Sold by Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Association Member:
AbeBooks Seller since 26 July 1999
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
First edition, early printing, of a hugely influential BASIC primer, opening with the declaration that "this book is about people, computers and a programme language called BASIC. We will communicate with a computer, in the BASIC language, about population problems. We will use a teletypewriter. Teletypewriters are the Volkswagens of computer terminals. rugged, dependable, inexpensive, ugly and noisy". Based at the Portola Institute in Menlo Park, California, and influenced by the publication of its Whole Earth Catalog, Bob Albrecht toured the state's campuses in his VW bus loaded with a bulky PDP-8 minicomputer borrowed from the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and gave demonstrations to students and educators of its potential and (relative) portability. In return, the DEC helped distribute Albrecht's book, which sold over 250,000 copies. Around the same time, Albrecht started the People's Computer Company (PCC), a community project and newsletter "about having fun with computers" that, like his book, aimed to bring computing to the people. Its name was a nod to the rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, because it was to be a "company" in the same sense - in that it was not a company at all, and was fuelled by a similar counterculture ethos. Although My Computer Likes Me* sold in large numbers, copies are not common. It appeared with various colour covers (green, orange, yellow), and there are a series of printing variations, no priority definitively established, although some can be designated as later through their advertisements. Some covers bear no author's name or price (as here); others identify Albrecht and give a price of $2.00. Some list only Dymax as the publisher (as here) and others note Dilithium too. The final advertisements vary; we have seen copies with advertisements for Calculators/Computers: The Magazine for Beginners; for Wallace Judd's Games, Tricks and Puzzles for a Hand Calculator; and for PCC (as here). Regardless of these variations, there are no later printing statements. Quarto. Printed on newsprint, illustrated with cartoons alongside teletype printouts, final advertisement for People's Computer Company. Original orange printed wrappers, stapled. A little shelf worn, some short closed tears at spine and page extremities, penned marginalia and completed exercises throughout, evidencing close reading: a very good copy.
Seller Inventory # 163850
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