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Bill Gates in Byte Magazine: The Future of Software Design (1983)

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Re: Bill Gates in Byte Magazine: The Future of Software Design (1983)

#11
The same edition has articles about coordinates systems in graphics and Gaus-Jordan elimination method. There are circuit diagrams and program listings. It was a real trade magazine.

Today that type of content is almost exclusively in in blogs.

Magazines write about stuff like "The Most Important Agile Trends to Follow in 2020". It's part marketing, influencing kind fluff where people write opinions about soft issues where you can't be clearly right or wrong.

Re: Bill Gates in Byte Magazine: The Future of Software Design (1983)

#13
post #11

The same edition has articles about coordinates systems in graphics and Gaus-Jordan elimination method. There are circuit diagrams and program listings. It was a real trade magazine. Today that type of content is almost exclusively in in blogs. Magazines write about stuff like "The Most Important Agile Trends to Follow in 2020". It's part marketing, influencing kind fluff where people write opinions about soft issues…

> Magazines write about stuff like "The Most Important Agile Trends to Follow in 2020". It's part marketing, influencing kind fluff where people write opinions about soft issues where you can't be clearly right or wrong.

The mainstream ones sure, but there's others out there that don't. At least 2600 still the same.

Re: Bill Gates in Byte Magazine: The Future of Software Design (1983)

#14
post #7

I love how the very next article is titled "The 8086 - An Architecture for the Future" I love reading old computer magazines and the archive.org collection is amazing. One interesting thing about doing that is that it provides a first hand account of what a lot of the people that worked in the industry thought the future of computing would be like. It is fascinating to compare that view with how it turned out. I wond…

A few years ago I read a National Geographic article about "microchips" that was written in I think 1983. It was probably one of the most useful articles on the topic that I've ever read. Unassuming, and full of direct explanations (and detail).

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/the-chip/

This is what you were referring to, I'm guessing. 1982.

Re: Bill Gates in Byte Magazine: The Future of Software Design (1983)

#15

He looks to be laying out his company roadmap in the open. Is this a good business strategy? Do you see similar articles from current founders?

Roadmaps are a PR tool, and something you give to you customers to plan with, not something you keep secret. You can find all sorts of articles like this if you look in the right places.

Of course, they're also what you want your competitors to think you're doing, messages to Wall Street or investors, all the other usual things you'd expect from a PR vehicle.

Re: Bill Gates in Byte Magazine: The Future of Software Design (1983)

#16
post #3

Really forward-thinking stuff, but then again that's why Microsoft succeeded. It seems like all of Gates' predictions were spot-on in this article.

Everyone has blind spots.

Gates is famous for completely missing the success of the Internet. He thought that it had no consumer appeal and as a result MS was focused on Office and PC software when the dotcom boom started. His first version of "A Road Ahead" published in 1995 didn't have a chapter about Internet. It was added later.

To his credit he made complete 180 in his opinion in the same year and started to exploit MS monopoly power mercilessly to get ahead.

Re: Bill Gates in Byte Magazine: The Future of Software Design (1983)

#17
post #11

The same edition has articles about coordinates systems in graphics and Gaus-Jordan elimination method. There are circuit diagrams and program listings. It was a real trade magazine. Today that type of content is almost exclusively in in blogs. Magazines write about stuff like "The Most Important Agile Trends to Follow in 2020". It's part marketing, influencing kind fluff where people write opinions about soft issues…

> Magazines write about stuff like "The Most Important Agile Trends to Follow in 2020". It's part marketing, influencing kind fluff where people write opinions about soft issues where you can't be clearly right or wrong. The mainstream ones sure, but there's others out there that don't. At least 2600 still the same.

Related: 2600 recently started publishing DRM-free PDFs.

They're kind of floundering for funding, so if you like that sort of thing, you should probably grab a copy or subscription.

https://www.2600.com/content/message-our-readers

Re: Bill Gates in Byte Magazine: The Future of Software Design (1983)

#18

I love how the very next article is titled "The 8086 - An Architecture for the Future" I love reading old computer magazines and the archive.org collection is amazing. One interesting thing about doing that is that it provides a first hand account of what a lot of the people that worked in the industry thought the future of computing would be like. It is fascinating to compare that view with how it turned out. I wond…

Currently reading this book on programming language design: https://books.google.de/books/about/Principles_of_Programmin...

It didn't really make it into the top 100 of programming books of the 80s/90s, I found it in my grandparents attic. Still, it is a really fascinating read for a young person today. People back then obviously had very different expectations on the future of CS. Even more fascinating I think is the broadness of thinking that programmers were expected to have. The exercises at the end of chapters in this book go further than anything I did during my studies, and while certainly hard, they never feel unfair either.

Re: Bill Gates in Byte Magazine: The Future of Software Design (1983)

#19

I love how the very next article is titled "The 8086 - An Architecture for the Future" I love reading old computer magazines and the archive.org collection is amazing. One interesting thing about doing that is that it provides a first hand account of what a lot of the people that worked in the industry thought the future of computing would be like. It is fascinating to compare that view with how it turned out. I wond…

Currently reading this book on programming language design: https://books.google.de/books/about/Principles_of_Programmin... It didn't really make it into the top 100 of programming books of the 80s/90s, I found it in my grandparents attic. Still, it is a really fascinating read for a young person today. People back then obviously had very different expectations on the future of CS. Even more fascinating I think is th…

I think I have the 1999 edition of that book. I don't really remember finding it dated. Maybe the earlier editions. I do remember it is an excellent book for learning PL fundamentals.

Re: Bill Gates in Byte Magazine: The Future of Software Design (1983)

#20
post #11

The same edition has articles about coordinates systems in graphics and Gaus-Jordan elimination method. There are circuit diagrams and program listings. It was a real trade magazine. Today that type of content is almost exclusively in in blogs. Magazines write about stuff like "The Most Important Agile Trends to Follow in 2020". It's part marketing, influencing kind fluff where people write opinions about soft issues…

> Magazines write about stuff like "The Most Important Agile Trends to Follow in 2020". It's part marketing, influencing kind fluff where people write opinions about soft issues where you can't be clearly right or wrong. The mainstream ones sure, but there's others out there that don't. At least 2600 still the same.

Also this was recently on HN and looks interesting: https://pagedout.institute
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