{"id":1637,"date":"2019-01-11T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2019-01-11T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=1637"},"modified":"2019-01-11T09:38:24","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T14:38:24","slug":"a-reader-asks-do-you-remember-type-in-programs-from-computer-magazines-in-the-70s-and-80s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/11\/a-reader-asks-do-you-remember-type-in-programs-from-computer-magazines-in-the-70s-and-80s\/","title":{"rendered":"A reader asks: “Do you remember type-in programs from computer magazines in the 70s and 80s?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Remember them? I wrote some! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, I believe I wrote the first type-and-run program to appear in a non-computer, general-circulation magazine, at least in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back at the dawn of the PC era, I was a newly-hatched junior editor at New Shelter magazine; a general-circulation publication with 750,000 subscribers; covering things like alternative energy, eco-friendly home maintenance, and the like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t a computer magazine at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after some wheedling, I convinced the editor to publish a type-and-run program as an experimental cover story. It was “experimental” because, to my knowledge, type-and-run programs had until then only appeared in special-interest (e.g. DIY\/hobbyist\/educational) publications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I wrote, and we published, a type-and-run program that let homeowners compare the finances of heating their homes with a variety of classic (e.g. fossil fuels) and alternative (e.g. wood or solar) heat sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was all in glorious BASIC, optimized for two of the powerhouse PCs of the day, the Apple II and Atari 400\/800. Both versions of the code were liberally peppered with REMs (non-executing REMarks) so readers (most of whom had never seen a computer program before) could see and understand what each line of code was doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Readers liked it. I loved it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A short while later, I left New Shelter to join Popular Computing Magazine; from there to Byte Magazine, Windows Magazine, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My whole career in computer tech started with that one little BASIC program — one that I believe really was the first type-and-run program to appear in a non-computer, general-circulation magazine in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes: I remember type-and-run programs. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=1637<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

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Remember them? I wrote some! \ud83d\ude42 In fact, I believe I wrote the first type-and-run program to appear in a non-computer, general-circulation magazine, at least in the US. Back at the dawn of the PC era, I was a newly-hatched junior editor at New Shelter magazine; a general-circulation publication with 750,000 subscribers; covering things like…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,10,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-science-and-tech","category-writing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-qp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1523,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/02\/a-reader-asks-pressing-a-key-or-clicking-a-mouse-button-sends-what-type-of-signal-to-the-cpu\/","url_meta":{"origin":1637,"position":0},"title":"A reader asks: “Pressing a key or clicking a mouse button sends what type of signal to the CPU?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-01-02","format":false,"excerpt":"In the most conceptual sense, a click or keypress briefly completes an electrical circuit. The part of the computer that handles the keyboard sees this as a zero value changing to a one; the computer then initiates whatever sequence of events it's been programmed to follow to interpret the keypress,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc"","block_context":{"text":"Misc","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":329,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/12\/a-reader-asks-what-are-the-advantages-of-using-a-word-processor-over-using-a-typewriter\/","url_meta":{"origin":1637,"position":1},"title":"A reader asks: What are the advantages of using a word processor over using a typewriter?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-09-12","format":false,"excerpt":"Q. What are the advantages of using a word processor over using a typewriter? (Via Quora) A. The answer varies somewhat, depending on exactly what you mean by \u201cword processor.\u201d The most common meaning is a piece of software that can capture your keystrokes on a personal computer of some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1578,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/04\/a-reader-asks-have-you-heard-of-the-tutac-computer\/","url_meta":{"origin":1637,"position":2},"title":"A reader asks: “Have you heard of the TUTAC computer?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-01-04","format":false,"excerpt":"I hadn't, but I'm glad you asked (thanks!). This was fun to research, not only because it involves an interesting artifact from the early days of computers, but also because it shares a concept with Bandersnatch, the Netflix choose-your-own-ending movie! TUTAC stands for \"TUTorial Automatic Computer,\" a device that existed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":318,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/10\/a-reader-asks-what-was-the-last-generation-that-learned-to-type-on-a-typewriter\/","url_meta":{"origin":1637,"position":3},"title":"A reader asks: What was the last generation that learned to type on a typewriter?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-09-10","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: \"What was the last generation that learned to type on a typewriter instead of a computer keyboard?\" (via Quora) A: In the developed world, the \u201cboomer\u201d generation \u2014 offspring of WW2-era parents \u2014 are almost surely the last. I'm part of the tail end of the Boomer generation. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":357,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/17\/a-reader-asks-how-do-you-type-a-greater-than-or-equal-to-sign-in-microsoft-word\/","url_meta":{"origin":1637,"position":4},"title":"A reader asks: How do you type a “\u2265” (greater-than-or-equal-to) in Microsoft Word?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-09-17","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: How do you type a unusual characters like \"\u2265\" (greater-than-or-equal-to) in Microsoft Word? (via Quora) A: It's easy! Every electronic keyboard has a set of built-in computer codes for a given language\u2019s most-commonly-used letters, numbers and punctuation. These are the symbols you see printed permanently on the tops of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1880,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/01\/from-the-inbox\/","url_meta":{"origin":1637,"position":5},"title":"From the InBox…","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-02-01","format":false,"excerpt":"A few days ago, in \"Taking my own advice,\" I told you how I used Task Manager to objectively determine that I've maxed out my current hardware. It's time for a new PC. Several readers had interesting reactions, suggestions, and questions. 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