In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio
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In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio
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Re: In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio
#2funny to think that there was a blip of people downloading software over the radio in the 80s, then the internet happened and it was all over hardwire, and now virtually all software is downloaded over the radio again
Re: In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio
#3I remember here on HN reading about some vinyl which had either software or games on from the 80s but I dont recall the artist, so this doesnt sound too far from that for me.
Re: In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio
#4I remember here on HN reading about some vinyl which had either software or games on from the 80s but I dont recall the artist, so this doesnt sound too far from that for me.
You're thinking of The Thompson Twins https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thompson_Twins_Adventure
Re: In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio
#5I remember here on HN reading about some vinyl which had either software or games on from the 80s but I dont recall the artist, so this doesnt sound too far from that for me.
In the GDR there was this BASICODE record (German website, no https, a personal blog site):
http://www.simulationsraum.de/blog/2016/01/08/hard-bit-rock/
(German) Wikipedia article: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASICODE
I recorded to tape cassette GDR radio shows on VHF that broadcast code, usually for the GDR "KC 85" 8 bit computer line (U880 processor - Z80 clone).
Funny thing is, you could easily tell from the sounds if the code was assembler or BASIC. The latter was much more orderly and structured.
Problems occurred when someone nearby turned on an electrical device during that transmission, because it was audible and introduced too much of an error and the recording became unusable.
Re: In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio
#6I remember here on HN reading about some vinyl which had either software or games on from the 80s but I dont recall the artist, so this doesnt sound too far from that for me.
Some computer magazines included a 7 inch "flexi" record with software on.
i.e. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexi_disc#/media/File:FloppyR...
Re: In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio
#7[deleted]
Re: In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio
#8I remember here on HN reading about some vinyl which had either software or games on from the 80s but I dont recall the artist, so this doesnt sound too far from that for me.
You're thinking of The Thompson Twins https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thompson_Twins_Adventure
Or could be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camouflage_(Chris_Sievey_song). Or probably other things too.
Edit: There is a (small) wikipedia category for this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Vinyl_data
Re: In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio
#9I remember here on HN reading about some vinyl which had either software or games on from the 80s but I dont recall the artist, so this doesnt sound too far from that for me.
Occasionally magazines in the UK would come with cover flexidiscs. They were similar to 7" records, but very much one (maybe two or three) "plays" only, so your first job was to copy the flexidisc to cassette tape.
Your Computer certainly had a few of these in the early 1980s.
One example is documented here: https://magazinesfromthepast.fandom.com/wiki/Your_Computer_V... By the way, you have no idea how exciting and space-age that cover looked in 1982.
Re: In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio
#10funny to think that there was a blip of people downloading software over the radio in the 80s, then the internet happened and it was all over hardwire, and now virtually all software is downloaded over the radio again
Even if most devices receive data wirelessly these days, the transfer to its last wireless transmitter will be almost entirely wired. Mobile masts are wired, wireless routers are wired, and so on. That being said, consumer devices are but a part of the much larger group of digital devices connected to the internet in some fashion, and a lot of them remains wired to the internet. "Virtually all software" being downloaded wirelessly feels like a big claim.
And this is not entirely an exercise in pedantry and semantics, since traditional radios were not wired, they weren't the "last transmitter" in a long chain, but were rather often _the_ transmitter. The data for download had to be physically moved _to_ the radio station. (I believe wireless extenders for radio exists, and maybe even some wired for larger coverage, but my understanding is radio still remains exceedingly local, and national stations are largely transmitted via the internet first.)
Though a quick aside; it's funny that you refer to wireless as radio, when in radio's infancy, it was most commonly referred to as "wireless" (e.g. "on the wireless").