The computer manuals in those days were excellent, especially the more advanced manuals.
They included circuit diagrams, data sheets for individual chips, just about every detail of how the system worked.
You'd still have to figure out a lot just to understand those reference manuals, and guess a lot, especially with no internet and no good library (my local library did not have books like this!).
I only had a very small number of books. But I did have the Advanced Guide. Having so much detail available in reference manuals was great for a young mind!
Also when I was like 7-8 (edit: previously wrote 10) I was given the Ladybird book for young children: "The Computer (How It Works)".[1] A tiny book. In retrospect I learned a lot of great grounding from that book even though I hadn't yet seen an actual computer. I guess it gave me an appreciation for the video games I played with on show in the supermarket, and the pictures of minicomputers and microcomputers I saw in hand-me-down computer magazines.
I'm occasionally asked, by people who find learning this stuff frustrating, where did I learn about logic circuits, where did I learn about assembly, where did I learn about RAM and ROM, etc. and for a long time I couldn't put my finger on it. I think it started with being exposed to that book and some early computer magazines at a young age, without even seeing or touching a real machine for a year or so afterwards.
They included circuit diagrams, data sheets for individual chips, just about every detail of how the system worked.
You'd still have to figure out a lot just to understand those reference manuals, and guess a lot, especially with no internet and no good library (my local library did not have books like this!).
I only had a very small number of books. But I did have the Advanced Guide. Having so much detail available in reference manuals was great for a young mind!
Also when I was like 7-8 (edit: previously wrote 10) I was given the Ladybird book for young children: "The Computer (How It Works)".[1] A tiny book. In retrospect I learned a lot of great grounding from that book even though I hadn't yet seen an actual computer. I guess it gave me an appreciation for the video games I played with on show in the supermarket, and the pictures of minicomputers and microcomputers I saw in hand-me-down computer magazines.
[1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Computer-Ladybird-How-Works/dp/0721...
I'm occasionally asked, by people who find learning this stuff frustrating, where did I learn about logic circuits, where did I learn about assembly, where did I learn about RAM and ROM, etc. and for a long time I couldn't put my finger on it. I think it started with being exposed to that book and some early computer magazines at a young age, without even seeing or touching a real machine for a year or so afterwards.