Cover of the June 1981 issue of Byte
Byte, subtitled 'The Small Systems Journal', initially covered 'small systems'. Generally small business computer and what could be considered home computers though I think they started before that term really existed. The original IBM PC was first introduced in 1981 though I believe that was after this issue was published. The June 1981 issue of Byte includes:
Features
- Logo for Personal Computers - A preview of two upcoming implementations of the Logo language for personal computers, including TI Logo for the TI-99/4 and Apple Logo for the Apple II. Logo was developed by the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT.
- Build a Low-Cost Speech Synthesizer Interface - Instructions for building a speech synthesizer. These seemed to be all the rage in the early to mid 1980s.
- Mathematical Modeling: A BASIC Program to Simulate Real-World Systems - Simulating systems by solving a system of differential equations. This article includes lots of math along with some code.
- A Computer-Based Laboratory - This article focuses on creating accurate digital timers.
- CP/M: A Family of 8- and 16-bit Operating Systems - CP/M was the closest thing to a standard operating system that existed for personal computers before the IBM PC and DOS came along. DOS was largely based on CP/M.
- The UNIX Operating System and the XENIX Standard Operating System - UNIX was the other operating system standard but at the time, this was for larger systems. Xenix was essentially Microsoft's implementation with enhancements.
Table of Contents from the June 1981 issue of Byte
Reviews
- RAMCRAM Memory Module for the Atari - A 32K RAM expansion module for the Atari 400 for $320 (that's the equivalent of roughly $1100 today).
- Information Unlimited: The Dialog Information Retrieval Service - An online service accessible via modem and terminal software that offered millions of references and abstracts for searching.
- Four Word Processors for the Apple II - Reviews of Super-Text II, Write-On! I and II, Datacope Scribe, and EasyWriter and EasyWriter Professional.
Nucleus
- Editorial - Commentary on 16-bit computers and user friendliness.
- Letters</b - Letters from readers about OSI, Adventure and The Colossal Cave, GOTO vs. FOR...NEXT, CMOS, Panasonic and Quasar handheld computers, and much more.
- Technical Forums - LISP vs. FORTRAN, Interrupts, Votrax voice synthesizer vocabulary, and more.
- Education Forum - An approach for using microcomputers in education.
- Programming Quickie: Z80 Table Lookup - Machine language table lookup on the Z80.
- BYTELINES - Outstanding growth for Tandy sales, first computers with built-in Winchester-disk drives (hard drives), Tandy sues competitors, IBM to build Josephson computer, warranties for TRS-80 computers, and more.
Back cover of the June 1981 issue of Byte
Read more: https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/07/24/byte-june-1981/
Check out my other Social Media haunts (though most content is links to stuff I posted on Hive or reposts of stuff originally posted on Hive):
Wordpress: https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/darth-azrael
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Darth_Azrael
Blogger: https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/
Odyssee: https://odysee.com/@Megalextoria:b
Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-2385054
Daily Motion: https://www.dailymotion.com/Megalextoria
Books I am reading or have recently read:
Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg
Tom Clancy's Op-Center: God of War by Jeff Rovin
Red Sails Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch