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Advent of Computing

Advent of Computing

By: Sean Haas
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 Welcome to Advent of Computing, the show that talks about the shocking, intriguing, and all too often relevant history of computing. A lot of little things we take for granted today have rich stories behind their creation, in each episode we will learn how older tech has lead to our modern world.Sean Haas 2019 World
Episodes
  • Episode 171 - What Is a 4GL?

    Episode 171 - What Is a 4GL?
    Nov 24 2025

    Last episode I said that Fourth Generation Languages were a topic for another time. Well... this counts as another time. Today we are trying to figure out what exactly makes a language 4th Generation. Along the way we will see why the term bugs me so much, why 4GLs seem so strange, and how a programmer can increase their productivity by 2,000% (some restrictions apply).
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    55 mins
  • Episode 170 - Thoroughbred/OS

    Episode 170 - Thoroughbred/OS
    Nov 10 2025

    I'm back to normal episodes, and I'm running out the gate with a weird one. Thoroughbred/OS was a multi-user and multi-tasking operating system for the IBM PC. It's mian interface was... BASIC of all things! What exactly is this oddity?

    https://winworldpc.com/product/thoroughbred-os/662 - Try Out Thoroughbred/OS yourself
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    1 hr
  • Episode 169.5 - Ben Zotto and the Story of Sphere Computers

    Episode 169.5 - Ben Zotto and the Story of Sphere Computers
    Nov 1 2025

    I recently had the chance to talk to Ben Zotto about his upcoming book: Go Computer Now! - The Story of Sphere Computers. It's all about an obscure machine powered by the Motorola 6800 that released in 1975. I figured it was the perfect faire for my audience. And... I really want to read this book!

    You can back the project over at kickstarter: http://kickstarter.com/projects/bzotto/go-computer-now-the-story-of-sphere?ref=ey52pt

    And find out more at Ben's sites: https://gocomputernow.com/, https://sphere.computer/
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    53 mins
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