Hacker News with Generative AI: Computer History

The Unisys Icon: One Canadian Xennial's Memories of Ontario's Obscure Computer (postgamecontent.com)
One topic that often comes up in retro gaming circles is how aspects of gaming history not part of the American story don’t get enough attention. I personally feel it’s mostly up to the people to whom the stories belong to tell them. So I am going to follow my own advice today and tell the tale of a computer that statistically speaking almost no one has used, and some of that computer’s software.

Retro Gaming, Canadian History, Personal Stories, Computer History, Software

80 points by ecolonsmak 14 days ago | 35 comments

Computer History Resources (landley.net)
This is a bunch of links to computer history pages, research for a book I'm writing. I've provided links to all the originals, as well as local mirrors because I've gotten sick of links going down a year or so after I bookmark them. (I'm sorting through my bookmark list in my copious free time and finding all these dead links from 1998, and it's annoying because some of these were GOOD. Even CNN culls its archives. Sigh...)

Computer History, Web Archives, Internet History, Links

20 points by memalign 16 days ago | 2 comments

About the BBC Micro cassette version of Elite – Elite on the 6502 (bbcelite.com)
The BBC Micro cassette version is the standard, entry-level version of the original Acornsoft Elite. It was released on 20 September 1984, along with the enhanced disc version, at a launch event at Thorpe Park in the UK.

Retro Gaming, Computer History, BBC Micro, Elite (game), 1980s

30 points by rcarmo 25 days ago | 0 comments

DVST Graphic Terminals (vintagetek.org)
Bob Anderson’s invented the bistable Direct-View Storage Tube (DVST) in 1961 and the result was the Tek 564 storage oscilloscope. Computer researchers began using hacked 564 scopes and CRTs to make desperately needed interactive computer displays – even though it was only a five inch display.

Vintage Technology, Computer History, Hardware

81 points by rbanffy 30 days ago | 6 comments

Knight TV Resurrection (2018) (pdp-6.net)
The Knight TV system was a terminal system made by Tom Knight that was connected to the AI KA10.

Retrocomputing, Computer History, Artificial Intelligence

26 points by rbanffy 40 days ago | 9 comments

Microsoft GW-Basic User's Guide and Reference (1989) [pdf] (computerhistory.org)

Microsoft, Programming Languages, Computer History, Retro Computing, Reference Manuals

52 points by susam 41 days ago | 43 comments

IBM RISC System/6000 Family (computeradsfromthepast.substack.com)
IBM debuted the RISC System/6000 line in February 1990. This family of products included RISC-powered servers, workstations, and supercomputers. It was the first line of computers to make use of the POWER and PowerPC processors. (IBM developed the PowerPC chips with Apple and Motorola.) The RISC System/6000 servers were replaced by the eServer pSeries. Workstations were sold under the RISC System/6000 name until 2002.

IBM, Computer History, Technology, Servers, Workstations

67 points by rbanffy 47 days ago | 52 comments

Ask HN: Greatest books about the history of computing (ycombinator.com)
The Dream Machine is giving me a great appreciation of the time-sharing revolution and ARPANET. What else should I read? Any timeframe or topic is OK, so long as it's strongly related to the history of computing.

Computer History, Books, Recommendations

15 points by kaycebasques 63 days ago | 18 comments

The History of PC Audio (thejpster.org.uk)
This is a brief, abridged, and possibly inaccurate history of audio on the IBM PC compatible. It's based on an exhibition I prepared for Synthesised, a special event at the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge, England.

Computer History, Audio Technology, IBM PC, Retrocomputing

20 points by lapnect 70 days ago | 12 comments

Vintage computer forum: Bosch FGS 4000 (vcfed.org)
This is a stretch, but does anyone have any specs (especially CPU- curious) on this machines or pictures if they own one? The information on Google is lacking, and there's rather few pictures that aren't thumbnails or part of an advertisement.

Vintage Computers, Hardware, Computer History, Computer Forums

12 points by paulpauper 73 days ago | 0 comments

What should a logo for NeXT look like? (1986) (paulrand.design)
The Sign of the Next Generation of Computers for Education.

Logo Design, Computer History, Education

258 points by themantra514 75 days ago | 110 comments

Triple Density Floppy, Anyone? (vogons.org)
Everybody knows about 3.5 inch HD 1.44MB floppies, first introduced in 1985 by NEC inside PC-8801 mkII MR(MR was afaik first computer with HD floppy, but 5.25 1.2MB one). West first heard about them from 10 November 1986 InfoWorld "Vendor Introduces Ultra High-Density Floppy Disk Media" https://books.google.com/books?id=rDwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA19 IBM followed in 1997 switching PS/2 to 2HD floppies, Apple in 1988. 80 tracks ~50KB/s speed.

Floppy Disks, Computer History, Technology, Hardware

63 points by zdw 79 days ago | 69 comments

How one engineer beat the ban on home computers in socialist Yugoslavia (theguardian.com)
Very few Yugoslavians had access to computers in the early 1980s: they were mostly the preserve of large institutions or companies.

Computer History, Yugoslavia, Cold War, Technology, History

88 points by sandebert 86 days ago | 47 comments

Oral history of Jim Keller - Computer History Museum [video] (youtube.com)

Oral history, Computer History, Interviews, Video, History

5 points by simon_acca 94 days ago | 0 comments

Ward Christensen (of BBS and XMODEM fame) has died (wikipedia.org)
Ward Christensen (born 1945 in West Bend, Wisconsin, United States) was the co-founder of the CBBS bulletin board, the first bulletin board system (BBS) ever brought online.[1] Christensen, along with partner Randy Suess,[2] members of the Chicago Area Computer Hobbyists' Exchange (CACHE), started development during a blizzard in Chicago, Illinois, and officially established CBBS four weeks later, on February 16, 1978.

Computer History, Technology, Software

323 points by DamonHD 97 days ago | 93 comments

Diode Matrix (cca.org)
A diode matrix is an extremely low-density form of read-only memory that was used in computers in the 50s through the 70s, before EEPROMs were invented.

Computer History, Memory, Electronics, Hardware

94 points by thunderbong 105 days ago | 30 comments

From Punch Cards to Python: Grace Hopper's A-0 compiler paved the way (ieee.org)
Grace Hopper’s A-0 compiler paved the way for modern programming languages

Programming Languages, Computer History, Software Development

7 points by gregalt 115 days ago | 0 comments

Alan Turing’s 1950 manual for the Mark I electronic computer [pdf] (computerhistory.org)

Computer History, Alan Turing, Computing, History, Technology

234 points by lisper 117 days ago | 57 comments

Second Reality Demo for Commander X16 [video] (youtube.com)

Retro Gaming, Video Games, Computer History

4 points by hggh 120 days ago | 0 comments

Steve Wozniak Reunites with the Historic Homebrew Computer Club (thenewstack.io)
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, reunited with members of the historic Homebrew Computer Club on Wednesday in a special ceremony at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

Steve Wozniak, Apple, Computer History

48 points by MilnerRoute 132 days ago | 1 comments

NuBus (wikipedia.org)

Hardware, Computer History, Apple

4 points by elsewhen 148 days ago | 0 comments

Archiving "The Famous Computer Cafe" (archive.org)

History, Archives, Technology, Computer History

164 points by savetz 152 days ago | 30 comments

The Apple IIGS Megahertz Myth (userlandia.com)

Computer History, Apple, Hardware, Myths

208 points by rbanffy 155 days ago | 109 comments

"I never said '640K should be enough for anybody'" (1996) (groups.google.com)