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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

32:20

Episode 12 - Journey to Altair

Advent of Computing ·

2019/09/08

Today we are going to be traveling back to the late 1970s to take a look at the early days of the home computer. And specifically how Microsoft found a foothold at just the right time and place. And for Bill Gates and Paul Allen that would come in the form of BASIC. Along the way we will cover the Altair 8800, vaporware, and how Bill Gates violated Harvard student conduct. 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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24:46

Episode 11 - Spacewar! (the Game)

Advent of Computing ·

2019/08/25

It really seems like in the last decade video games have gone from a somewhat niche hobby to a widespread part of our culture. Nowadays, there are a multitude of ways to get out gaming fix. Consoles, handheld game systems, and even smartphones make video games more accessible than ever. But when and how exactly did video games start to creep into the modern consciousness? In this episode we look at some of the earliest video games and how they came to be. Like the show? Then why not head over and

en

10:56

Episode 10.5 - The Jargon File

Advent of Computing ·

2019/08/18

In this mini-episode we look at the Jargon File, an early primary source about hacker culture. The most recent version of the file lives here: http://catb.org/jargon/html/ If you want more of my voice, I was also recently on the What Do You Do With That podcast talking about restoring an IBM PS/2 Model 25. You can find all their episodes here: https://wdydwt.blubrry.net/

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27:52

Episode 10 - Networking for a Nuclear War, the Americans

Advent of Computing ·

2019/08/11

In this episode we are going to explore the ARPANET. This is a companion to the last episode, which covered contemporary Soviet attempts to create an early internet. Like with last time, today we are still in the Cold War era. Now, this won't be a point by point comparison of Soviet to US networks. They are totally different beasts. Instead, what I want to do is look at how ARPANET was developed, what influenced it, and how it would kick start the creation of the internet.

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27:39

Episode 9 - Networking for a Nuclear War, the Soviets

Advent of Computing ·

2019/07/28

Often times people assume the US is the homeland of the internet. Funded by the US Department of Defence, the first attempts at a large-scale network were started during the height of the Cold War, and a large part of it's design was redundancy and robust-ness. Some of the researchers were quite frank about it's purpose: to create a network that could survive an upcoming nuclear war. This military-hardened infrastructure was known as ARPANET. But that's only part of the story, and the US wasn't the

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30:41

Episode 8 - Acorn and the BBC

Advent of Computing ·

2019/07/14

The Raspberry Pi had been a huge success at its stated goals, and continues to be. But, this isn't the first time a British company would design and develop a computer as an accessible platform for learning programming. In fact, if you've read much about the Pi then you've probably seen people calling it a "BBC Micro 2". So what was the BBC Micro? What did the BBC have to do with creating a new computer? And how is any of this connected to the 21st century version? Today I want to share the

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23:29

Episode 7 - Attack of the PC Clones

Advent of Computing ·

2019/06/30

Today, I want to share with you the story of the first PC clones and how they cemented the rise of the x86 chipset. Most of this story takes place between 1981 and 1984, but I think it's fair to say that these 3 years are some of the most influential for the PC's rise to domination. So lets start the story with a discussion of the IBM PC, how it was special, and then examine how reverse engineering it lead to the current x86 monoculture we see today.

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06:50

Episode 6.5 - Edge-Notched

Advent of Computing ·

2019/06/23

In this byte-sized episode we look at edge-notched cards. A punch card adjacent technology with a strange connection to the early internet.

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25:28

Episode 6 - Digital Voices

Advent of Computing ·

2019/06/16

What are the origins of our modern day text-to-speech systems? In this episode we will dive into the rich history of electronic talking machines. Along the way I will tell you the story of the vocoder, the first singing computer, and a little about the father of modern synthesized speech.

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29:57

Episode 5 - Unix for the People, Part 2

Advent of Computing ·

2019/06/02

Now, as the name suggests this is the second part of a series on the history of UNIX. Part 1 mainly covers the background leading up to UNIX. If you haven't listened to it yet, I strongly suggest you go do that now. A lot of what was covered in part 1 provides needed context for our discussion today. Just as a quick recap, last time I told you about CTSS and Multics, two of the earliest time-sharing operating systems. Today, we are going to be picking up where we left off: Bell Labs just left

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05:52

Episode 4.5 - Space Travel!

Advent of Computing ·

2019/05/27

In this mini-episode we talk about Space Travel, an obscure video game from 1969.

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23:32

Episode 4 - Unix for the People, Part 1

Advent of Computing ·

2019/05/20

Many people have never even heard of Unix, an operating system first released in the early 1970s. But that doesn't change the fact that all of the internet, and nearly every computer or smart device you interact with is based on some variant of Unix. So, how was such an important project created, and how did it revolutionize computing? Today we will dive into the story leading up to Unix: time-sharing computers in the 1960s. This is really just the background for part 2 where we will discuss the

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26:41

Episode 3 - Mythic Macintosh

Advent of Computing ·

2019/05/05

The original Apple Macintosh, later rebranded the Macintosh 128k, is inarguably one of the most recognizable vintage computers. Even it's design has become iconic: a single 3 ½ inch floppy drive and 9 inch black-and-white CRT built into one small rounded beige box. Even on its release in 1984 it was heralded as a visionary and groundbreaking machine that could even rival the success of the IBM PC. Today, we are going to look at the enduring legacy of the Macintosh and answer the questions: what did

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23:03

Episode 2 - The Demo

Advent of Computing ·

2019/04/22

A lot of newer technology doesn't expressly say it's going to "revolutionize the human experience", but sometimes, that line may actually be closer to the truth than you would expect. Today, I am going to tell you about a time when that was very much the case. Today we go back to 1968 to look at Doug Engelbart's "The Mother of all Demos" You can watch the entite archve of the demo here: http://www.dougengelbart.org/content/view/209/448/

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26:39

Episode 1 - Folded Spindled and Mutilated

Advent of Computing ·

2019/04/09

Today, I want to share with you a technology that shambles among us as a corpse that refuses to die. That is, of course, the punch card. In this episode, we will be talking about the storied history and influence from beyond the grave of the punch card.

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