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Usborne Guide to Understanding the Micro: How It Works and What It Can Do
Explains the workings of the microcomputer, discusses the operation and programming of microcomputers, and surveys the various uses of computers
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 10, 2015
This book brings back lots of memories
2 February 2014
Now this book is a real blast from the past. I remember borrowing it multiple times from the library and reading through it multiple times (as well as a number of other books in the series, which I will get around to commenting on in time). Before I continue though I will outline one major flaw that I found in this book, and that is the question for whom the book was written. Now, as far as I can tell, this book was written for children, however there are a number of pages about buying microcomputers and accessories, and at that time (and even now) most of the products that were available were out of reach of the average child, and unless you had parents that were willing to fork out the cash for such machines, the chance of a child buying a computer was slim (and the friends of mine who did have computers had them because their parents, like my Dad, worked in the industry).
Now this book, as you can tell, was written in the very early Eighties, which means that they deal with computers like this:
which is a ZX Spectrum, or something like this:
as opposed to something like this:
or this:
As I read through this book though it makes me realise how much has changed, but in many cases, how much actually hasn't changed. In fact there is a section in this book that deals with the internet as it was in 1982. Back then this is what a modem looked like:
(There was no such thing as Wi-Fi in those days). However, what is really interesting is how Tatchell talks about how in the future you will be able to do your shopping over the computer, and guess what one of the biggest retailers in the world today is? That's right:
In fact, it has come to pass that while email has pretty much undermined the good old letter, the movement of consumerism online has pretty much kept the parcel services in business. In fact, the amount of consumer goods sent by parcel has actually risen dramatically, especially since with the development of online shopping one does not have to wonder from store to store looking for a specific item, all you have to do is to jump online, type it into one of the many sites that are available, enter your credit card details (into Pay Pal preferably) and bingo, within a few days it is sitting on your doorstep.
However, what that has undermined is the ability for us to 'window shop' and browse. A lot of stores make an awful lot of money out of people simply wondering into shops, looking around, seeing something that catches their attention, and then purchases it. What the internet does is that it means that we can look for what we specifically want without being distracted by a myriad of other things.
It is also interesting that Tatchell flags the existence of email in this book. Email is pretty much a basic fact of life today and pretty much everybody has their own email address (and I actually have three, one for my computer, one for my smartphone, and one for work). The email address that I give out is my computer one, and the smartphone one is for sending emails to that I may not want to read at the moment, but may want to store for a later time when I am wondering around the city and want to continue to stare at a screen.
As for this book, well clearly it is pretty obsolete, but still, reading it once again brings back a lot of memories of my childhood.
2 February 2014
Now this book is a real blast from the past. I remember borrowing it multiple times from the library and reading through it multiple times (as well as a number of other books in the series, which I will get around to commenting on in time). Before I continue though I will outline one major flaw that I found in this book, and that is the question for whom the book was written. Now, as far as I can tell, this book was written for children, however there are a number of pages about buying microcomputers and accessories, and at that time (and even now) most of the products that were available were out of reach of the average child, and unless you had parents that were willing to fork out the cash for such machines, the chance of a child buying a computer was slim (and the friends of mine who did have computers had them because their parents, like my Dad, worked in the industry).
Now this book, as you can tell, was written in the very early Eighties, which means that they deal with computers like this:
which is a ZX Spectrum, or something like this:
as opposed to something like this:
or this:
As I read through this book though it makes me realise how much has changed, but in many cases, how much actually hasn't changed. In fact there is a section in this book that deals with the internet as it was in 1982. Back then this is what a modem looked like:
(There was no such thing as Wi-Fi in those days). However, what is really interesting is how Tatchell talks about how in the future you will be able to do your shopping over the computer, and guess what one of the biggest retailers in the world today is? That's right:
In fact, it has come to pass that while email has pretty much undermined the good old letter, the movement of consumerism online has pretty much kept the parcel services in business. In fact, the amount of consumer goods sent by parcel has actually risen dramatically, especially since with the development of online shopping one does not have to wonder from store to store looking for a specific item, all you have to do is to jump online, type it into one of the many sites that are available, enter your credit card details (into Pay Pal preferably) and bingo, within a few days it is sitting on your doorstep.
However, what that has undermined is the ability for us to 'window shop' and browse. A lot of stores make an awful lot of money out of people simply wondering into shops, looking around, seeing something that catches their attention, and then purchases it. What the internet does is that it means that we can look for what we specifically want without being distracted by a myriad of other things.
It is also interesting that Tatchell flags the existence of email in this book. Email is pretty much a basic fact of life today and pretty much everybody has their own email address (and I actually have three, one for my computer, one for my smartphone, and one for work). The email address that I give out is my computer one, and the smartphone one is for sending emails to that I may not want to read at the moment, but may want to store for a later time when I am wondering around the city and want to continue to stare at a screen.
As for this book, well clearly it is pretty obsolete, but still, reading it once again brings back a lot of memories of my childhood.
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November 29, 2024It’s always fascinating to me to revisit these guides from decades past and see how much advancement has taken place in the intervening years.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews