4 ms·

Anyone have a larger collection of stories/anecdotes from the older days of computing? Stories like this, and the Quake cd posted recently, are hugely interest

Anyone have a larger collection of stories/anecdotes from the older days of computing? Stories like this, and the Quake cd posted recently, are hugely interesting to me.

unixhero 2mo ago
Raymond Chen certainly publishes such tidbits on his Microsoft blog
mastazi 2mo ago
In addition to the blog where this post is taken from https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/, you could check https://folklore.org/ https://folklore.org/ for early Apple anecdotes. And also https://www.jwz.org/blog/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/ for early Netscape/Mozilla stories
- voidUpdate 2mo ago
  Apparently jwz doesn't like HN, if you click that link you just get an image of a testicle in an eggcup
  - Oxodao 2mo ago
    And it seems to store that info locally as even typing the url manually after being redirected from here you still get the eggcup. Using the link in private mode does work though, probably need to clear the local storage
    - voidUpdate 2mo ago
      using a different browser works fine too (tried edge after chrome)
  - Hugsbox 1mo ago
    I thought that link was safe to click at work. I thought wrong :(
    - mastazi 1mo ago
      sorry, I forgot that it did that when clicked from HN. I usually access it from my bookmarks.
- lode 2mo ago
  I also like https://computer.rip/ https://computer.rip/ - not personal anecdotes from people who were there, but definitely well researched and interesting technology history.
  - mastazi 1mo ago
    yes that's a great one! I read it semi-regularly but forgot to mention it!
st_goliath 2mo ago
Given the context and your reference to Quake, I assume by "the older days" you mean the 90s, and specifically PCs and early Windows? If you weren't previously aware of "The Old New Thing" blog, Raymond Chen has been sharing stories about Windows 95 development for decades at this point. So many in fact, he published a book under the same name (the book is essentially a best-of collection from the blog in paper form). The os2museum[1] blog is also a gold mine. Tim Paterson at one point tried to start blogging, sharing a few anecdotes about the early days of DOS[2] Speaking of books, you might enjoy "Showstopper!" about the development of NT, even tough it is a bit shallow on the technical side. For the technical aspects, you might want to get it together with "Inside Windows NT" (first edition) by Helen Custer. You might also enjoy: "Another Boring Topic" [3] YouTube channel, covering (among other things) early Windows development in excruciating detail and "Old Computers Sucked" [4], actually trying to run the software on era appropriate hardware. "Cathode Ray Dude" is all over the place but often also covers hardware and software of roughly that era[5]. A sibling comment already mentioned JWZs blog, if you have fond memories about Netscape, you might enjoy "Project Code Rush" [6]. Btw. Netscape Navigator 3.0 has just turned 30. [1] https://www.os2museum.com/wp/ https://www.os2museum.com/wp/ [2] https://dosmandrivel.blogspot.com/ https://dosmandrivel.blogspot.com/ [3] https://www.youtube.com/@AnotherBoringTopic/videos https://www.youtube.com/@AnotherBoringTopic/videos [4] https://www.youtube.com/@old-computers-sucked/videos https://www.youtube.com/@old-computers-sucked/videos [5] https://www.youtube.com/@CathodeRayDude/videos https://www.youtube.com/@CathodeRayDude/videos [6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q7FTjhvZ7Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q7FTjhvZ7Y
- torh 2mo ago
  Link number 2, about Tim Paterson, was new to me. Thanks.
torh 2mo ago
I can recommend "The Digital Antiquarian" for games (https://www.filfre.net/ https://www.filfre.net/) and "Abort Retry Fail" for hardware companies (https://www.abortretry.fail/ https://www.abortretry.fail/)
veunes 2mo ago
I find these stories way more interesting than polished "history of computing" summaries

Anyone have a larger collection of stories/anecdotes from the older days of computing? Stories like this, and the Quake cd posted recently, are hugely interesting to me.

unixhero 2mo ago

Raymond Chen certainly publishes such tidbits on his Microsoft blog

mastazi 2mo ago

In addition to the blog where this post is taken from https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/, you could check https://folklore.org/ https://folklore.org/ for early Apple anecdotes. And also https://www.jwz.org/blog/ https://www.jwz.org/blog/ for early Netscape/Mozilla stories

voidUpdate 2mo ago
Apparently jwz doesn't like HN, if you click that link you just get an image of a testicle in an eggcup
- Oxodao 2mo ago
  And it seems to store that info locally as even typing the url manually after being redirected from here you still get the eggcup. Using the link in private mode does work though, probably need to clear the local storage
  - voidUpdate 2mo ago
    using a different browser works fine too (tried edge after chrome)
- Hugsbox 1mo ago
  I thought that link was safe to click at work. I thought wrong :(
  - mastazi 1mo ago
    sorry, I forgot that it did that when clicked from HN. I usually access it from my bookmarks.
lode 2mo ago
I also like https://computer.rip/ https://computer.rip/ - not personal anecdotes from people who were there, but definitely well researched and interesting technology history.
- mastazi 1mo ago
  yes that's a great one! I read it semi-regularly but forgot to mention it!

st_goliath 2mo ago

Given the context and your reference to Quake, I assume by "the older days" you mean the 90s, and specifically PCs and early Windows? If you weren't previously aware of "The Old New Thing" blog, Raymond Chen has been sharing stories about Windows 95 development for decades at this point. So many in fact, he published a book under the same name (the book is essentially a best-of collection from the blog in paper form). The os2museum[1] blog is also a gold mine. Tim Paterson at one point tried to start blogging, sharing a few anecdotes about the early days of DOS[2] Speaking of books, you might enjoy "Showstopper!" about the development of NT, even tough it is a bit shallow on the technical side. For the technical aspects, you might want to get it together with "Inside Windows NT" (first edition) by Helen Custer. You might also enjoy: "Another Boring Topic" [3] YouTube channel, covering (among other things) early Windows development in excruciating detail and "Old Computers Sucked" [4], actually trying to run the software on era appropriate hardware. "Cathode Ray Dude" is all over the place but often also covers hardware and software of roughly that era[5]. A sibling comment already mentioned JWZs blog, if you have fond memories about Netscape, you might enjoy "Project Code Rush" [6]. Btw. Netscape Navigator 3.0 has just turned 30. [1] https://www.os2museum.com/wp/ https://www.os2museum.com/wp/ [2] https://dosmandrivel.blogspot.com/ https://dosmandrivel.blogspot.com/ [3] https://www.youtube.com/@AnotherBoringTopic/videos https://www.youtube.com/@AnotherBoringTopic/videos [4] https://www.youtube.com/@old-computers-sucked/videos https://www.youtube.com/@old-computers-sucked/videos [5] https://www.youtube.com/@CathodeRayDude/videos https://www.youtube.com/@CathodeRayDude/videos [6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q7FTjhvZ7Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q7FTjhvZ7Y

torh 2mo ago
Link number 2, about Tim Paterson, was new to me. Thanks.

torh 2mo ago

I can recommend "The Digital Antiquarian" for games (https://www.filfre.net/ https://www.filfre.net/) and "Abort Retry Fail" for hardware companies (https://www.abortretry.fail/ https://www.abortretry.fail/)

veunes 2mo ago

I find these stories way more interesting than polished "history of computing" summaries