[HN Gopher] Why I collect and read old computer manuals
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Why I collect and read old computer manuals
Author : remoquete
Score : 48 points
Date : 2022-02-16 21:16 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (passo.uno)
(TXT) w3m dump (passo.uno)
| svachalek wrote:
| Now I'm really sad that I don't have the manual for the TI-99/4A
| which was the first computer I used. IIRC it's where I learned
| everything about both operating it and programming it, starting
| from nothing. It's so true that we just don't have anything like
| it anymore.
| genghisjahn wrote:
| https://www.digitpress.com/library/manuals/ti994a/ti%20exten...
| gnicholas wrote:
| Our first computer was a Mac Plus. As a kid, I read the various
| system manuals from front to back, several times over. Ditto for
| the manuals that came with different software programs, our
| printer, etc.
|
| As I grew up, we got replacement computers, and I read the
| manuals for those too, building on the knowledge from the first
| computer. At some point, computers stopped coming with manuals.
| This seems a shame, but it's understandable since there are so
| many features.
|
| Any tips on how to teach kids the basics of how to use a
| computer? Obviously they pick up a lot of stuff by watching, but
| how do you give them a good foundation in what an OS is, the
| basics of RAM, paging, etc.?
| fathyb wrote:
| Video games can be great to introduce kids to computers and
| hardware. They might get interesting in building a computer to
| get good performance, which requires picking parts, looking at
| reviews and so on.
|
| You can introduce them to more advanced OS concepts like memory
| through hacking. It's better if you have something to show and
| impress. Try following a tutorial beforehand to cheat in a solo
| game by changing some memory values. Try something old, most
| modern games have protections in place.
|
| There is also the more creative aspect with modding. A kid
| making a map mod might begin to understand the concept of
| vertices, polygons, shading and so on. Shaders are an awesome
| too, although more advanced. ShaderToy has a nice interactive
| library.
|
| It's very hard to get kids into something that's not
| immediately gratifying. It's better to go steps by steps, let
| them pick interests by themselves, and support them when they
| want to learn more. Torrent some CAD software if they need it!
| akselmo wrote:
| Partial reason why I got into programming was because games I
| liked had map editors and mod support. At first the basics
| were fine, just making levels but the more and more I did
| them, the more power I wanted over the mods.. And thats when
| I got interested in programming. :)
| TheOtherHobbes wrote:
| Death Star supersite for old docs is bitsavers.org.
|
| It doesn't have much consumer tech - Spectrum, Amiga, Atari,
| Apple - but it does have a lot of mainframe and mini manuals and
| docs, quite a bit of a S100 and PC, and even a few internal
| development and strategic memos and other historical docs from
| some of the major manufs.
|
| In passing - minor grammar nitpick for OP. In a couple of places
| you've written "than what", which is not commercial English.
| "Than" is better on its own.
| remoquete wrote:
| Not overly concerned with being commercial, but always eager to
| improve my English. Suggestion applied; thanks, kind stranger!
| commandlinefan wrote:
| Old documentation was based on the didactic principle of
| presenting the foundation before jumping into the specifics.
| Online documentation seems to forget that there's even such a
| thing as "foundational background".
| jvanderbot wrote:
| The best datasheets do this too. However, I'm getting quite
| tired of skipping the section about I2C _every time_. I get it,
| there 's logical highs and logical lows and those need to
| happen with certain timing constraints. Still, there those
| pictures are, every time.
| throwanem wrote:
| Yeah, but it's easy to skip once you know what it is and that
| you understand it already. For someone who doesn't, having it
| present may be vital.
|
| In my opinion, the same is true of computing - as a mentor,
| especially when working with folks who don't come to
| programming from a "typical" background, there's a lot of
| basic context that has to be conveyed precisely because so
| much of our docs assume they can leave out all the stuff that
| "everybody knows".
| rhn_mk1 wrote:
| The worst is where you assume a vanilla implementation of
| some basic functionality, so you skip the explanation, but
| actually, there's a quirk inside that you only discover
| after scratching your head for a while.
|
| Newbies are lucky in this way, that they don't have even a
| mistaken reason to skip reading the basics.
| iib wrote:
| I read a comment once (that it will be impossible for me to
| find again), that suggested that this is actually a baked in
| assumption and it depends on the audience.
|
| Audiences in Europe were more likely to find it useful to be
| presented with the working theory first, and examples later, as
| a specialization of the theory.
|
| American audiences tended to prefer working examples first, and
| then a generalization to form a theory.
| zwieback wrote:
| I remember spending hours and hours reading the manuals from my
| Apple ][, especially the monitor ROM listing Steve Wozniak wrote.
| open-source-ux wrote:
| I also enjoy reading old computer manuals. You can learn a lot
| from reading them about how to structure technical material and
| how to write clear explanations (without assuming the reader is
| an expert). Sometimes, it's even a pleasure to read old computer
| manuals. And who can say the same about documentation today?
|
| Here are two excellent examples of computer-related writing:
|
| _Usborne 1980s Computer Books_
|
| These books have been discussed a few times before here on Hacker
| News. Children's publisher Usborne have made available for free
| some classic computer books from the 1980s aimed at kids. The
| books use illustrations extensively to explain concepts. Not only
| are these books well written with clear, concise explanations,
| they are also more readable and enjoyable than many programming
| and computing books published for adults today. Anyone writing a
| technical guide (of any kind) would benefit from reading these as
| a source of ideas and inspiration:
|
| https://usborne.com/gb/books/computer-and-coding-books
|
| _Visual Basic 3.0 Programmer 's Guide_
|
| Here is a PDF scan of the well-written Visual Basic Programmer's
| Guide from 1993. (It's a 26mb download)
|
| https://dos.retro.software/downloads/send/237-books/1420-mic...
| [deleted]
| bartread wrote:
| This is great. I regret getting rid of my old computers and
| manuals. The ZX Spectrum+ manual was indeed a joy, the C64 manual
| less so, and the Amiga manuals were a bit boring (though a friend
| kindly gave me some replacements for the latter a couple of years
| back). Anyway, I learned to program, in BASIC of course, from the
| ZX Spectrum+ manual, so I'll always have a soft spot in my heart
| for it. It's still genuinely better than most modern technical
| documentation and, though it covers all the bases quite
| thoroughly (excluding assembly and machine code), it's not even a
| very long read.
| IBCNU wrote:
| You are not alone haha
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