#retrocomputer — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

Amin Dost @[email protected] · 2026-08-13 · 19:38 UTC

Help me out here please, #Amstrad #retrocomputer folks.

I have this slightly rubbish photocopy of what seems like an essential document for Amstrad fans, "Amstrad BASIC: The Complete Technical Specification".

I expected his to be well treasured and multiple copies to be available on the web. But apparently not. Can someone confirm or refute this?

Thank you!

#amstrad #retrocomputer

Amin Dost @[email protected] · 2026-08-13 · 19:38 UTC

Help me out here please, #Amstrad #retrocomputer folks.

I have this slightly rubbish photocopy of what seems like an essential document for Amstrad fans, "Amstrad BASIC: The Complete Technical Specification".

I expected his to be well treasured and multiple copies to be available on the web. But apparently not. Can someone confirm or refute this?

Thank you!

#amstrad #retrocomputer

Amin Dost @[email protected] · 2026-08-12 · 22:15 UTC

I'm continuing to work on scanning the trove of mostly #Amstrad #retrocomputer documentation I received from @[email protected] aka @[email protected]. Thanks, man, it's been a really interesting journey!

I'm not scanning everything; as I mentioned before, almost everything in this trove is photocopied; the creator of the trove was a resolute and diligent pirate! However I'm scanning the photocopies if I can't find an identical copy on the web. (I'm working on the assumption that if a scan is somewhere on the web, but not findable, it might as well not exist.)

I've already uploaded a complete scan of an 'issue 1' of the manual for PROTEXT WORD PROCESSOR MAIL MERGE AND SPELLING CHECKER at https://archive.org/details/protext-word-processor-mail-merge-and-spelling-checker-gs-ebook and an early version of the manual for Romantic Robot UK's RODOS: https://archive.org/details/romantic-robot-uk-ltd-rodos-manual

Just now I was examining the bundle of pages of James S. Coan's classic "Basic BASIC Second Edition". This one's at the other end of the publishing line! It's the twentieth printing, and includes a page addressed "To the Student" that's not in the ninth printing available at https://archive.org/details/Basic_BASIC_2nd_Edition_1978_Hayden_Book_Company/

I'll upload just these pages soon, but meanwhile I thought the message deserves to be shared. It's typical of the way pedagogues of computing addressed learners at the time.

> To the Student
>
> You are about to embark on an exciting adventure. This can be all the more exciting, if you will look upon the computer as something to be mastered and not as something to be feared or something that might master you. You should take care to evaluate the results that the computer produces and not accept them as faultless. That is not to say that the computer is going to make many mistakes. In fact, under normal conditions, the computer will execute your instructions exactly. Mistakes in the results of a program RUN are usually caused by errors in the instructions written by the programmer. However, it is possible to write apparently correct instructions that give incorrect answers if the instructions carry the computer beyond its capacity.
>
> Learning to program a computer is a complicated process. You will find that a combination of experience and “book learning” will serve you well. There are certain things that you cannot possibly know without being told and there are things that you will probably leam more easily, if you can learn by experience. A good plan might be to read some text, until you think you have enough to write a program, write it, and try it on the computer. Then with this experience, reread that text and read further until you think you can write another program. You will find that each new program will make the text more understandable and as you continue reading, the writing of the next program will come more easily.
>
> I hope that you are stimulated by your work in programming to bring to the computer your own new and exciting problems to be solved. Above all, to be successful, you will have to give of yourself.

> GOOD LUCK!

#amstrad #retrocomputer

Amin Dost @[email protected] · 2026-08-12 · 22:15 UTC

I'm continuing to work on scanning the trove of mostly #Amstrad #retrocomputer documentation I received from @[email protected] aka @[email protected]. Thanks, man, it's been a really interesting journey!

I'm not scanning everything; as I mentioned before, almost everything in this trove is photocopied; the creator of the trove was a resolute and diligent pirate! However I'm scanning the photocopies if I can't find an identical copy on the web. (I'm working on the assumption that if a scan is somewhere on the web, but not findable, it might as well not exist.)

I've already uploaded a complete scan of an 'issue 1' of the manual for PROTEXT WORD PROCESSOR MAIL MERGE AND SPELLING CHECKER at https://archive.org/details/protext-word-processor-mail-merge-and-spelling-checker-gs-ebook and an early version of the manual for Romantic Robot UK's RODOS: https://archive.org/details/romantic-robot-uk-ltd-rodos-manual

Just now I was examining the bundle of pages of James S. Coan's classic "Basic BASIC Second Edition". This one's at the other end of the publishing line! It's the twentieth printing, and includes a page addressed "To the Student" that's not in the ninth printing available at https://archive.org/details/Basic_BASIC_2nd_Edition_1978_Hayden_Book_Company/

I'll upload just these pages soon, but meanwhile I thought the message deserves to be shared. It's typical of the way pedagogues of computing addressed learners at the time.

> To the Student
>
> You are about to embark on an exciting adventure. This can be all the more exciting, if you will look upon the computer as something to be mastered and not as something to be feared or something that might master you. You should take care to evaluate the results that the computer produces and not accept them as faultless. That is not to say that the computer is going to make many mistakes. In fact, under normal conditions, the computer will execute your instructions exactly. Mistakes in the results of a program RUN are usually caused by errors in the instructions written by the programmer. However, it is possible to write apparently correct instructions that give incorrect answers if the instructions carry the computer beyond its capacity.
>
> Learning to program a computer is a complicated process. You will find that a combination of experience and “book learning” will serve you well. There are certain things that you cannot possibly know without being told and there are things that you will probably leam more easily, if you can learn by experience. A good plan might be to read some text, until you think you have enough to write a program, write it, and try it on the computer. Then with this experience, reread that text and read further until you think you can write another program. You will find that each new program will make the text more understandable and as you continue reading, the writing of the next program will come more easily.
>
> I hope that you are stimulated by your work in programming to bring to the computer your own new and exciting problems to be solved. Above all, to be successful, you will have to give of yourself.

> GOOD LUCK!

#amstrad #retrocomputer

Quazar @[email protected] · 2026-08-06 · 10:09 UTC

Here's my current range of #8bit #retrocomputer badges and keyrings made from printed circuit boards, as shown here when I was at the Retro Computer Museum back in June.

UK ordering at: https://www.samcoupe.com/quickshop.htm
(Discounts if buying a few - see the Pic 'n' Mix options!)

It all helps add a few pounds to my development fund for creating new hardware and software that I've got in the works for a range of systems, including the SAM Coupe - the main system I've been developing for now for over 33 years.

#samcoupe #zxspectrum #commodore64 #dragon32 #computing #computers

#computers #8bit #retrocomputer #samcoupe #zxspectrum #commodore64

Quazar @[email protected] · 2026-08-06 · 10:09 UTC

Here's my current range of #8bit #retrocomputer badges and keyrings made from printed circuit boards, as shown here when I was at the Retro Computer Museum back in June.

UK ordering at: https://www.samcoupe.com/quickshop.htm
(Discounts if buying a few - see the Pic 'n' Mix options!)

It all helps add a few pounds to my development fund for creating new hardware and software that I've got in the works for a range of systems, including the SAM Coupe - the main system I've been developing for now for over 33 years.

#samcoupe #zxspectrum #commodore64 #dragon32 #computing #computers