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When I was a kid with my TRS-80 Color Computer, there were computer magazines that had plastic "records" as inserts with programs on them [1]. You could snap o

When I was a kid with my TRS-80 Color Computer, there were computer magazines that had plastic "records" as inserts with programs on them [1]. You could snap out the thin plastic disk and play it on your record player so you could record it to a cassette tape to load onto your computer. I never got it to work, because the programs were (mostly) for Commodore computers. Didn't stop me from trying. Also tried to make my own "modem" by connecting wires from the serial port directly to an old phone. (No schematics or anything... Just red to red, blue to blue, etc.) Looking back, it would have been nice to have had an adult around to help me out a bit. Considering the crackles, pops, etc. that are normal audio artifacts of record players, I'd be surprised if the records worked for anyone, actually. 1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexi_disc https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexi_disc

sundvor 8y ago
That's nice! On a related note, I just recalled the magazines with code listings in them - pages upon pages. And yes, I would spend hours typing them all in. Even before I got my tape drive. :p
- tluyben2 8y ago
  Yep, my first computer didn't have any storage, so I typed over games from magazines, played them and left the computer on. When it switched off, the game was gone and I typed in another game. It definitely gave me a lot more quality playing time as this was the only thing the magic machine gave me. When bored with the game I would start changing things in the code; first randomly and getting many errors, but after a while it started to make sense.
  - sundvor 8y ago
    Very true. Yes that is what it was like! I vaguely remember that the TV I used was the family TV as well, which led to some contention. Of course the computer could be left on, but accidents did happen..
- zimpenfish 8y ago
  > And yes, I would spend hours typing them all in. You'd get 90% of the way through and someone walking down the next road would cause the RAM pack to wobble and your Spectrum / ZX81 would reset itself. Or it'd be a page of hex printed at 72dpi dark grey on black 6pt font and you'd misread one of the Es as an F and nothing would work but you'd spend hours trying to figure out which one it was. Ah, kids of today, they've got it easy.
  - sundvor 8y ago
    Aye sir, I laughed with familiarity! Yet we didn't have social media, so I guess that they can't have it both ways.
zimpenfish 8y ago
> I never got it to work There was an Thompson Twins game[1] distributed as a flexidisc for the Spectrum. Never got it to work - just couldn't get the disc to play reliably. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thompson_Twins_Adventure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thompson_Twins_Adventure
- russellbeattie 8y ago
  OMG! You have to find a Spectrum emulator and find that game so you can play it! You can't go through life with that unfinished! I may do it myself just out of solidarity! Years ago I found a bunch of my old CoCo tapes and loaded them up in an emulator. It was cathartic to say the least: https://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/letter-defender-my-big-program-from-30-years-ago https://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/letter-defender-my-big-p...

sundvor 8y ago

That's nice! On a related note, I just recalled the magazines with code listings in them - pages upon pages. And yes, I would spend hours typing them all in. Even before I got my tape drive. :p

tluyben2 8y ago
Yep, my first computer didn't have any storage, so I typed over games from magazines, played them and left the computer on. When it switched off, the game was gone and I typed in another game. It definitely gave me a lot more quality playing time as this was the only thing the magic machine gave me. When bored with the game I would start changing things in the code; first randomly and getting many errors, but after a while it started to make sense.
- sundvor 8y ago
  Very true. Yes that is what it was like! I vaguely remember that the TV I used was the family TV as well, which led to some contention. Of course the computer could be left on, but accidents did happen..
zimpenfish 8y ago
> And yes, I would spend hours typing them all in. You'd get 90% of the way through and someone walking down the next road would cause the RAM pack to wobble and your Spectrum / ZX81 would reset itself. Or it'd be a page of hex printed at 72dpi dark grey on black 6pt font and you'd misread one of the Es as an F and nothing would work but you'd spend hours trying to figure out which one it was. Ah, kids of today, they've got it easy.
- sundvor 8y ago
  Aye sir, I laughed with familiarity! Yet we didn't have social media, so I guess that they can't have it both ways.

zimpenfish 8y ago

> I never got it to work There was an Thompson Twins game[1] distributed as a flexidisc for the Spectrum. Never got it to work - just couldn't get the disc to play reliably. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thompson_Twins_Adventure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thompson_Twins_Adventure

russellbeattie 8y ago
OMG! You have to find a Spectrum emulator and find that game so you can play it! You can't go through life with that unfinished! I may do it myself just out of solidarity! Years ago I found a bunch of my old CoCo tapes and loaded them up in an emulator. It was cathartic to say the least: https://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/letter-defender-my-big-program-from-30-years-ago https://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/letter-defender-my-big-p...