The early 80s were amazing to me as a kid. The world was full of wonder and possibility.
Going through some PDFs of old computer magazines (specifically the May 1982 issue of Softline). Wow, this brings back memories. The early 80s were amazing to me as a kid. The world was full of wonder and possibility. Home computers were rather new-ish, and while I could use the TRS80s in the school library, somehow my mom found a way to get me my own back then (an Apple II clone from a friend, but it was upgraded to a genuine Apple IIGS a few years later).
I freaking loved it. I spent all my time on it. It was like a window to the world. I could dial in to BBSes and talk to people in other states. I could post a message in FIDO or Usenet and get replies from people all over the world! I use to hang out in comp.sys.apple2 (where I made an email pen pal who was going to university down in Australia) and rec.radio.shortwave as I had a cheap shortwave radio back then and loved to tune in to the BBC for the World News and the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp) for a show called Boomerang, which I think was geared toward non-Aussies learning about Oz.
This was all pre-internet, so the world was still this big wide world with mysterious corners that seemed impossibly far away. Everything not in my backyard was wonderfully exotic.
I started learning BASIC on my Apple II, and my high school offered a BASIC programming class that counted for a math elective. It had an actual hardcover textbook which I wish I still had today, just because. Funny memory I have of that class. Each assignment was a program we had to write. The number of the assignment was the number of REM statements we had to have. So, if we were on assignment 5, our program had to have 5 REM statements.
Apparently, I didn’t understand what REM statements were REALLY used for (documenting your code to explain what each part did) so, instead, I distinctly remember one program I wrote where I (quite innocently, because I just didn’t get it, I guess) put all my REM statements on top that had nothing to do with anything.
10 REM I DRIVE A BLUE OLDSMOBILE20 REM I BUY MY GAS AT AMOCO
I swear to God, there must’ve been something wrong with me.
From an article in this issue about the anachronistic blend of computer enthusiasts who also love Renaissance Faires:
During the day at the Renaissance Faire she is a brilliant politician and the darling of her people; at night, when the red wig, pancake makeup, and the jewels come off, Queen Elizabeth I turns into Luisa Puig, a computer operator on a Lexitron 1303 with the Southern California Rapid Transit District.
“Computer operator” used to be a decently paying technical job. And, they mentioned WHICH computer you worked on. Nobody gives a damn what you use now.
