Synopsis
A celebration of the early years of the digital revolution, when computing power was deployed in a beige box on your desk.
Today, people carry powerful computers in our pockets and call them "phones." A generation ago, people were amazed that the processing power of a mainframe computer could be contained in a beige box on a desk. This book is a celebration of those early home computers, with specially commissioned new photographs of 100 vintage computers and a generous selection of print advertising, product packaging, and instruction manuals. Readers can recapture the glory days of fondly remembered (or happily forgotten) machines including the Commodore 64, TRS-80, Apple Lisa, and Mattel Aquarius--traces of the techno-utopianism of the not-so-distant past.
Home Computers showcases mass-market success stories, rarities, prototypes, one-offs, and never-before-seen specimens. The heart of the book is a series of artful photographs that capture idiosyncratic details of switches and plugs, early user-interface designs, logos, and labels. After a general scene-setting retrospective, the book proceeds computer by computer, with images of each device accompanied by a short history of the machine, its inventors, its innovations, and its influence. Readers who inhabit today's always-on, networked, inescapably connected world will be charmed by this visit to an era when the digital revolution could be powered down every evening.
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Home Computers (Hardcover)
Published by
Thames & Hudson Ltd, London, 2020
ISBN 10: 050002216X
ISBN 13: 9780500022160
New
Hardcover
Seller: Grand Eagle Retail, Bensenville, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. Home Computers showcases the quirky and characterful beginnings of a commercial product that would come to unite the globe: the personal computer. As so much technology is forgotten once it is superseded, this is a celebration of machines, industrial design and techno-utopianism of an era in the not-so-distant past. Conceived as a visual sourcebook of the most popular, most powerful and most idiosyncratic computers to grace our workspaces, this timely publication offers a reflection on how far we've come and a nostalgic look at a time when digital worlds could be contained in a box and turned off, rather than ever-present in our lives. Home Computers opens with a scene-setting retrospective by computer and gaming writer Alex Wiltshire. The book's heart is a series of specially commissioned photographs that capture details of switches and early user-interface design, letterforms and logos, and the quirks that set one computer off from another. Images are complemented by a potted history of each device, the inventors or personalities behind it, and its innovations and influences. The ultimate in nerd nostalgia: a loving overview of the home computer revolution of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, told through rich anecdote and exquisite industrial-design photography. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780500022160
Seller Image
Home Computers (Hardcover)
Published by
Thames & Hudson Ltd, London, 2020
ISBN 10: 050002216X
ISBN 13: 9780500022160
New
Hardcover
Seller: AussieBookSeller, Truganina, VIC, Australia
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. Home Computers showcases the quirky and characterful beginnings of a commercial product that would come to unite the globe: the personal computer. As so much technology is forgotten once it is superseded, this is a celebration of machines, industrial design and techno-utopianism of an era in the not-so-distant past. Conceived as a visual sourcebook of the most popular, most powerful and most idiosyncratic computers to grace our workspaces, this timely publication offers a reflection on how far we've come and a nostalgic look at a time when digital worlds could be contained in a box and turned off, rather than ever-present in our lives. Home Computers opens with a scene-setting retrospective by computer and gaming writer Alex Wiltshire. The book's heart is a series of specially commissioned photographs that capture details of switches and early user-interface design, letterforms and logos, and the quirks that set one computer off from another. Images are complemented by a potted history of each device, the inventors or personalities behind it, and its innovations and influences. The ultimate in nerd nostalgia: a loving overview of the home computer revolution of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, told through rich anecdote and exquisite industrial-design photography. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780500022160
Seller Image
Home Computers (Hardcover)
Published by
Thames & Hudson Ltd, London, 2020
ISBN 10: 050002216X
ISBN 13: 9780500022160
New
Hardcover
Seller: CitiRetail, Stevenage, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. Home Computers showcases the quirky and characterful beginnings of a commercial product that would come to unite the globe: the personal computer. As so much technology is forgotten once it is superseded, this is a celebration of machines, industrial design and techno-utopianism of an era in the not-so-distant past. Conceived as a visual sourcebook of the most popular, most powerful and most idiosyncratic computers to grace our workspaces, this timely publication offers a reflection on how far we've come and a nostalgic look at a time when digital worlds could be contained in a box and turned off, rather than ever-present in our lives. Home Computers opens with a scene-setting retrospective by computer and gaming writer Alex Wiltshire. The book's heart is a series of specially commissioned photographs that capture details of switches and early user-interface design, letterforms and logos, and the quirks that set one computer off from another. Images are complemented by a potted history of each device, the inventors or personalities behind it, and its innovations and influences. The ultimate in nerd nostalgia: a loving overview of the home computer revolution of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, told through rich anecdote and exquisite industrial-design photography. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780500022160
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Home Computers
Seller: Books Import Srl, Milano, MI, Italy
Seller rating 2 out of 5 stars
Seller Inventory # 9780500022160
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Home Computers: 100 Icons that Defined a Digital Generation
Seller: medimops, Berlin, Germany
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: very good. Gut/Very good: Buch bzw. Schutzumschlag mit wenigen Gebrauchsspuren an Einband, Schutzumschlag oder Seiten. / Describes a book or dust jacket that does show some signs of wear on either the binding, dust jacket or pages. Seller Inventory # M0050002216X-V