In 1973, the book “101 BASIC Computer Games” was published, quickly becoming a bestseller, selling a million copies. It played a key role in popularizing programming, and behind its success was Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), a pioneer in the production of minicomputers.
A brief history of computing technology
By the end of the 1950s, giant vacuum tube machines like ENIAC and MARK-1 were largely replaced by a generation of transistor-based computers. Each subsequent generation differed dramatically in speed and amount of data processed, but they still took up a lot of space and required a team of professionals to maintain. The market at that time had several outstanding brands of computing machines that had a significant impact on the development of technology and science. Here are some of them:
IBM 709 — one of the most popular machines of that time, used for scientific and military calculations.
UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer I) — the first commercially successful computer, developed for use in business and government agencies.
PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor-1) — the first computer in the PDP line, developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), which became the basis for the development of minicomputers. (more about DEC will be written below)
EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) — one of the first practical stored-program computers, developed at Cambridge University.
CDC 1604 — a Control Data Corporation computer, known for its high performance and use in scientific research.
ENIAC
ENIAC at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Glen Beck (background) and Betty Snyder (foreground) programming ENIAC in Building 328 at the Ballistic Research Laboratory.
Harvard Mark I
Electromechanical calculating machine
101 games in Python. Foreword Programming, IT History, Python, Instruction, Guide, Longpost Left rack of the computer with electromechanical computing components.
IBM 1401
decimal computer with variable word length
IBM 1401 under repair at the Computer History Museum. A museum volunteer uses an oscilloscope to troubleshoot the computer’s adder.
UNIVAC I
First American general-purpose computer (1951)
UNIVAC I — the first commercial computer in the United States, created for a civilian government agency at the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
IBM 7070
Decimal computer, introduced by IBM in 1958 Longpost Part of the IBM 7070 chassis, showing standard modular system (SMS) boards with discrete transistors.
UNIVAC 1232
The 1230 series was a military version of the UNIVAC 490, manufactured by the Sperry Univac division in St. Paul.
Control panel for the UNIVAC 1232 computer. This particular computer was used from approximately 1967 to 1990 at the US Air Force Satellite Control Center in Sunnyvale, California. This computer is a military version of the general-purpose commercial UNIVAC 490. Located at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum at the Udvar-Hazy Center. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/)
Programming in the 1970s-80s: The Era of Punch Cards and Patience The development process in the 1970s was nothing like today. Access to computing machines was limited, and this affected the entire process. Primarily, these were the military, universities, and scientific institutions. Programming in those days was more of an art, requiring meticulousness, diligence, and immense patience. Working with code demanded attentiveness, accuracy, and a high degree of perseverance. Developers wrote and edited code manually in notebooks or pads. Imagine: no syntax highlighting, autocompletion, or debugger! If an error crept into the code or something needed to be changed, the code was rewritten or corrected with neat a
nnotations. It was a long and monotonous process, requiring extreme concentration. There was no talk of a mass profession of programmers.
The input of the program into the machine was a separate “art.” The programmer or operator sat down at a keypunch, placed a notebook with code next to them, and began punching the code onto punch cards. A keypunch is a device similar to a typewriter, where each key corresponded to a specific letter, number, or symbol. Pressing a key punched a hole in the correct column of the card. Each card represented one or more lines of code. After completing the set, the cards were sent for verification. The operator re-entered the data into the verification device, and the machine compared it with the punched holes. A punch card with an error was either replaced or corrected by punching new holes in the appropriate columns. When all cards were ready, they were arranged in strict sequence. The order was critically important, as it was in this sequence that the cards were read by the machine. Then the cards were transferred to the reader. Even relatively small programs required hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of punch cards for encoding. Any error, whether an incorrectly punched hole or a violation of the sequence, led to a program crash. And then the whole process had to start over.
IBM 29 Keypunch
FORTRAN IV Pocket Handbook, Daniel E. Alexander and Andrew C. Messer, McGraw Hill, 1972.(https://www.math-cs.gordon.edu/courses/cs323/FORTRAN/keypunch.jpg)
This stack of 62,500 punch cards — 5 MB in volume — contained the control program for the giant SAGE military computer network.
Image taken from the Computer History Museum (CHM)
DEC and David Ahl MIT graduates Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson were no strangers to computing. Working at Lincoln Laboratory (a US Department of Defense research and development facility within MIT), they completed most of the projects in the development of the AN/FSQ-7, TX-0, and TX-2 machines. The TX-0 was the first fully transistorized 16-bit computer with 16-bit addressing and 16-bit instructions.
AN/FSQ-7
The name “AN/FSQ” comes from Army-Navy / Fixed Special eQuipment.
AN/FSQ-7 was the largest discrete computer system ever built. It was the primary computer system of the SAGE network, designed and built by IBM. It was enormous, containing about 49,000 vacuum tubes, weighing hundreds of tons, and consuming megawatts of power. The punch card program from the previous photo ran on this system (https://commons.wikimedia.org/)
In 1957, Kenneth Olsen and Harlan Anderson founded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) with the goal of making computing machines cheaper and smaller. The company’s initial capital was $100,000, with 70% of it owned by American Research and Development. The American Research and Development Corporation (ARDC) was a pioneering venture capital firm, and its investment in DEC is considered the first success story in venture capital history. A classic example of a startup of those years 😊. The founding company insisted that the subsidiary’s name should not include the word “computer,” although the original name was planned as “Digital Computer Corporation.” This condition was also observed in product names: instead of the term “computer,” the term “Programmable Data Processor,” or “PDP” for short, was used. This condition was due to the stereotype at the time that a computer was something huge and expensive, requiring a separate machine room and a solid maintenance staff. In this way, the company avoided the negative consequences of this stereotype.
PDP-8
PDP-8 on display at the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley, England. This example is from the first generation of PDP-8, built with discrete transistors and later known as the Straight 8. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/)
PDP-11
PDP-11/40 computer at the Vienna Technical Museum. The PDP-11/40 processor is located at the bottom, with a dual DECtape TU56 drive mounted above it. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/)
In 1969, DEC invited David Ahl to work as a consultant in educational psychology and marketing to develop its line of educational products. Ahl had a solid background in science and business: he held degrees in electrical engineering and business administration. Before joining DEC, he had experience in education and was known for his interest in using computers in the learning process. He began his career at Digital Equipment Corporation as a consultant in educational psychology and marketing to develop a line of computers that did not require special training to maintain computing systems. David Ahl edited the DEC newsletter, which regularly published code blocks and programming instructions for minicomputers. Ahl persuaded management to publish a collection of games in BASIC.
- BASIC, the language in which the games were written, was just gaining popularity at the time.
- BASIC was designed so that students could easily write programs using time-sharing terminals. It was intended for more “simple” users, not so much interested in the execution speed of programs, but simply in the ability to use a computer to solve their problems without special training.
- The language interpreter was in every PDP model except the earliest ones (PDP-1, PDP-4, PDP-5)
101 games in Python. Foreword Programming, IT History, Python, Instruction, Guide, Longpost (us.archive.org)
The collection cost $7.50 plus 50 cents for shipping. Today, that price is equivalent to approximately $50.25, considering an average annual inflation of 3.8%.
Programming enthusiasts from all over the country played an important role in creating the book. DEC announced a contest, inviting programmers to submit their BASIC games. Authors of the best works received a fee, and their games were included in the collection. This crowdsourcing approach made the book truly unique. It became not only a collection of games but also a reflection of the enthusiasm and creativity of an entire generation of amateur programmers. DEC had fairly strict requirements for the submission format, which was necessary to standardize and simplify the publication process. Here are some of these requirements: Paper. White, unlined. As few creases as possible on printouts. Printing. Fresh black ribbon. Red was not accepted. Punch tape. Paraffin-coated folded punch tape was preferred (paper impregnated with paraffin for strength and protection with holes for the tape drive mechanism). If impregnated tape was used (e.g., from a teletype), it had to be carefully folded (creases every 8.5 inches (21.59 cm)), leaving at least 17 inches (43.18 cm) of blank leader and 8.5 inches (21.59 cm) of trailer. Impregnated tape had to be wrapped in plastic wrap or waxed paper to prevent contamination.
- Leader — the beginning of the tape that remains blank before data recording begins.
- Trailer — the end of the tape that remains blank after data recording is complete.
In addition, authors had to provide the following information:
- Name
- Full address
- Phone
- School (if applicable)
- Age
- Computer system used
- Program source (original idea or adaptation)
By submitting a program, the author gave Digital Equipment Corp. the right to publish, reprint, distribute, or use it in any other way. Authorship, of course, was always indicated.
101 games in Python. Foreword Programming, IT History, Python, Instruction, Guide, Longpost Book page with instructions for authors (us.archive.org)
In addition to this book, two additional guides were published: Understanding Mathematics and Logic Using BASIC Computer Games for students in grades 7-12. Getting Started in Classroom Computing for students in grades 2-7.
The book went through three reissues: 1st edition: July 1973. 2nd edition: April 1974. 3rd edition: March 1975.
In 1973, David Ahl was laid off from his position due to downsizing, but even before his layoff, he was accepted into a new DEC division. This group worked on creating a computer that was smaller than any ever built, intending to bring a new product to new markets, such as schools. They managed to build a compact machine combining a PDP-8 with a VT50 terminal, and they were also able to fit a PDP-11 into a small portable case. When the result was shown to DEC’s operating committee, the engineers liked it, but the sales department feared that it would reduce sales of their existing lines. Ultimately, the decision was made by Ken Olsen, one of the founders of Digital Equipment Corporation, who eventually stated: “I see no reason why anyone would want their own computer.”
At this point, the project ended.
In 1974, Ahl left DEC, disillusioned with the company’s policies, and founded Creative Computing, one of the first magazines to popularize computers. Over the next decade, Creative Computing covered the entire spectrum of hobbyist, home, and personal computers, and although Ahl sold the magazine in the early 1980s, he continued to serve as editor-in-chief. In June 2022, Ahl released everything he had ever written, from prose to software, into the public domain.