5 ms·

Amen buddy. For those not around at the time the BBC Micro and the ecosystem around it (including this programme) wasn't unlike the Raspberry Pi movement today.

Amen buddy. For those not around at the time the BBC Micro and the ecosystem around it (including this programme) wasn't unlike the Raspberry Pi movement today. I got my Beeb at the age of 10 and because of it (and without any formal CS education) my entire professional life has been in software. That said, am I right in remembering the programme was cast away to BBC2, because it just wasn't quite mainstream enough?

louthy 13y ago
> I got my Beeb at the age of 10 and because of it (and without any formal CS education) my entire professional life has been in software. Exact same story and age here. I always thought there were two reasons why the BBC Micro created so many developers. One is the TV programme, the second is the manual. Pretty much the first page introduces programming, and within a dozen pages you're making a rocket fly up the screen. As a kid that was enough to make me think "I can make a game", and I was hooked. EDIT Found a PDF of the manual: http://bbc.nvg.org/doc/BBCUserGuide-1.00.pdf http://bbc.nvg.org/doc/BBCUserGuide-1.00.pdf
- CmdrKrool 13y ago
  524 pages! With chapters on assembly language towards the end. That's what I call getting your money's worth. I had a Spectrum myself. The pack-in manual for that wasn't quite as hefty at about half the number of pages but it was pretty hard to overlook the possibility of programming when the keyboard itself was festooned with BASIC keywords. While messing around with a Raspberry Pi recently and fidgeting with the board which by default does not come with a case I noted that - while not quite the same because just looking at a board isn't going to make you an electronic engineer - having such internals right there in your face does stoke some curiosity, even now that I'm an adult.
dtf 13y ago
I loved that programme and I loved my Model B. Serle & Mac were so easy to watch. It was on BBC2 (then so were a bunch of great early morning Open University programmes on subjects that were way over my young head). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtMWEiCdsfc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtMWEiCdsfc Wasn't there also a weekly Radio 4 computer programme where they'd transmit a program that you could record on tape and then load onto your computer?
fuzzix 13y ago
Have you seen Micro Men? Whimsical sort of film about the early days of Sinclair and Acorn, with some focus given to the race to manufacture the BBC's computer.
- mattl 13y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIcAyFVK0gE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIcAyFVK0gE
d0 13y ago
Snap! However, as an ex-beeb user now with children who have a Raspberry Pi, the beeb was considerably more reliable, better documented, flexible and easier to get off the ground. I'd argue it's still a better platform than the Pi today. Pi with RISCOS is pretty nice though.
protomyth 13y ago
Although I could actually purchase an 8-bit micro (Atari 400 in my case) at a retail store. I think the Raspberry Pi is rather beyond most parents ability to acquire or even learn of.
- fit2rule 13y ago
  All well and good - but can you buy a Beeb from a vending machine? You can buy a rPi from a vending machine: http://www.hackerspaceshop.com/automat/ http://www.hackerspaceshop.com/automat/ (In case anyone is in Vienna, Austria, this vending machine is in Metalab: - http://metalab.at/ http://metalab.at/)
  - protomyth 13y ago
    A Beeb came assembled in a case that you didn't have to assemble. Not being available in an actual store assembled limits the ability of the Pi to train a new generation.
    - fit2rule 13y ago
      Being able to buy a rPi at any time from a vending machine located in one of the worlds greatest hackerspaces means that - at any time - a kid can learn new things, for cheap.
      - protomyth 13y ago
        "worlds greatest hackerspaces" To which I would point out any child that makes it to a hackerspace probably has parents of tech interest. If it isn't available at Target, Best Buy, or Wal-Mart in the US (not sure EU equivalent) then it isn't going to train many new programmers.
        fit2rule 13y ago
        Why on earth would you expect Target, Best Buy, or Wal-Mart to be interested - in the slightest - in an educational computer product that encourages experimentation and investigation, while costing less than the cost of a night at the movies? They'd rather sell shiny crap to teenagers.

louthy 13y ago

> I got my Beeb at the age of 10 and because of it (and without any formal CS education) my entire professional life has been in software. Exact same story and age here. I always thought there were two reasons why the BBC Micro created so many developers. One is the TV programme, the second is the manual. Pretty much the first page introduces programming, and within a dozen pages you're making a rocket fly up the screen. As a kid that was enough to make me think "I can make a game", and I was hooked. EDIT Found a PDF of the manual: http://bbc.nvg.org/doc/BBCUserGuide-1.00.pdf http://bbc.nvg.org/doc/BBCUserGuide-1.00.pdf

CmdrKrool 13y ago
524 pages! With chapters on assembly language towards the end. That's what I call getting your money's worth. I had a Spectrum myself. The pack-in manual for that wasn't quite as hefty at about half the number of pages but it was pretty hard to overlook the possibility of programming when the keyboard itself was festooned with BASIC keywords. While messing around with a Raspberry Pi recently and fidgeting with the board which by default does not come with a case I noted that - while not quite the same because just looking at a board isn't going to make you an electronic engineer - having such internals right there in your face does stoke some curiosity, even now that I'm an adult.

dtf 13y ago

I loved that programme and I loved my Model B. Serle & Mac were so easy to watch. It was on BBC2 (then so were a bunch of great early morning Open University programmes on subjects that were way over my young head). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtMWEiCdsfc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtMWEiCdsfc Wasn't there also a weekly Radio 4 computer programme where they'd transmit a program that you could record on tape and then load onto your computer?

fuzzix 13y ago

Have you seen Micro Men? Whimsical sort of film about the early days of Sinclair and Acorn, with some focus given to the race to manufacture the BBC's computer.

mattl 13y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIcAyFVK0gE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIcAyFVK0gE

d0 13y ago

Snap! However, as an ex-beeb user now with children who have a Raspberry Pi, the beeb was considerably more reliable, better documented, flexible and easier to get off the ground. I'd argue it's still a better platform than the Pi today. Pi with RISCOS is pretty nice though.

protomyth 13y ago

Although I could actually purchase an 8-bit micro (Atari 400 in my case) at a retail store. I think the Raspberry Pi is rather beyond most parents ability to acquire or even learn of.

fit2rule 13y ago
All well and good - but can you buy a Beeb from a vending machine? You can buy a rPi from a vending machine: http://www.hackerspaceshop.com/automat/ http://www.hackerspaceshop.com/automat/ (In case anyone is in Vienna, Austria, this vending machine is in Metalab: - http://metalab.at/ http://metalab.at/)
- protomyth 13y ago
  A Beeb came assembled in a case that you didn't have to assemble. Not being available in an actual store assembled limits the ability of the Pi to train a new generation.
  - fit2rule 13y ago
    Being able to buy a rPi at any time from a vending machine located in one of the worlds greatest hackerspaces means that - at any time - a kid can learn new things, for cheap.
    - protomyth 13y ago
      "worlds greatest hackerspaces" To which I would point out any child that makes it to a hackerspace probably has parents of tech interest. If it isn't available at Target, Best Buy, or Wal-Mart in the US (not sure EU equivalent) then it isn't going to train many new programmers.
      - fit2rule 13y ago
        Why on earth would you expect Target, Best Buy, or Wal-Mart to be interested - in the slightest - in an educational computer product that encourages experimentation and investigation, while costing less than the cost of a night at the movies? They'd rather sell shiny crap to teenagers.