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Video games hidden in the grooves of LPs

BoingBoing has an interesting post about the time when software was encoded as audio and video games were hidden in the grooves of LPs.

If nobody beats me to it I will blog about the 80s Dutch radio show that transmitted software, including games for the ZX Spectrum, over the airwaves.

Comments 2

  1. Chris wrote:

    I remember reading something similar about programs transmitted over Teletext in the UK. IIRC, you could get a sort of crude digital-camera/sucker device (probably just a single photosensor or something) that you connected to your BBC Micro (probably?) home computer, stuck the other end on the front of the TV and left the TV on overnight on a specific channel.
    Presumably, I’m just guessing now, – the teletext page would update quite quickly creating a stream of ons and offs for whatever bit of the TV you’re sensor is on to send data to you, and when you got up in the morning there would be a new program waiting for you!

    Alternatively there was also a service which broadcast programs (in ascii) which you could copy down and type in yourself – or buy a teletext reciever to pull them out of the air by magic!

    http://teletext.mb21.co.uk/gallery/ceefax/telesoftware/
    and
    http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/Teletext/Telesoftware.html

    detail the second method, I’ll see if I can find anything more concrete on the first.

    Posted 19 Jun 2007 at 20:20
  2. Alex wrote:

    ‘Hobbyscoop’ you mean?

    http://www.hobbyscoop.nl/

    and of course their infamous ‘Basicode’ – One basic to rule them all.

    http://www.clive.nl/detail/24749/

    My dad and I used to run this stuff on our Apple ][+. Ahh. Those were the days.

    Posted 20 Jun 2007 at 13:20