Usenet 1980 - Things I Didn't know...

Usenet archive extract, 1981.

I believe there's not a huge amount I don't know about the 1980s. At the time, through a haze of electronic music and Stella Artois, I was oblivious to a lot of it, but since then I've studied. However, I can still be surprised. I knew the first version of Microsoft Windows arrived in 1985, and that the World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, but I'd  never heard of Usenet, which was established in 1980, and was apparently a bit of a predecessor to today's Web forums. In fact, in 1980, nobody I knew had a computer or would have dreamt of buying one. I didn't even know anybody who bought a ZX80! But over in the States, the poor man's ARPANET took wing in 1980.

It was the brainchild of Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis, and initial participation was very small (expectedly in those days), but it grew.

I suppose, not to be unkind, it was a bit of a geeks' and nerds' valley at first, it must surely have been, and comparing its presentation and technical efficiency to today's World Wide Web would be a bit like comparing apples to oranges, but it's still interesting.

From the Web:

Usenet is a global network of servers on which all kinds of data are exchanged. In some ways it can be seen as the predecessor of modern day internet forums. It all started in 1980, when Usenet was introduced, giving users the possibility to exchange text messages and scientific articles. These text messages and scientific publications could be uploaded in several categories, called newsgroups, with each newsgroup covering a certain topic. 

It wasn't really the forerunner to the World Wide Web, but definitely a small marker on the (then unplanned) path towards it.

Computers In 1980 - The Acorn Atom, The ZX80, The World's First PET Show And Prestel News At View Data '80...

June 1980: word has arrived from Personal Computer World's distributor that he would like to increase the number of copies printed by 70% - immediately. A move almost unprecedented in the annals of specialist magazine publishing, writes the editorial team, very chuffed about it indeed.

Here, PCW is proclaiming itself as being EUROPE'S LEADING MICRO MAGAZINE on its front cover. At some point between June 1980 and November 1982, it would be demoting itself to BRITAIN'S LARGEST SELLING MICRO MAGAZINE (see here) as interest in computers began to increase, creating an upsurge in computer-related magazines.

Computing 1980 style... (yawn)... sorry, but before the World Wide Web I couldn't see the point. OK, in 1980 something called "Usenet" was established in the States, but it was the invention of the Web in 1989 and its implementation in the early 1990s which led to me joining the computer brigade - and millions of others. In 1980, I never dreamt I'd ever use a computer.

It is worth noting that World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee took the first steps towards his wondrous 1989 invention in June to December 1980 - he wrote ENQUIRE, his first computer program for storing information. At this time he was working a six month stint as a consultant software engineer at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland.

He left CERN for a spell, returning in 1984, and in March 1989 invented the World Wide Web. Read more about 1989 and the World Wide Web here.

Back to 1980, when most people didn't even have a VCR, let alone a computer, and I must say those Verbatim minidisks in the photograph above don't look very "mini" to me!

A brand new arrival in 1980 - the Acorn Atom:

New! - The Acorn Atom - £120

An outstanding personal computer kit

Also available ready-built for £150 plus VAT and p&p

The ATOM - a definitive personal computer. Simple-to-build, simple-to operate, But a really powerful full-facility computer. And designed on an expandable basis. You can buy a superb expanded package now - tailored to your needs. Or you can buy just the standard Atom kit, and, as you grow in confidence and knowledge, add more chips. No need to replace your equipment. No need to worry that your investment will be overtaken by new technology. As you need more power, more facilities, you can add them!

The standard ATOM kit includes:

*Full sized QWERTY keyboard

*Rugged polystyrene case

*Fibreglass PCB

*2K RAM

*8K ROM

*23 integrated circuits

*Full assembly instructions including tests for fault-finding (once built, connect it to any domestic TV and power source)...

MSI 6800: At the root of every good system...

TANDY - ANOTHER BREAKTHROUGH

TRS.80 MODEL II

5 FIGURE COMPUTING POWER AT A 4 FIGURE PRICE!

COMPLETE SYSTEMS FROM £1999
(plus V.A.T) Delivery 30-60 DAYS

*Built-in 1/2 Megabyte 8'' Floppy Disc

*32 or 64k Random Access Memory

*12" High Resolution Video Monitor

*24 Lines of 80 or 40 (wide) characters

*Upper/Lower Case

*Two RS-232c Serial Interface Ports

*"Power-Up" Self Testing

*One Centronics Parallel Interface Port

*Two Programmable Special Function Keys

*Direct Memory Access

*Vector Driven Interrupts

*Full 4 Megahertz operating speed

*Provisions for plug-in Expansion Boards

Tandy was apparently "THE BIG NAME FOR LITTLE COMPUTERS":

Tandy are opening specialist TRS-80 microcomputer centers the length and breadth of Britain - many are already open and new ones will be appearing all the time. So you'll be able to drop in and experiment with the TRS-80 range, discuss your needs with a TRS-80 expert and buy one over the counter. Each store will be backed by a service engineer to iron out any problems you may encounter when commissioning your system.

1980 saw saw the world's very first Commodore PET show...

There are over 18,000 Commodore PET Microcomputers in regular operation throughout the UK.

The list of PET applications is endless - ledger, payroll, word processing, stock-control, business information, activity planning, time recording, incomplete record accounting, graphics, voltage stabilisation and so on.

One user uses his PET to compose poetry, another even composes musical scores. All on the PET Microcomputer.

Commodore felt that it was high time approved PET Products, PET User Clubs, Special Interest Groups and potential and present PET users were brought together.

So they have asked Baroness International to organise the World's First PET Show, in the Empire Napoleon Suite at Cafe Royal.

Over 50 stands will be demonstrating a range of approved PET Products...

PRESTEL REPORT

One of the highlights of the recent Viewdata '80 exhibition was the announcement of three major enhancements to Prestel - "Picture Prestel", "Telesoftware" and "Dynamically Redefinable Character Sets" (hereinafter referred to as DRCS). The publicity for these developments seems to have been particularly ill-timed considering the fact that, just as Prestel seems to be getting off the ground, along come some new features which demand the use of radically different Prestel receivers. Nevertheless the facilities announced are quite interesting and well worth a closer look.

Click on the image for more details!

Cromenco Micro Systems Ltd, Edinburgh - a lovely display of computers. The thrill of the new in 1980, so quaint today.

The dear old floppy disk... somewhat larger in the 1980s film and TV footage I have seen than the dinky little things prevalant when I first purchased a PC in 2004...

And last, but by no means least, this brand new 1980 arrival needs no introduction - Clive Sinclair's ZX80 - Britain's first complete computer kit - £79.95:

You've seen the reviews... you've heard the excitement... now make the kit!

This is the ZX80. 'Personal Computer World' gave it 5 stars for excellent value. Benchmark tests say it's faster than all previous computers. And the response from kit enthusiasts has been tremendous...

'Excellent value' indeed!

For just £79.95 (INCLUDING VAT and p&p) you get everything you need to build a personal computer at home... PCB with IC sockets for all ICs; case; leads for direct connection to a cassette recorder and television (black and white or colour), EVERYTHING!

Yet the ZX80 really is a complete, powerful, full-facility computer, matching or surpassing other personal computers at several times the price.

The ZX80 is programmed in BASIC, and you can use it to do quite literally anything from playing chess to managing a business.

The ZX80 is pleasantly straightforward to assemble, using a fine-tipped soldering iron. It immediately proves what a good job you've done: connect it to your TV... link it to an appropriate power source... and you're ready to go...

Fascinating - I don't fancy the bit with the soldering iron, though!

Compare computers in 1980 with computers in 1982 here.

Speak And Spell

A newspaper advertisement from December 1980, featuring a "Speak & Spell". This clever push-button operated gadget was originally released in America in July 1978. In 1980, a new membrane keyboard model (pictured below) debuted - although the version featured in the ad above is of the push button variety.

Do not run away with the idea that all kids were playing with Speak & Spells at Christmas 1980. For many families £44.95 was an absurd amount for an individual present - remember there was a recession on.

Purse-string holders in my family did not even consider objects like the Speak & Spell for purchase until somewhat later in the decade.

We had our own English-speaking version here as there are many differences between American English and English as it is spoken in England and the other nations of the UK.

Speak & Spell later went on to great fame - appearing in a certain film about a stranded alien. Click here for details!

"That is correct!"

A Speak & Spell with membrane keyboard, released in 1980.

The Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81

Computer 'for all the family' is launched

From the Cambridge Evening News, 29/1/1980

The ZX80 personal computer was launched by Sinclair Research Ltd of Cambridge today.

It can be used in the office, the factory and the home.

And the creator, Mr Clive Sinclair, said: I should think any child of 10 with normal arithmetical ability could use it."

Mr Sinclair claims the new machine is smaller than anything of comparable performance and also four times as cheap.

"It's the biggest leap we've ever made in terms of price and technology," he said.

Mr Sinclair founded Sinclair Radionics Ltd of St Ives. He was the first on the market with a pocket-sized electronic calculator and with a mini television set, the Microvision.

He left Sinclair Radionics last year to set up Sinclair Research.

The machine has been developed by a team based at Sinclair Research's King's Parade [Cambridge] offices - but will be made by a West Country firm.

Kit forms will come on the market next month at £77.95 and a completely built version in March at £99.95.

Mr Sinclair said: "We couldn't find a manufacturer nearer with the production and test facilities we require, so that's why we had to look further afield."

He believed experts would account for 80 per cent of production.

The new machine uses a Japanese chip to drive its mathematical functions. It can be plugged into an ordinary television set, standard computers or print-out machines if a permanent record is required.

The "software" - that is the programs - can be operated through a standard tape cassette, as found in home music centres and small portable tape recorders.

With the ZX80 comes a 130-page step-by-step manual written by the leader of the computer group at Cambridge Consultants, Mr Hugo Davenport.

A full page magazine advertisement for the Sinclair ZX80, The Sunday Times Magazine, December, 1980.

Advertisement from the Daily Mirror, 13/7/1981...

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Sinclair ZX81 Personal Computer

£69. 95

Including FREE course in computing, FREE mains adaptor, AND VAT.

Inside a day, you'll be talking to it like a new friend.

If computers interest you, you'll find the ZX81 totally absorbing.

But more than that, you'll find it of immense practical value. The computer understanding it gives you will be useful in any business or professional sphere. And the grounding it gives your children will equip them for the rest of their lives.

The ZX81 cuts away computer mystique. It takes you straight into BASIC, the most common, easy-to-use computer language.

You simply take it out of its box, plug it in to your TV, switch it on at the mains - and start. With the manual in your hand, you'll be running programs in an hour. Within a week, you'll be writing complex programs of your own, with confidence and competence.

All for under £70!

The features that make the ZX81 easy to learn on, also make it easy to use.

The ZX81 is deigned with special considerations for the beginner. So it has built in a uniquely simple way of entering commands - and of spotting mistakes before it's too late to correct them easily.

But this doesn't mean it's a a junior computer. The ZX81 is a very fast and powerful computer, quite capable of the work you associate with much larger, more expensive personal computers.
How can anyone offer a real computer for only £69.95?

In a word - design! We've taken the conventional computer and packaged it onto just four extremely powerful chips.

The outcome is not just a computer, but the heart of a computer system. As your skills and needs develop, your ZX81 keeps pace.

You can add 16 times more memory with the Sinclair 16K-byte RAM pack.

Very soon, we'll have our own printer.

And you'll receive details of ZX software (programs pre-recorded on cassette) with your ZX81-games, junior education and business/household management.

Your course in computing.

The ZX81 comes complete with a new 212-page guide to computing. The book assumes no prior knowledge and represents a complete course in the subject, from first principles to quite complex programs.

It's structured to balance theory and practice - you learn by doing, not just by reading. It makes learning easy and enjoyable.

Price includes mains adaptor, TV and cassette-recorder leads and VAT.

Your TV, black and white or colur, is all that's needed as a display. Normal reception is not affected.

Your ZX81 comes complete with leads and plugs for immediate connection to the aerial socket of any domestic TV.

The price also includes a compatible mains adaptor (worth £8.95) and connections for a portable cassette recorder - if you choose to use one as a useful extra for storing programs on ordinary blank cassette tape.

ZX81 specifications:

Z80A micro-processor - new, faster version of the world-famous Z80 chip.

Unique 'one-touch' key word eliminates much tiresome typing.

Unique syntax-check and report codes identify programming errors immediately.

Full range of maths and science functions accurate to eight decimal places.

Graph-drawing and animated displays.

Multi-dimensional string and numerical arrays.

Up to 26 FOR/NEXT loops.

Randomise function - useful for games as well as more serious applications.

Cassette LOAD and SAVE with named programs.

1K-byte RAM expandable to 16K bytes with Sinclair RAM pack.

Able to drive the new Sinclair printer (not available yet - but coming soon!).

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The illustration above, and the two below, are from an advertisement featured in Your Computer magazine, February,1982.

1980 saw a genuine breakthrough - the Sinclair ZX80, world's first complete personal computer for under £100. Not surprisingly, over 50,000 were sold.

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In March 1981, the Sinclair lead increased dramatically. For just £69.95 the Sinclair ZX81 offers even more advanced facilities at an even lower price.

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Initially, even we were surprised by the demand - over 50,000 in the first three months.

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Today, the Sinclair ZX81 is the heart of a computer system. You can add 16-times more memory with the ZX RAM pack. The ZX printer offers an unbeatable combination of performance and price. And the ZX software library is growing every day...

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For '80s Actual stuff on the launch of the ZX Spectrum - click here.

For a look at some computers on sale in 1983 - click here.

For some newspaper publicity for the 1985 C5 car - click here.