Christmas Computers 30 Years Ago

The December 1982 issue of Your Computer featured an attached flexidisc containing games for the ZX-81, Spectrum and Vic. Unfortunately I can't find this forerunner of the cover CD, but from the article in the magazine, using it was an involved process. At the time, the standard input method for restoring your saved programs was via cassette tape, so the procedure for the 33rpm flexidisc was to record it on tape and then load from the tape on to your computer.

Elsewhere the issue included a wide variety of games to keep your fingers busy typing over the festive period, some of which were reproduced in extremely small type. Or perhaps my eyesight was better then. In the letters page there were further complaints from those still waiting for Sinclair to deliver their Spectrum, in some cases after waiting for up to 4 months, all against a backdrop of new machines from the Japanese manufacturers.

November 1982 - Clive Sinclair reveals plans for 1983

The November 1982 issue of Your Computer contained the usual fireworks and bonfire references, but beyond the cliches there were the usual gems.

This month featured a review of the Jupiter Ace, which was unique at that time for offering something which wasn't BASIC - it was based around the Forth programming language. This was very much a "Sinclair spin off", as it was the creation of two members of the design team on the ZX Spectrum. The review described the machine as a "brave gamble" and it proved to be relatively unsuccessful - if you have one hiding somewhere, you might find it's a collector's item these days.




There was also an interview with Clive Sinclair, where he revealed his plans for the coming year. These were centred around a briefcase computer, a desktop computer to be built for ICL, and the Microdrive, which had been mooted since April that year but with scarce details since then.

Elsewhere, the editorial wondered if home computing might be another fad, and decided that with some imagination from suppliers it might still be a fad, but one which "should be good at least until the end of the century".

Bletchley Park - Home of the Codebreakers

I visited Bletchley Park in 2003 for a BCS meeting, and last weekend I finally managed to get back there for a day trip. Obviously a lot has changed in the near-decade since my first visit. There's even more to see, too much for one day in fact, so it's just as well that your entrance fee now gives you a year-long season ticket, so you can go back as many times as you like to see all of it.

The best way to see the estate is to join one of the regular guided tours which leave from the mansion - these start with a brief talk indoors before heading out to explore. The tours take in a lot, and you should allow 2 hours if you include the optional tour extension to see Tunny and Colossus (there is a separate charge for this in addition to your admission fee).

There's also a great cafe in Hut 4 for your morning and afternoon cuppa, and a variety of lunch options as well, a great way of keeping the hunger at bay and providing some more support for Bletchley Park at the same time. Cake was extensively tested, and found to be very good.

On this trip there wasn't time for everything, so the Churchill Collection and the National Museum of Computing will have to wait for next time, along with a longer look around the Block-B Exhibition Centre.

There's a few photos here.

Computing in 1982 - October

The October 1982 issue of Your Computer looked at the threat to British manufacturers posed by a new wave of microcomputer imports from the US and the Far East.

Against a backdrop of delivery not-quite-in-28-days these new machines looked likely to offer an alternative of high street convenience, with no delivery delays if the machines were in stock, and should the machines be faulty, they could be taken straight back for exchange or refund like any other goods.

Whilst the reviewers were generally impressed by the new wave of machines, one stood out in particular - the Commodore 64, which went on to become one of the key machines in the development of home computing.

Also this month, the usual collection of low-level assembler and machine code utilities, and a little bit of Forth as well.

Computing in 1982 - August

The August 1982 issue of Your Computer contained all the latest from the world of ZX, BBC and Vic computers, as well as the new releases to the market.


However, the first thing which caught my attention was the editorial piece about networking. Some felt that networking computers was becoming pointless, as the main reason for doing this was to allow sharing of often expensive peripheral devices. However, the march of technology meant that these were becoming cheaper all the time, and so this networking would become unnecessary.

Not so, said the piece, as networks should now become larger scale, enabling communication between remotely located machines. This in turn would open up access to remote databases, with Sinclair suggesting that in future its software would be downloaded directly from a remote Sinclair database.

In describing the future for networking of computers, this piece was absolutely spot on.

Jump into the Time Machine: Computing in 1982

I was having a clearout recently and found some back issues of Your Computer. This was my magazine of choice for computing matters in the early 80s, and I thought it would be fun to look at some of the issues arising 30 years ago.

The July 1982 edition had cover stories for the Spectrum and ZX-81, the BBC and the Atom, as well as the Vic-20.

In the news were the launches of the Dragon 32 and the NewBrain (or at least the availability of it, some two years after the launch) and the inevitable Spectrum delays, with the first machines ordered taking up to eight weeks to deliver.

The lead article that month was written by Tim Hartnell (who I had the opportunity to work with a couple of years later) and was an introduction to the Spectrum graphics and sound features that were available to those who were lucky enough to have received their machines.