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GO MICRO - Commodore 64 edition book and tape (1984)

Posted: 04/08/2011 - 15:53
by Commie_User
Longman Software: http://www.Leftiness.org/Go_Micro.zip

AT HOME WITH YOUR COMMODORE 64

At last - a clear and interesting introduction to the Commodore 64 that doesn't expect you to be a programming genius!

This simple, well illustrated book fills in the fascinating background to your micro - in home learning, home entertainment, household management and word processing. You'll see how all that fits in with use of computers in business and communications systems.

Then you'll find out how your micro actually works and how programs are created. You'll discover your micro's potential to create colour and graphics - and sound.

Finally there's advice on how to get the best out of the five software programs included in the pack.

The ideal introduction to the Commodore 64 for the whole family!


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I remember the mystique and wonder of 8-bits such as the BBC Micro and ZX Spectrum too. Did we really make so much out of so little in those days? Little did we know what was to come. Recently a woman with amnesia, still believing it was 1992, was stumped by an X-Box and other computer gadgets:

http://thesun.mobi/sol/homepage/news/37 ... html?mob=1



The introductory book is typical of its time. Almost everyone still needed the guided tour of computers and even be set straight on the principles.

The software tape is pretty rudimentary, though The Music Program is worth loading. It's a tiny touch sluggish but you can also tease some great sounds from it with one-finger glides, multiple voices and a wide octave range per setting.



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....And for good measure, here's an online copy of The Microcomputer Magazine: http://www.scribd.com/doc/54500227/Comm ... 82-Dec-Jan

Re: GO MICRO - Commodore 64 edition book and tape (1984)

Posted: 04/08/2011 - 15:57
by Commie_User
Selected pages from the book:

Re: GO MICRO - Commodore 64 edition book and tape (1984)

Posted: 04/08/2011 - 16:02
by Commie_User
Interestingly, the Datasette I had just re-aligned with a service tape failed to load the programs. But another, unmaintainanced unit managed without problems. I keep a number of Datasettes in various stages of head alignment to increase my chances of loading from most tapes.

Re: GO MICRO - Commodore 64 edition book and tape (1984)

Posted: 04/08/2011 - 16:15
by Commie_User
On the subject of music, I ran 5-pin DIN cables from each of my Commodores. I wanted to share one DIN-to-SCART lead between many computers, so I now patch different leads with a coupler in the middle, saving money as well as wear and tear on the computer's own sockets. I also left the RF-outs hooked up to their own switcher, plus I can also patch the DINS into audio signal cables running to my patch panel.

This means I can listen to one 64 whilst playing another, hear myself simultaneously playing a wall of 64s (plus Sound Expander), or have one 64 display in the bedroom whilst a second 64 shows on the sitting room telly. Yup, I'm just a junkie looking for a studio fix when there are no sessions needed. (Only last week I extended a MIDI network to the other side of the house and can patch in a wall of living room synths to the bedroom system using the same DIN-coupling method.)

However, I did have to chop into a DIN and sever one of the lines to remove the buzz. Though not being an expert I have no idea why the buzz was introduced, even when connected to the line cable using only one signal contact.





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And it's also interesting how the C64 can still be upgraded, even 17 years since its commercial demise.

You had GEOS and superior BASIC add-ons at the time, now you can give your 64 updated music product, broadband Internet connectivity, Flash drive and PC hard drive data storage, USB keyboard connectivity and other gubbins.

Seems you can't keep a good system down.


http://tech.slashdot.org/story/03/09/18 ... mmodore-64
http://symlink.dk/projects/c64key/

Re: GO MICRO - Commodore 64 edition book and tape (1984)

Posted: 04/08/2011 - 16:37
by Commie_User
Turns out I've already uploaded many bits of software not available before. I'm surprised there are still so many lost titles, despite the acres of disks, tapes and cartridges already copied for posterity.

Not just for history but I also love the thrill of it. This vast archive, the fun of networking and uploading, preserving all the old software which would otherwise crumble to dust without new people to play them. It's more important to get software into the PC now than it is to load them into a Commie. Some reletively recent, sealed boxes of disks sell, plus you can still buy cassettes new. And data transfer kits are cheap or free and very easy to use so there's no excuse.


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A few copies of this book still float around Ebay but they won't last forever on their own. And I think it's actually very few of us who go to the bother of preserving these things. And that's a pity, especially if we found ourselves dumping Commodores simply because we couldn't use software outside the emulators.