It's all on paper right now...

[Exluddite]

I have been interested in older machines for a while now. Some of them since they weren't old! When I was a kid I had a TRS-80 III with a tape drive (no disk drives) that I wish I still had. My highschool used C 64's, but I wasn't paying much attention to what was going on in class at the time..*cough*
Anyway, now I'm back in school and studying computer science, and the older machines have re-fascinated me. Unfortunately, I don't really have the space to collect many machines. If I see one, I'm not going to resist snagging it though.
So I started collecting books, mostly language reference.
Thus far I have:
Programming Language One (Bates and Douglas)
Reference manual for the Ada programming language (DoD)
A scattered selection of DOS reference books
and my latest Ebay snag,
A spiral bound copy of Altair 8800b documentation
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5126437343
One thing I've been somewhat interested in (actually suggested by my brother when I was talking to him) is getting into the history of computer development. More from the perspective of the programming languages though (you guys seem to do a good job on the hardware end!). Too bad I didn't hold on to the books I was using to learn BASIC... :D

 

[Postal Patron]

coll

coll

What a great topic of study, a far more worthwile endevour than many others. If you have ONE machine, it has to be an IBM IMO because you can host many different emulators (Commodore, Tandy etc) on one platform and maybe use different operating systems (Win, Linux) to assist your learning. Easier to earn a living using a computer that hosts Win or Linux than TRS DOS.

I think Ada is a vastly underrrated and underutilized language. After years of fighting it, I am succumb to its simplicity, ease of use, safety, and elegance. Like any other language, it can be misused, but yet much harder to.

 

[Exluddite]

Got some new stuff:

Introduction to Algol - Bauman, Feliciano, Bauer, and Samuelson.
Pretty much what it says, deals more with the logic/algorithms and math than the actual syntax
.
Basic Microprocessors and the 6800 - Ron Bishop
Very much on the "nuts and bolts" end of the spectrum. It even starts off wih electronic principles, then gets into the syntax.

Assembly Language for Intel Based Computers - Kip Irvine
Linux Assembly Language Programming - Bob Nevlin
Linux Socket Programming By Example - Warren W Gay
Ok, not vintage at all, but good stuff nonetheless. Like the 6800 book, I see it as getting right down to what's going on in those little black things with all the pins.

Mathmatics and Computers - Stibitz and Larrivee
This was pulbished in 1957, and it's more of a philosophy of the science that was going on at the time. There are only 100 references to binary in the index.

Well, that's the update. But I'm still digging. If anyone wants me to look something up or scan a few pages, let me know.

 

[T1000]

Hey, you don't neccessarily need the whole computer to collect. Look for or buy the chips alone. I have a card with the first Microprocessor ever made on it, the intel C4004 Grey. Along with that on the board is a C4001, a bunch of P4001's and a p4002-1 all socketed ( Meaning you can pull them out ). This thing is worth more to me then having the printer it came out of. Ofcourse I wouldn't mind at all having it, but I won't bother losing an arm or leg for something like that.