{{Infobox book <!-- |italic title = (see above) --> | name = Digital Retro | image = Digital Retro.jpg<!-- include the file, px and alt: 200px|Cover --> | caption = | author = Gordon Laing | title_orig = | translator = | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = United Kingdom | language = English | series = | subject = | genre = | publisher = | pub_date = 2004 | english_pub_date = | media_type = Print | pages = | isbn = 9780782143300 | oclc = 56881016 | dewey = | congress = | preceded_by = | followed_by = }} '''''Digital Retro: The Evolution and Design of the Personal Computer''''' is a coffee table book<ref name="theregister davis 2004" /><ref name="slashdot lord 2004" /> about the history of home computers and personal computers. It was written by Gordon Laing, a former editor of ''Personal Computer World'' magazine<ref name="theregister davis 2004" /> and covers the period from 1975 to 1988 (the era before widespread adoption of PC compatibility).<ref name="theregister davis 2004" /><ref name="theinquirer magee 2004" /> Its contents cover home computers, along with some business models and video game consoles,<ref name="theregister davis 2004" /> but hardware such as minicomputers and mainframes is excluded.<ref name="slashdot lord 2004" />
In writing the book, the author's research included finding and interviewing some of those who worked on the featured hardware and founded the companies.<ref name="theregister davis 2004" /> Such hardware was borrowed from private collections and computer museums,<ref name="theregister davis 2004" /> with more than thirty coming from the Museum of Computing in Swindon.<ref name="slashdot lord 2004" />
== Contents == <!-- This isn't intended to be a table of contents! --> Topics covered include choice of video chip and how designers of sound chips later proceeded to make synthesisers.<ref name="theregister davis 2004" /> A number of British computers "that most Americans have probably never encountered in person" are included, such as the Acorn Atom, {{nowrap|Dragon 32}} and Grundy NewBrain.<ref name="slashdot lord 2004" /> Almost forty computers are included in total.<ref name="slashdot lord 2004" />
== Reception ==
It has been described as a "beautifully illustrated" "well written"<ref name="theinquirer magee 2004" /> book which "drips detail",<ref name="theregister davis 2004" /> with the author being noted as a "perfectionist".<ref name="theregister davis 2004" /> The photographs depict "external views of each machine from several angles".<ref name="slashdot lord 2004" /> Omissions (such as the {{nowrap|Apricot PC}}) were noted by Mike Magee in ''The Inquirer''.<ref name="theinquirer magee 2004" /> There are internal photographs in a few cases.<ref name="slashdot lord 2004" />
Writing in ''The Register'', Lance Davis commented on the importance of such books, stating "... history isn't just about dead people who wore crowns."<ref name="theregister davis 2004" /> {{Clear}}
== References == {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="theregister davis 2004">{{cite web | url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/19/digital_retro_review/ | title=Digital Retro goes coffee table | date=2004 |work=The Register | accessdate=January 14, 2013 | author=Davis, Lance}}</ref> <ref name="theinquirer magee 2004">{{cite web | url=http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1018766/digital-retro-revisits-first-personal-computers | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305144206/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1018766/digital-retro-revisits-first-personal-computers | url-status=unfit | archive-date=March 5, 2016 | title=Digital Retro revisits first personal computers | work=The Inquirer | accessdate=January 14, 2013 | author=Magee, Mike}}</ref> <ref name="slashdot lord 2004">{{cite web | url=http://books.slashdot.org/story/04/11/05/1950251/digital-retro | title=Digital Retro | work=SlashDot | accessdate=January 14, 2013 | author=Lord, Timothy}}</ref> }}
== External links == *{{Official website}}
Category:Coffee table books
{{Compu-book-stub}}