Question Weekend Question: How Did You Learn About Tech Before the Internet?

[SHaines]

Greetings!

We're kicking off our Question of the Week series today with a look back in time. In the days before the Internet put everything at your fingertips, what was your go-to method for learning about the latest tech?

My absolute favorite thing in the world was to get the Sunday San Jose Mercury News and go through the ads for places like Fry's Electronics and Circuit City. They had some glossy catalogs that described magical new tech that I could never afford (being about 11) but I still pored over every item to learn all that I could.

So, how did you scratch the tech itch in the olden days?

 

[hondoman]

For me, it was Computer Shopper. This big behemoth phone book sized magazine ...

For me as well. I live in Europe. I believe a colleague had one and I ordered one. There was no means to gather reviews of systems or software. I bought my first PC in 1991 by ringing the seller and having the system posted to me. It has a serious hassle. Somehow I kept the system alive for about 8 years, mostly through upgrading. In 1998, I joined eBay and was able to buy parts, but keeping the housing. But there was little means to actually stay up to date on parts in the mid 1990s.

 

[Exploding PSU]

Anyone remember 'Computer Chronicles'?? That's pretty much where I get my info, albeit I didn't actually jump into the tech-world until years later, during the age of Vista. Their opening segue of "Computer Chronicles is provided to you by Byte Magazine, and BIX, the byte information exchange..." stuck to me until this day.

How I miss the shows, what wouldn't I do to be able to watch at least one or two episodes again..

 

[gdmaclew]

PC magazine from the late 70's and from hands-on experience from August '81 onward with the first IBM-PC at work as well as the Victor 9000.
From there to the IBM PC-AT and NCR PC AT clone.

 

[Badger51]

Greetings!

We're kicking off our Question of the Week series today with a look back in time. In the days before the Internet put everything at your fingertips, what was your go-to method for learning about the latest tech?

My absolute favorite thing in the world was to get the Sunday San Jose Mercury News and go through the ads for places like Fry's Electronics and Circuit City. They had some glossy catalogs that described magical new tech that I could never afford (being about 11) but I still pored over every item to learn all that I could.

So, how did you scratch the tech itch in the olden days?

I was a user of CompuServe for a number of years. Their forums and resources were invaluable in the days before widespread use of browsers and websites.

Before that, not much of a techie, but there was always the public library.

 

[alceryes]

Mostly all the old magazines already listed - Compute!, Computer Shopper, Byte, etc.. I had family in IT and telecommunications (early years) as well and would talk to them and read their more business-oriented magazines. One of my friends was also a computer 'geek' and we regularly discussed what we're going to buy/build with the money we didn't have.

My first semi-real computer was the Atari 400. Followed soon after by my full-of-fond-memories Commodore 64. The magazines list above gained more significance once I realized that they listed cool/fun/totally annoying programs in that back that I could ACTUALLY PROGRAM on my C64. They also sometimes sent floppy disks with games and demos.

 

[JHC81]

Books & Seminars

 

[suvo30]

Good morning from India. I got to learn computers from 1993 at a very tender age and the Internet was a dream so it was a computer too. I got introduced to the computing world from grade 1 in 1993 at St.Xavier's collegiate high school. My only form of knowledge was the school library and the notes that I still have from an early age of visiting; local city library. which is a bit far from our home, I rather used to walk library to and fro in order to learn from the Library. Which took me around 2 hours to walk from our home. I absolutely had no help back then and back now even. I am completely on my own experiences about learning computers and world pieces of knowledge, my family was so poor that we could not even afford a television seemed excessive expenses for us from 1999 -2003, no television. Just my solitude was the computer magazines I used to lend from a particular person, the man sympathized and lend me the books to read and learn, but later I realized that man-made me read and learn such that he benefits from my knowledge which he did I repaired his computer for 14 consecutive years, for " free of cost for the encouragement he did for me in the past. Even after 14 years of services rendered to him he still denies my pieces of knowledge, sad life. " But I combined everything I learned in the last 27 years and began to improve myself, I want to learn more, read more, improve more. Learn and be better than myself then that I am off today. I come in peace I am eager to learn from every brilliant mind across the world.
I wish to learn from everyone, keeping in mind not to offend anyone in this process of learning too. My best regards to my fellow members and to respected Admins too. Have a nice week ahead.

 

[USAFRet]

Basically, we learned about "tech" before the internet was the same way we learned about everything else.
Cars, DIY construction, cooking, etc, etc.

Reading, talking to people, and secondarily, via TV. Book, magazines, library, clubs.
"the internet" just put that all onscreen, and made more sources easily discoverable.

 

[jhsachs]

Bulletin boards, which were essentially Worldwide Web forums without the web.

Usenet newgroups, which depended on the Internet but flourished long before there was a Web. They not only attracted a global pool of really smart well-informed people, but had a consistent user interface, something Web forums have never achieved. (You accessed it through a Usenet reader analogous to an email reader, and how it looked was determined by which reader you chose, not which newgroup you happened to be visiting.)

Sadly, the Web killed Usenet. The last time I used it was like going back to the old neighborhood and finding it had been taken over by gangbangers and druggies. All of the informed people had left, and the trolls had taken over.

 

[suvo30]

Good morning again respected admins and to fellow members, computers amazed me all life. I am ready to learn more than the usual kinds, my only motto in life is to learn more and yet more from brilliant minds in the world.

 

[bigendian]

Greetings!

We're kicking off our Question of the Week series today with a look back in time. In the days before the Internet put everything at your fingertips, what was your go-to method for learning about the latest tech?

My absolute favorite thing in the world was to get the Sunday San Jose Mercury News and go through the ads for places like Fry's Electronics and Circuit City. They had some glossy catalogs that described magical new tech that I could never afford (being about 11) but I still pored over every item to learn all that I could.

So, how did you scratch the tech itch in the olden days?

From books and old age masters. Those that no one wants to ask anything, preferring google.

 

[SHaines]

The magazines list above gained more significance once I realized that they listed cool/fun/totally annoying programs in that back that I could ACTUALLY PROGRAM on my C64. They also sometimes sent floppy disks with games and demos.

I used to love these sorts of things. There was thing in the back of the C64 manual, I believe, that you could program a hot air balloon that would fly around the monitor and would change direction whenever it bumped against an edge of the monitor. It felt like legit magic at the time.

I remember programming calculation/RNG bit that that my mother used to pick lottery numbers. We never ended up rich, so I'm guessing I forgot to carry a 1 somewhere.

 

[alceryes]

I used to love these sorts of things. There was thing in the back of the C64 manual, I believe, that you could program a hot air balloon that would fly around the monitor and would change direction whenever it bumped against an edge of the monitor. It felt like legit magic at the time.

I remember programming calculation/RNG bit that that my mother used to pick lottery numbers. We never ended up rich, so I'm guessing I forgot to carry a 1 somewhere.

Great times! I still remember the name of one program - Aladdin's Carpet.
I stayed up all night programming and debugging that crap and STILL couldn't get it to work properly.

Thus was born my first programming "WTF!? Come on you stupid piece of <Mod Edit>" moment.

 

[Strongwolf2]

I use to buy magazines and ask questions.

 

[baha_timimi]

CPU magazine for PCs and generally using books

 

[jimmysmitty]

Books, magazines, my late grandfather and playing around with them.

 

[gameoverman2016]

2600 Magazine
PC World(I think?)
Popular Mechanics

 

[GraySilencer]

ComputorEdge Magazine because it was free!

 

[King_V]

Oooh, that reminds me - I somehow got a permanent subscription to Atari Age at some point. Not sure why, exactly, but I never had to pay for the subscription.

 

[Ralston18]

Very much the same way as many of the preceding posts.

Plus some early on adventures with RS-232 projects via an Atari computer.

All seemed to be "smoke and mirrors" sometimes. Well - smoke anyway.....

 

[Bryce Sadler]

First in the library. There are many books and magazines about technology. Any technews from friends, computer sellers, repair technicians.

 

[meelsport]

I would go to a place named Silo, it was a electronics store. I'll would talk with the tech to get information

 

[wisnk13]

I came to tech later in life so always had the internet . Library's , encyclopedias and trial and error. I bought my first computer at Goodwill for $20 with an outdated window's 95 OS. That thing taught me quite a bit because I wasn't afraid of ruining it.

 

[Jason H.]

I wasnt alive before the internet

 

[earthling33]

In order of preference. (Most exciting when it arrived in the mail or I found a new issue on the newsstand)

Byte Magazine
SysAdmin Magazine
Dr Dobbs Journal
Linux Journal
Computer Shopper
InfoWorld
PC Magazine
PC World