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There is a sweet spot I think between the introduction of cheap personal computers (Apple II, Commodore, TRS-80, etc) and the wide availability of the internet
by brl 17y ago
There is a sweet spot I think between the introduction of cheap personal computers (Apple II, Commodore, TRS-80, etc) and the wide availability of the internet starting in the mid 90s.
In the 80s and early 90s, affordable computers existed but there wasn't so much you could do with one. The list of activities looked something like:
1) Play Choplifter
2) Play Loderunner
3) Learn BASIC
- Keyframe 17y agoI couldn't agree more with you. I think whole ZX/C64 and later Atari/Amiga era yielded best programmers we have today.
- bcl 17y agoI have to disagree totally. This is exactly the time frame where I learned assembly language (Atari 800) and C (Atari ST, etc.). As a programmer these machine were excellent tools for learning how the guts of the machine really worked, teaching yourself how to program and sharing information with other enthusiasts. Lets face it, how many of today's younger programmers have a clue what a index register is, or even how a cache is used?
- Elepsis 17y agoYou completely missed his point. He's saying because you didn't have eighty bajillion websites, fancy games, and Facebook to waste your time on, kids who were just playing around on a computer were much more likely to start learning something like BASIC (or, as you mentioned, assembly and C). Now those same kids are posting YouTube comments that make me fear for our future. :)
- bcl 17y agoIf that was really his point, then you are correct that I missed it. I took it as saying there wasn't much to do with them.
- brl 17y agoYeah, sorry. I was thinking about it from the perspective of a 13 year old who has never touched a computer taking his new Vic-20 out of the box and hooking it up to the TV for the first time. Programming was a natural thing to attempt to do since there was little else you could use a computer for at that time.
- HeyLaughingBoy 17y agoThere wasn't much you could do with one? You must have a complete lack of imagination. Let's see what I did back then: - A menu-driven File Management system because I was sick of typing commands. - Checkbook management system to make balancing my account easier - Heating & Cooling timer thermostat control - More stuff I can't remember any more Oh, by the way, they were all written in BASIC!