hckrnws

Various archives:

* https://archive.org/details/BYTE-MAGAZINE-COMPLETE/197509_By...

* https://archive.org/download/BYTE-MAGAZINE-COMPLETE

* https://vintageapple.org/byte/

* https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Byte_Magazine.htm

* 5mo ago, "Show HN: A zoomable, searchable archive of BYTE magazine": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45028002

Had a subscription to it in the 1990s. Probably one of the best computing magazines that existed (it covered all sorts of topics, from CPU cache workings to file systems (like Veritas)).

It was an amazing magazine, one we still need to this day. I still subscribe to a couple magazines, IEEE's Computer, Micro, and Spectrum, and Communications of the ACM, on paper, and IEEE's Software on PDF, but none covers the breadth and depth of BYTE.

I still feel a bit like an orphan.

I bought myself a 3 year subscription with my very first pay cheque. I got 2 or 3 issues before it went under. As a way of teaching a teenager about the full range of computer technology from the Cambridge Active Badge through to Big Data, it was and is unmatched.

wonderful stuff

I have a bunch of the old ones from my late father, I have sunk thousands of hours in old computer magazines, there's something special to them that the new world cannot capture anymore.

It was the accessibility. You were learning computing concepts from scratch, that would then increase in complexity in real-time as your learning caught up if you were actively engaged.

also the importance and the degree of care that was put into things that were published, and what all the constraints meant also in computing itself

there were strong positives to that, and they just cannot be replicated in a society of hyper-abundance and slop

The logo for Smalltalk-80, and later Squeak, came from the Robert Tinney cover of the Byte issue which introduced Smalltalk. The story behind it is documented here:

https://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/3459

As recently as a few years ago, Robert was directly answering emails and shipping out signed prints of his BYTE covers. We have had some hanging in our office for inspiration. He set the best tone for what computing feels like.

Felt. Not feels. Now it is turning into a sausage factory.

I clearly remember his covers and being inspired and stimulated by them. RIP Mr. Tinney, thanks for your great art.

Magazine and game covers had such cool art then. It's still a joy to look at them after so many years.

RIP Mr Tinney.

Some of Robert Tinney's artwork is still available for sale at his website, limited edition runs of several of the Byte covers and other art.

https://tinney.net/

Amazing. I just ordered some. I hope someone fulfills it?!

For a long time Byte magazine was my only window on computing (I didn't have a computer yet because they were too expensive) and I always loved the covers. Same with Scientific American.

So much effort went into these and they always hit the mark.

Robert's cover art set the tone for each issue. His covers danced a fine line between whimsical and informative.

He always managed to capture the soul of the subject.

Yes, that's it.

When I was 10 years old in elementary school in rural Alberta, Canada in the early 80s this man's art (along with stacks of older Byte magazines that the librarian gifted me) were a gateway to another world.

RIP. Thanks for all the amazing imaginations and for being part of setting me on this career.

[dupe] Earlier on source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46982354

[dupe^2], previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46897340