[HN Gopher] IBM Logo Manual (1983)
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IBM Logo Manual (1983)
Author : susam
Score : 57 points
Date : 2021-09-27 10:36 UTC (12 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (archive.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (archive.org)
| classified wrote:
| Those were the times, when software vendors still documented
| their stuff. Today, Apple can't be bothered.
| HerrMonnezza wrote:
| Does anyone have experience with Logo environments still
| available today? And what results did you have with teaching kids
| to use them?
| ssimpson wrote:
| I have a physical copy of this with 5.25" floppies and
| everything. It's one of my prized possessions :D
| brk wrote:
| How come page 1-2 has nothing on it? Did it not get properly
| scanned?
|
| If only there was some way to know for sure if the page was
| supposed to be blank, and it wasn't a technical error.
| ssimpson wrote:
| it is supposed to be blank, its that way on my physical copy
| jhbadger wrote:
| I think the OP is referring to the (technically self-
| contradictory) statement that IBM (and others) used to add to
| such pages -- "This page is intentionally left blank". Odd
| that it isn't used here given it is an IBM product.
| protomyth wrote:
| Had a professor try to say in a serious voice that it was a
| paradox meant to stop AIs and robots from reading the rest
| of the manual. These days, I cannot say she was wrong.
| brk wrote:
| Yes, exactly. Having read many IBM manuals from that era
| seeing a blank page without the "This page intentionally
| left blank." text is almost jarring in a way.
| tgv wrote:
| Like some slightly cryptically worded sentence as "this page
| intentionally left blank", you mean? You may be onto something!
| Quick, apply to IBM.
| hnbad wrote:
| Conventionally in print books, chapters start on the right
| page, not the left. Since the first page is a table of contents
| only spanning one page, the next page is intentionally left
| blank so the content can start on the right.
|
| It's not really something that would have created any confusion
| at the time even if the convention has eroded with e-books and
| print-on-demand.
| cbm-vic-20 wrote:
| Saved you a click: This is a 550 page manual about the
| programming language, not about graphic design.
| bombcar wrote:
| 550 pages, ah back in the era where manuals were _manuals_ and
| trees were scared.
| huhtenberg wrote:
| Ah, "Logo" as in "language", not as in "Paul Rand explains why
| stripes in IBM logo are horizontal and just thick enough but not
| thicker".
| milesdyson_phd wrote:
| So i'm not the only one..
| [deleted]
| klaustopher wrote:
| +1 ... I was also expecting the guide book, how to use or
| create the IBM logo :D
| classified wrote:
| That guide would be simple: You don't. IBM does.
| [deleted]
| ta988 wrote:
| Just in case this is what you came for:
| https://www.ibm.com/design/language/ibm-logos/8-bar/
| noxer wrote:
| "Don't make each letter a different color."
|
| That's weird.
|
| - Written on an IBM ThinkPad with the iconic red, green, blue
| IBM ThinkPad badge.
| elliekelly wrote:
| Page 1-5 has tips for "Caring for Your Diskettes" including:
|
| > Keep it away from electrical equipment (including the telephone
| and TV).
|
| Was this a legitimate tip or an overly cautious manual? I know
| magnets could potentially damage floppy disks but could
| telephones and tube televisions, too?
| op00to wrote:
| Yes, telephones created magnetic fields when the bell rang.
| Simarly tube tvs degaussed themselves with big magnets. Either
| will erase a floppy.
| emptybits wrote:
| 1983 floppy user here. Small permanent and/or electromagnets
| would be driving the metal bell ringers of many telephones in
| those days. Don't store them under your telephone.
|
| But floppies were always hanging out on and beside and behind
| computer monitors which, in those days, were exclusively CRTs
| like TVs. Perhaps don't store your floppies on top of the
| speakers on the family console TV.
| isamuel wrote:
| When I was a little boy, Logo is how my grandfather taught me to
| program. He had an Amstrad computer that he used to keep the
| books of his insurance business, and when I was three years old
| or so, he noticed my interest in the machine and set about to
| teach me.
|
| The Amstrad used standard 5 1/4" inch floppies and had (if I
| recall) two such drives; he showed me how to put the correct disk
| in and close the latch, and boot the computer. (Important: which
| side goes up.) And he taught me some very basic commands for the
| cursor, the "turtle": up down, forward, turning, etc. My first
| lesson in degrees. He tried to explain subroutines but I couldn't
| quite get it at that age.
|
| Well, I thought it was cool, and played for a long afternoon by
| myself. When he came to check on me, he found that I'd gone into
| a room near his office to play with my toys very quietly. He
| asked: Oh, did you not like playing with the computer? And I said
| nothing. Very quiet. And he said, what happened?
|
| I said, a red light came on and it broke. :(
|
| The Amstrad's Caps Lock key had a red light when activated. The
| case sensitive Logo language thereby ceased working and the
| characters all looked different to me. So, evidently, I ran away,
| thinking I had broken my grandfather's important work machine.
|
| Barely containing his laughter, I am sure, he escorted me back
| into his office and explained what had happened. He regaled me
| with the story for the rest of his life; when he died a few years
| ago, it leapt to my mind. Some years later I would end up with a
| B.S. in computer science and it is hard to see how it would have
| been so but for his decision to teach a three year old boy Logo.
|
| In conclusion, Logo--and grandfathers--kick ass.
| op00to wrote:
| Such a beautiful story, you are lucky to have those memories. I
| have memories of my father locked up in his office working on
| his computer and ignoring me - I ended up learning the computer
| to impress him and it didn't.
| codr7 wrote:
| They are all beautiful, just different :)
| shimonabi wrote:
| The primary school math teacher once wanted me to draw some
| repetitive shape for the final test of the Logo course, but I had
| no earthly idea of what a loop was. That's the last time I
| programmed in Logo more than 25 years ago. I've been looking at
| this book a couple of months back to see how it's done.
| savingGrace wrote:
| This post made me think of Hymie.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odDO4cGh2RQ
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(page generated 2021-09-27 23:02 UTC)