:00:23 PM »

And I've been drooling over them for some time now. And they have a new board out that is more powerful at the same low price point!

johnha · « **Reply #17 on:** April 08, 2015, 09:47:08 PM »

Quote from: KevinAllan on April 08, 2015, 09:42:36 AM

Quote from: tkmedia on April 08, 2015, 03:07:47 AM
when computer user wanted to make, create and get work done instead of hitting like and repost buttons.

It could be argued that the Raspberry Pi is a step back to those times; however I must admit I've hardly used mine.

Especially when running RISC OS Open, being ARM architecture it boots in about 7 seconds and runs BBC BASIC lightning fast.

Francois · « **Reply #18 on:** April 08, 2015, 10:29:38 PM »

Quote from: KevinAllan on April 08, 2015, 09:42:36 AM

It could be argued that the Raspberry Pi is a step back to those times; however I must admit I've hardly used mine.

What you want to do is turn it into a MAME machine (hint hint)

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #19 on:** April 10, 2015, 12:28:59 AM »

I have a new Raspberry Pi 2. However, because I'm a fake geek and not a real one at all, I'm waiting until Microsoft release the "IOT" Win 10 version for it before I think of doing anything fun with it.

Francois · « **Reply #20 on:** April 10, 2015, 03:02:49 PM »

You can always use it as a media streaming box while you wait for it....
Or just put raspian on it...