Sci-Fi book copyrighted in 1980 mentions a minicomputer
Hello! I own a book written by Lee Correy, whose actual name is G. Harry Stine. That book is "Star Driver". For the curious I can supply a synopsis. In it they mention a microcomputer and they wrote a program in BASIC for handling a heck of a lot of complicated mathematical issues. One of the characters does own a classic programmable calculator for comparison. They were able to make both ideas work by the way for solving the problems in the theme of the book. Now the question, the book is copyrighted 1980, which means the author was writing it over a three year period leading up to that point in time. Is there a list someplace that tells what systems were available then? ---- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8@gmail.com "This signature was once found posting rude messages in English in the Moscow subway."
Not sure what you're asking here. Are you asking for what minicomputers ran BASIC in 1980? A lot! What calculators were programmable then? Depends on the definition of 'programmable', but there. were some. BASIC appeared in 1964, so there's quite a long window here. What are you looking to solve? -d On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 8:32 AM Gregg Levine via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Hello! I own a book written by Lee Correy, whose actual name is G. Harry Stine. That book is "Star Driver". For the curious I can supply a synopsis.
In it they mention a microcomputer and they wrote a program in BASIC for handling a heck of a lot of complicated mathematical issues. One of the characters does own a classic programmable calculator for comparison. They were able to make both ideas work by the way for solving the problems in the theme of the book.
Now the question, the book is copyrighted 1980, which means the author was writing it over a three year period leading up to that point in time. Is there a list someplace that tells what systems were available then? ---- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8@gmail.com "This signature was once found posting rude messages in English in the Moscow subway."
Gregg, Since this was slightly before my time, I ran your question through some AI sorcery. It feels partial to the "1977 Trinity" of 'microcomputers' at the time. Which would have been the Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and the Tandy TRS-80 Model I. In my opinion, this seems to fit around the possible computers used when writing this book. Brian On 3/25/2026 8:31 AM, Gregg Levine via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Hello! I own a book written by Lee Correy, whose actual name is G. Harry Stine. That book is "Star Driver". For the curious I can supply a synopsis.
In it they mention a microcomputer and they wrote a program in BASIC for handling a heck of a lot of complicated mathematical issues. One of the characters does own a classic programmable calculator for comparison. They were able to make both ideas work by the way for solving the problems in the theme of the book.
Now the question, the book is copyrighted 1980, which means the author was writing it over a three year period leading up to that point in time. Is there a list someplace that tells what systems were available then? ---- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8@gmail.com "This signature was once found posting rude messages in English in the Moscow subway."
The author being an engineer, it is also very possible that he may have used an Altair, IMSAI or other S-100 system. On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 9:12 AM Brian L via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Gregg,
Since this was slightly before my time, I ran your question through some AI sorcery.
It feels partial to the "1977 Trinity" of 'microcomputers' at the time. Which would have been the Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and the Tandy TRS-80 Model I.
In my opinion, this seems to fit around the possible computers used when writing this book.
Brian
On 3/25/2026 8:31 AM, Gregg Levine via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Hello! I own a book written by Lee Correy, whose actual name is G. Harry Stine. That book is "Star Driver". For the curious I can supply a synopsis.
In it they mention a microcomputer and they wrote a program in BASIC for handling a heck of a lot of complicated mathematical issues. One of the characters does own a classic programmable calculator for comparison. They were able to make both ideas work by the way for solving the problems in the theme of the book.
Now the question, the book is copyrighted 1980, which means the author was writing it over a three year period leading up to that point in time. Is there a list someplace that tells what systems were available then? ---- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8@gmail.com "This signature was once found posting rude messages in English in the Moscow subway."
A good point. I built my IMSAI in late 1977 and was running NorthStar BASIC with it by early 1978. The Altair ran BASIC before that thanks to Gates & Allen. There was a lot of other S-100 systems that ran BASIC prior to 1980. Regards, Jeff On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 6:17 AM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
The author being an engineer, it is also very possible that he may have used an Altair, IMSAI or other S-100 system.
On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 9:12 AM Brian L via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Gregg,
On 3/25/2026 8:31 AM, Gregg Levine via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Hello! I own a book written by Lee Correy, whose actual name is G. Harry Stine. That book is "Star Driver". For the curious I can supply a synopsis.
In it they mention a microcomputer and they wrote a program in BASIC for handling a heck of a lot of complicated mathematical issues. One of the characters does own a classic programmable calculator for comparison. They were able to make both ideas work by the way for solving the problems in the theme of the book.
Now the question, the book is copyrighted 1980, which means the author was writing it over a three year period leading up to that point in time. Is there a list someplace that tells what systems were available then? ---- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8@gmail.com
On 3/25/26 9:16 AM, Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
The author being an engineer, it is also very possible that he may have used an Altair, IMSAI or other S-100 system.
Why no love for the SS50 systems like the SWTPC? ... ;-) -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies KD2ZRQ
Hello! I am inclined to agree as well. Since the book does not go into specifics, it could be almost anything. Say? Did anyone see the velociraptor wandering around the grounds the other weekend? He would have been wearing a Varsity jacket associated with his, um, community. ---- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8@gmail.com "This signature was once found posting rude messages in English in the Moscow subway." On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 9:17 AM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
The author being an engineer, it is also very possible that he may have used an Altair, IMSAI or other S-100 system.
On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 9:12 AM Brian L via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Gregg,
Since this was slightly before my time, I ran your question through some AI sorcery.
It feels partial to the "1977 Trinity" of 'microcomputers' at the time. Which would have been the Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and the Tandy TRS-80 Model I.
In my opinion, this seems to fit around the possible computers used when writing this book.
Brian
On 3/25/2026 8:31 AM, Gregg Levine via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Hello! I own a book written by Lee Correy, whose actual name is G. Harry Stine. That book is "Star Driver". For the curious I can supply a synopsis.
In it they mention a microcomputer and they wrote a program in BASIC for handling a heck of a lot of complicated mathematical issues. One of the characters does own a classic programmable calculator for comparison. They were able to make both ideas work by the way for solving the problems in the theme of the book.
Now the question, the book is copyrighted 1980, which means the author was writing it over a three year period leading up to that point in time. Is there a list someplace that tells what systems were available then? ---- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8@gmail.com "This signature was once found posting rude messages in English in the Moscow subway."
On 3/25/26 8:15 PM, Gregg Levine via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Say? Did anyone see the velociraptor wandering around the grounds the other weekend? He would have been wearing a Varsity jacket associated with his, um, community.
Dan had the velociraptor on CDL's Monday podcast (I haven't seen it yet). -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog Author of: Linux Smart Homes For Dummies KD2ZRQ
I think this should help you https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/ On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 8:33 AM Gregg Levine via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Hello! I own a book written by Lee Correy, whose actual name is G. Harry Stine. That book is "Star Driver". For the curious I can supply a synopsis.
In it they mention a microcomputer and they wrote a program in BASIC for handling a heck of a lot of complicated mathematical issues. One of the characters does own a classic programmable calculator for comparison. They were able to make both ideas work by the way for solving the problems in the theme of the book.
Now the question, the book is copyrighted 1980, which means the author was writing it over a three year period leading up to that point in time. Is there a list someplace that tells what systems were available then? ---- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8@gmail.com "This signature was once found posting rude messages in English in the Moscow subway."
participants (7)
-
Brian L -
Christian Liendo -
Dave Shevett -
Dean Notarnicola -
Gregg Levine -
Jeff Galinat -
Neil Cherry