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Vintage Computers Any vintage computer systems, calculators, video games etc., but with an emphasis on 1980s and earlier equipment.

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Old 23rd Dec 2021, 4:46 pm   #1
chriswood1900
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Thumbs up Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

The home computer boom of the 1980s brought with it now iconic machines such as the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, and Amstrad CPC64. Those machines went on to inspire a generation and affected the lives of millions and set the course for Britain’s path in the computer industry particularly in software.

The book tells the story of 19 computers, with behind the scenes pieces using dozens of new interviews, it lists technical faults, business interference, and the tales of missed deadlines finishing up with how the Raspberry Pi came into being.
An enjoyable book good value at around £12 it is published by Raspberry Pi Trading and available at most of the usual suspects I would recommend it perhaps use the voucher you got for Xmas.
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Old 23rd Dec 2021, 5:39 pm   #2
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

Thanks, definitely interested in that.
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Old 23rd Dec 2021, 5:54 pm   #3
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

Somewhat ironically I can't find a Kindle version!
 
Old 23rd Dec 2021, 10:01 pm   #4
JulietMike
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

I have a pdf that you could convert to kindle. If that's any help, PM your email address to me.

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Old 23rd Dec 2021, 10:13 pm   #5
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

Which 19?
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Old 24th Dec 2021, 12:06 pm   #6
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

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Originally Posted by wireman View Post
Which 19?
Please see the contents page.
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Old 24th Dec 2021, 12:38 pm   #7
wireman
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

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Quote:
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Which 19?
Please see the contents page.
Thanks a lot, I have used 7 of them.
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Old 24th Dec 2021, 1:25 pm   #8
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

I own between 10 and 15 of them, depending on whether things like 'Apple Macintosh' means just the first 128K model (which I don't own) or also includes things like the Mac+ (which I do).

It's a somewhat odd list. Firstly, of course, several of the machines are not British. Secondly, machoes larger than micros are not included (I would certainly have included EDSAC and LEO as pioneering British machines)

-tony
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Old 24th Dec 2021, 2:51 pm   #9
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

The book appears to have a self-imposed limit of 'Computers likely to have been encountered in British homes and schools during the first few years of the UK computing scene'. If that's so, then the balance seems about right.

Some well remembered machines like the Orics and the Jupiter Ace probably just weren't considered to have been mainstream enough. I suppose there had to be a cutoff point somewhere.
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Old 24th Dec 2021, 6:04 pm   #10
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

Agreed its a strange selection. Plenty of British machines with interesting stories - the Nascoms, Scrumpis and MK14, and the Ace which helped wean a lot of users off BASIC. Tangerines, Einsteins (the first with a real OS)... then there are the home builds such as System 68, the Triton and Tuscan etc - all excluded due to the 80's timeframe? If you're going to include Apple, Atari & Commodore, how can you leave out the TRS80?
Maybe (hopefully) its to leave room for a follow-up

I think we should persuade Tim to write a proper book

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Old 24th Dec 2021, 7:17 pm   #11
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

I forgot that I have a similar book on my shelf,

Digital Retro: The Evolution and Design of the Personal Computer, Gordon Laing.

The table of contents (photo included in the following page) brings back memories of other computers of that era...

https://www.cameralabs.com/digitalretro
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Old 24th Dec 2021, 10:08 pm   #12
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

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Originally Posted by Phil__G View Post
Agreed its a strange selection. Plenty of British machines with interesting stories - the Nascoms, Scrumpis and MK14, and the Ace which helped wean a lot of users off BASIC. Tangerines, Einsteins (the first with a real OS)... then there are the home builds such as System 68, the Triton and Tuscan etc - all excluded due to the 80's timeframe? If you're going to include Apple, Atari & Commodore, how can you leave out the TRS80?
Maybe (hopefully) its to leave room for a follow-up

I think we should persuade Tim to write a proper book
+1 on the Nascom's - those little beauties sparked my whole career. I have very fond memories of Kerr Borland, Ken Jones and the team. It is a pity that some of the _real_ British pioneering machines are ignored in the afterglow of Apple, Commodore, etc. Having said that, I still have an abiding fondness for the Amiga's. Full colour, stereo Hi-Fi sound when all a PC could do was go <beep>. The IBM M1 keyboard was really good, though, I still have three.
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Old 24th Dec 2021, 11:55 pm   #13
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

Quote:
how can you leave out the TRS80
Again, not really mainstream enough. Out of all the associates I had at that time I only ever knew one person who had a TRS80 and he was the classic 'kid with a rich dad'.

PETs on the other hand are included because they were often encountered as 'school computers'.

Tim could write a great book on the subject but I suggest we at least read this one before we decide whether we like it or not.

Chriswood1900 came here to praise it, not to bury it.
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Old 25th Dec 2021, 12:09 am   #14
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

Sorry didnt mean to criticise, just that theres much more for a 'prequel'
Very much appreciate Chris bringing it to our attention - thanks Chris!
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Old 25th Dec 2021, 3:15 pm   #15
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

The TRS 80 gets a mention in the Dragon 32 chapter, due to its similarities.
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Old 25th Dec 2021, 4:45 pm   #16
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

The TRS-80 Color computer (at least the first 2 versions) is indeed similar to the Dragon as both were based on the same Motorola Application Note (for the 6883 SAM chip). But as the name implies, the original TRS-80, and indeed many later models, were Z80 based (Tandy Radio Shack (Z)80).

I am not surprised that the TRS-80 didn't get included, for all they were sold over here and I had one back in the day (I now have many..). It was not that common. But I am surprised the Acorn Atom isn't included, it was certainly popular with the boys at my school
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Old 6th Jan 2022, 10:10 pm   #17
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

I never saw a single Acorn Atom when they were contemporary, and I only knew two people who owned BBC model Bs and both had left school and were earning their own wage, but still living at home (so they had the most disposable income they were ever likely to have at any time in their lives).

There may indeed have been a kind of geographical distribution of brands / models / types based at least partly on the distribution of wealth, with kids in the north owning cheaper computer models, on average, than their southern contemporaries.
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Old 7th Jan 2022, 10:58 am   #18
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

Can I just add a couple of recommendations of my own?

Electronic Dreams by Tom Lean. 'How 1980's Britain learned to love the computer'.
and
a DVD 'From Bedrooms to Billions', a look at the budding games industry of the 1980's.
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Old 7th Jan 2022, 10:14 pm   #19
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

I actually have a voucher! I'll go and have a look.

A book I particularly liked reading was one I borrowed from the library about Leo, the Lyons Teashops computer. Fascinating!

A Computer Called LEO: Lyons Tea Shops and the world’s first office computer.
ISBN 10: 1841151858 ISBN 13: 9781841151854


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Old 7th Jan 2022, 10:52 pm   #20
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Default Re: Book recommendation Computers that Made Britain by Tim Danton

If you've ever worked on Data General machines then this is a good read.

The Soul of a New Machine is a non-fiction book written by Tracy Kidder and published in 1981. It chronicles the experiences of a computer engineering team racing to design a next-generation computer at a blistering pace under tremendous pressure. The machine was launched in 1980 as the Data General Eclipse MV/8000.
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