On Basic Turning 50, Logizomechanophbia, and Apple in 1997.

We celebrated the arrival of the BASIC computing language yesterday. I lived through that era, and have been involved with computer technology one way or another since 1968!

In the 1990’s, I wrote a book, Surviving the Information Age, that explored the unique relationship that people with technology in those “olden days”.

I just dug out one of the original book reviews from that time, and my observations of the future were rather prescient, when I observed:

Some of Carroll’s assertions deserve examination. Consider his praise of Apple Computer as being “undoubtedly the most brilliant computer company that ever exists, because the entire goal of that corporation has been to try to make computing easy. 

Much of the chagrin of people who share Carroll’s love for the Mac, brilliance and user friendliness hasn’t been enough for Apple to proposer, or perhaps to even survive in its current form.

That comment for the author of the revew looks rather silly today!

In any event, if you want to enjoy your time thinking about your years with Cobol, Basic and Fortran, then check out the Surviving the Information Ages video clip in which I speak about the challenges of tech in the ‘olden days’!