Thanks Janet, I was just about to start enthusing about this too, after seeing all the other great responses... Thanks for starting this thread Theodore.  I'm pleased to learn about the other work people have done in this area, which I'll certainly be chasing up.

If your project is specifically home computer focused, then of the sources Janet mentioned, the "1980s Home Coders" and the user group paper will be the most relevant.  This is work done in the context of a history of digital games in 1980s New Zealand.  I can give you copies, off list. 

At the moment, I am looking specifically at lots of Australian microcomputing magazines, and other sources from the era.  My main interest is in consumer production and modes of user making/relation to technology, etc.

The other work I know of (very roughly) is Petri Saarikoski, on Finnish home computer hobbyist magazines.  I think Petri is on this list.

Is there enough work here for a collection, I wonder?

cheers,

Melanie


On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 8:15 AM, Janet Toland <Janet.Toland@vuw.ac.nz> wrote:

Hi Theodore,

Melanie Swalwell has carried out research into computer hobbyists in New Zealand see refs below

Swalwell, Melanie. (2003) Multi-Player Computer Gaming: ‘Better than playing (PC Games) with yourself’.  Reconstruction, an interdisciplinary cultural studies community, 3(4).  Retrieved from http://reconstruction.eserver.org/034/swalwell.htm

 

Swalwell, Melanie. (2008).  1980s Home Coding: the art of amateur programming.  In Stella Brennan and Su Ballard (Eds.) Aotearoa Digital Arts Reader (pp. 193-201).  Auckland: Clouds/ADA.

 

Swalwell, Melanie. (2009). Lan Gaming Groups: Snapshots from an Australasian case study, 1999-2008.  In Larissa Hjorth & Dean Chan (Eds.), Gaming Cultures and Place in the Asia–Pacific Region (pp. 117-140).  New York, Oxon: Routledge.

 

Plus she has written a chapter for a book I am editing on the History of Computing in New Zealand due to be published in September!

Good luck with your research

Janet

 

 

From: members-bounces@sigcis.org [mailto:members-bounces@sigcis.org] On Behalf Of Alberts, Gerard
Sent: Thursday, 10 June 2010 8:06 a.m.
To: Theodore Lekkas; members@sigcis.org
Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] References on computer hobbyists, user periodicals etc.

 

Dear Theodore,

Beautiful topic.

Of course you want to get to know the work of Frank Veraart, in particular his 2008 dissertation on precisely this topic in The Nederlands.

Best,

Gerard Alberts

 

Van: members-bounces@sigcis.org namens Theodore Lekkas
Verzonden: wo 9-6-2010 16:16
Aan: members@sigcis.org
Onderwerp: [SIGCIS-Members] References on computer hobbyists,user periodicals etc.

Hello,
I am looking for references on the history of computer hobbyists, home
computer user groups, home computer publications.
Any suggestions from the members of the list would be most welcomed.

Theodore Lekkas
Ph.D. Candidate
University of Athens
Greece

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