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PODCAST

Advent of Computing

Welcome to Advent of Computing, the show that talks about the shocking, intriguing, and all too often relevant history of computing. A lot of little things we take for granted today have rich stories behind their creation, in each episode we will learn how older tech has lead to our modern world.

history

All Episodes

51:39

Episode 47 - ITS: Open Computing

Advent of Computing ·

2021/01/11

Modern operating systems adhere to a pretty rigid formula. They all have users with password-protected accounts and secure files. They all have restrictions to keep programs from breaking stuff. That design has been common for a long time, but that doesn't make it the best solution. In the late 60s ITS, the Incompatible Timesharing System, was developed as a more exciting alternative. ITS was built for hackers to play, there were no passwords, any anyone who could find ITS was welcome to log in

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56:16

Episode 46 - Hacker Folklore

Advent of Computing ·

2020/12/28

Hacker hasn't always been used to describe dangerous computer experts will ill intent. More accurately it should be sued to describe those enamored with computers, programming, and trying to push machines to do interesting things. The values, ethics, morals, and practices around those people make up what's known as hacker culture. Today we are digging into the Jargon File, a compendium of all things hackish and hackable, to take a look at hacker culture through its folklore. Huge thanks to some

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57:13

Episode 45 - Keeping Things BASIC

Advent of Computing ·

2020/12/14

BASIC is a strange language. During the early days of home computing it was everywhere you looked, pretty much every microcomputer in the 70s and early 80s ran BASIC. For a time it filled a niche almost perfectly, it was a useable language that anyone could learn. That didn't happen by accident. Today we are looking at the development of BASIC, how two mathematicians started a quest to expose more students to computers, and how their creation got away from them.

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59:47

Episode 44 - ENIAC, Part II

Advent of Computing ·

2020/11/30

In 1946 John Eckert and John Mauchly left the Moore School, patented ENIAC, and founded a company. One of those discussions would have consequences that wouldn't be resolved until 1973. Today we close out our series on ENIAC with a look at the legal battle it spawned, and how it put ownership over the rights to basic digital technology on trial. Along the way we talk legal gobbledygook, conspiracy, and take a look at some of the earliest electronic computers. Like the show? Then why not head over

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56:37

Episode 43 - ENIAC, Part I

Advent of Computing ·

2020/11/16

Completed in 1945, ENIAC was one of the first electronic digital computers. The machine was archaic, but highly influential. But it wasn't a totally new take on computing. Today we are taking a look at the slow birth of ENIAC, how analog computers started to fall apart, and how earlier ideas transitioned into the digital future. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and bonus

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01:01:43

Episode 42 - IBM Gets Personal

Advent of Computing ·

2020/11/02

This episode is not about the IBM PC. In 1981 the Personal Computer would change the world. Really, it's hard to talk about home computing without diving into it. But I've always had an issue with the traditional story. The PC didn't come out of left field, IBM had actually been trying to make a home computer for years. In 1981 those efforts would pay off, but the PC wasn't revolutionary hardware for Big Blue, it was evolutionary. So today we are looking at that run up with SCAMP, the 5100, and the

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49:52

Episode 41 - Return of Viruses: The Spread

Advent of Computing ·

2020/10/18

It's time to round out spook month with a return to one of last year's topics: the computer virus. Malicious code traveling over networks is actually a relatively new phenomenon, early viruses were much different. In this episode we examine ANIMAL and Elk Cloner, two early viruses that were meant as practical jokes and spread by hapless computer users. Along the way we will see cases of parallel evolution, name calling, and find out if there is any one origin to the word "virus". Like the show? Then

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55:41

Episode 40 - Spam, Email, and Best Intentions

Advent of Computing ·

2020/10/04

Spam emails are a fact of modern life. Who hasn't been sent annoying and sometimes cryptic messages from unidentified addresses? To understand where spam comes from we need to look at the origins of email itself. Email has had a long and strange history, so too have some of it's most dubious uses. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and stickers: https://www.patreon.com/adventofcomputing

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58:36

Episode 39 - Learning Along the Oregon Trail

Advent of Computing ·

2020/09/20

We've all played the Oregon Trail, but what do you know about it's origins? First developed as a mainframe program all the way back in 1971, the Oregon Trail was intended as an educational game first and foremost. In fact, it traces its linage to some of the first efforts to get computers into the classroom. Today we are following the trail back to it's source and seeing how the proper environment was built to create this classic game. You can play the 1975 version here:

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54:38

Episode 38 - JOVIAL, the Evolution of Programming

Advent of Computing ·

2020/09/06

The creation of FORTRAN and early compilers set the stage to change computing forever. However, they were just the start of a much longer process. Just like a spoken language, programming languages have morphed and changed over time. Today we are looking at an interesting case of this slow evolution. JOVIAL was developed during the Cold War for use in the US Military, and it's been in constant small-scale use ever since. It's story gives us a wonderful insight into how programming language change

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46:06

Episode 37 - The Rise of DOS

Advent of Computing ·

2020/08/23

Is there a more iconic duo than the IBM PC and MS-DOS? Microsoft's Disk Operating System would be the final success that turned the company into what we know today. But here's a dirty little secret: DOS didn't start out at Microsoft. So how did Gates and Allen get hold of a winning program? Today we look at how Tim Paterson, an engineer at a long forgotten company, created the first x86 computer and the original version of DOS. Important dates: 1979 - Tim Paterson builds first 8086 Computer 1980 -

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52:56

Episode 36 - The Rise of CP/M

Advent of Computing ·

2020/08/09

The IBM PC and MS-DOS, the iconic duo of the early 80s. The two are so interconnected that it's hard to mention one without the other. But in 1980 DOS wasn't IBM's first choice for their soon-to-be flagship hardware. IBM had wanted to license Gary Kildall's CP/M, but in a strange series of events the deal fell through. Legend states that Kildall lost the contract b was too busy flying his private plane to talk business with IBM, but is that true? Today we look at the development of CP/M, why it was

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48:32

Episode 35 - Analog Computing and the Automatic...

Advent of Computing ·

2020/07/26

A lot of the technology we associate with the modern day started on anachronistic machines. I'm not talking about mainframes, I'm talking older. Today we are looking at George Julius's Automatic Totalisator, an analog computer used to manage betting at horse tracks around the world. These were massively complex machines, some networked over 200 input terminals, and they did it all mechanically. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future

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46:06

Episode 34 - 8080 VS Z80

Advent of Computing ·

2020/07/12

In 1974 Intel released the 8080 processor, a chip long in the making. It was the first microprocessor that had the right combination of power and price to make personal computers viable. But that same year a small group of employees defected and formed their own company called Zilog. Among this group were Masatoshi Shima and Federico Faggin, two of the principal architects behind the 8080 as well as Intel's other processors. Zilog would go on to release a better chip, the Z80, that blew Intel out of

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26:26

Episode 33.5 - Brad Chase Interview, Marketing Lead...

Advent of Computing ·

2020/07/05

I recently got the chance to sit down and talk with Microsoft alumni Brad Chase. He was the product manager for Microsoft Works on the Macintosh, DOS 5, DOS 6, and the marketing lead for Windows 95 as well as much more. We talk about the Apple-Microsoft relationship, the groundbreaking launch of Windows 95, and what it takes to sell software. Editing for this episode was handled by Franck, you can follow him on instagram: www.instagram.com/frc.audio/ Like the show? Then why not head over and

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51:15

Episode 33 - Becoming Portable

Advent of Computing ·

2020/06/28

Portable computing is now totally ubiquitous. There's a good chance you are listening to this episode on a tiny portable computer right now. But where did it all come from? As it turns out the first portable computer was designed all the way back in 1972. This machine, the DynaBook, only ever existed on paper. Despite that handicap, in the coming years it would inspire a huge shift in both personal and portable computing. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include

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46:29

Episode 32 - Road to Transistors, Part II

Advent of Computing ·

2020/06/14

In this episode we finish up our look at the birth of the transistor. But to do that we have to go back to 1880, the crystal radio detector, and examine the development of semiconductor devices. Once created the transistor would change not just how computers worked, but change how they could be used. That change didn't happen over night, and it would take even longer for the transistor to move from theory to reality. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include

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50:35

Episode 31 - Road to Transistors: Part I

Advent of Computing ·

2020/05/31

The transistor changed the world. It made small, complex, and cheap computing possible. But it wasn't the first attempt to crack the case. There is a long and strange lineage of similar devices leading up to the transistor. In this episode we take a look at two of those devices. First the vacuum tube, one of the first components that made computing possible. Then the cryotron, the first device purpose built for computers. You can find the full audio of Atanasoff's talk here:

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46:33

Episode 30 - Coherent Is Not UNIX!

Advent of Computing ·

2020/05/17

In the current day Linux is the most widely used UNIX-like operating system. It's rise to prominence has been an amazing success story. From it's humble beginnings Linux has grown to power everything from super computers to car stereos. But it's not the first UNIX clone. A much earlier system existed, called Coherent. And as it turns out both Linux and Coherent share a lot of similarities. The biggest difference being that Coherent was closed source. Like the show? Then why not head over and support

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09:28

Episode 29.5 - A Guided Tour of the Macintosh

Advent of Computing ·

2020/05/10

In this byte sized episode I take a look at a pack in that came with the first Macintosh. Along side Apple stickers, manuals, and the computer itself there was a single cassette tape labeled "A Guided Tour of the Macintosh". The purpose? It's a strange addition to the Mac's packing, but a great example of Apple's attention to detail and ingenuity. Like the show? Then why not head over and support me on Patreon. Perks include early access to future episodes, and

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195 results

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