My first introduction to world of computers was a book by Nigel Hawkes: “Computers How They Work - The Electronic Revolution” (1983). Obviously, this was before I learned English so the actual book was the Finnish translation “Tietokone – Kuinka se toimii” (1985). The content was clearly dated even for 1983: The focus was on minicomputers and the images were extremely 60s and 70s. There was some mention of the coming microcomputer revolution and the notion that “soon many families might have a computer at home”, and some fantastical description on how “modems would be used to connect to central computers from home”. The personal computer revolution was already in full swing by 1985, making any printed material only couple of years old look very dated.

Regardless, this book was really great in explaining the very basics of computers - it even explained how binary works.

#nostalgia #retrocomputing #childrensbooks

Follow

@harrysintonen My first introduction was programming BASIC on the ABC 80, think it was around 1978, my father borrowed a prototype version from work. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_80

I did buy some English books and magazines at IP (international press center) stores in Stockholm, there wasn't much written in Swedish at the time.

@modrobert @harrysintonen ABC 80 was the first time I touched a computer when my dad bought one. The only game (moon lander) was a bit too complex for ~8yo but I loved the keyboard.

The first lines of BASIC I typed when I was a "10x developer" a bit later with my own #Atari 800 XL.😁

Sign in to participate in the conversation
Qoto Mastodon

QOTO: Question Others to Teach Ourselves
An inclusive, Academic Freedom, instance
All cultures welcome.
Hate speech and harassment strictly forbidden.