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Ask HN: Best way to learn about computing history?

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Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn about computing history?

#141

Post by captn3m0 »

Banana699 wrote: post #110
robotguy wrote: post #7

Ben Eater's Youtube series "Building an 8-bit Breadboard Computer" is a really good introduction to the lowest levels of how a computer works: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLowKtXNTBypGqImE405J2... I recommended it to my daughter when she was taking a class in R and asked "But how does the COMPUTER know what to do?"

>But how does the COMPUTER know what to do? Ben Eater is amazing, but his series in my very humble opinion isn't the best answer to this question. I found the emphasis on the breadboard and the particulars of physical implementation getting in the way of a clean pedagogical introduction to logic circuits as a DAG of abstract computational elements implementing function from {0,1}^n -> {0,1}^m (which we then implement…

I went from NAND2Tetris to Ben Eater, and I think that’s the right direction to take.

The first gives a great overview, and the latter deep dives into some of the architectural concerns around building computers (which are mostly ignored in the course), like understanding buses, running assembly on actual hardware. The most important bit for me was learning how to read data sheets to figure out how to use chips.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn about computing history?

#142

Post by kalaracey »

krallja wrote: post #40

The textbooks I used in university were "From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog: A History of the Software Industry" (Campbell-Kelly) and "A History of Modern Computing (second edition)" (Ceruzzi). There is a brand-new update to the second one, "A New History of Modern Computing" (Haigh/Ceruzzi) that I'm looking forward to reading this summer.

Came here to mention these two books.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn about computing history?

#145

Post by gonehome »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #87

Code, by Charles Petzold: http://www.charlespetzold.com/code/ Explains how we got from Boolean logic to microchips and software. Also, the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley has an excellent exhibit containing both early computing devices and the seminal papers that were the precursors and enablers of modern computers: https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/ ; https://computerhistory.org/timelines/ ;

I’ll second code - I love that book and haven’t found a better explanation elsewhere.

For more general history, Hackers, The Dream Machine, Crypto, and to a lesser extent What The Dormouse Said are all good.

I’d add in In The Plex, Masters of Doom, and Facebook: The Inside Story for company specific books.

I haven’t ready show stopper yet, but that’s on my list.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn about computing history?

#146

Post by timoteostewart »

gompertz wrote: post #143

I find reading old issues of Byte magazine from 1975 up to around 1989 to be very educational. There appears to be a complete archive here https://archive.org/details/Byte-Magazine-Complete .

I'm getting this error page at that link:

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    Item cannot be found.
    which prevents us from displaying this page.

    Items may be taken down for various reasons, including by decision of the
    uploader or due to a violation of our Terms of Use.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn about computing history?

#149

Post by oumua_don17 »

As you are based in London, UK' let me propose a slightly different alternative.

A 1 hour journey leads you to the The Center for Computing History in Cambridge [1]. Please go there and see for yourself and interact with the history of computing. You may also buy one of the maker kits to get started with [2].

I too have a similar keen interest and there are some fantastic volunteering opportunities to deep dive and learn about the history. [3]

And there was this awesome Gaming Generations Exhibition that just got over last week [4].

You could combine all this with other equally fantastic solutions proposed here (Ben eater's videos, Nand2Tetris) etc.

That hopefully makes for a fun, interactive way of satiating your good hunger :-)

[1] http://www.computinghistory.org.uk

[2]http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/50229/MyZ80-Maker-Kit...

[3]http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/pages/14522/volunteering/

[4]http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/66270/gaming-generati...

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn about computing history?

#150

Post by gompertz »

timoteostewart wrote: post #146
gompertz wrote: post #143

I find reading old issues of Byte magazine from 1975 up to around 1989 to be very educational. There appears to be a complete archive here https://archive.org/details/Byte-Magazine-Complete .

I'm getting this error page at that link: The item you have requested had an error: Item cannot be found. which prevents us from displaying this page. Items may be taken down for various reasons, including by decision of the uploader or due to a violation of our Terms of Use.

Weird that must have just happened! They are also available here.. This site has a crazy amount of old magazines and has been running for years : https://worldradiohistory.com/Byte_Magazine.htm
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