> While some have traced Wordle to Lingo, a game show that started in 1987, they’ve missed an earlier implementation: WORD was published in 101 Computer Games by Digital Equipment Corp. in 1973
The screenshots bring back memories of keying in BASIC on an Apple ][ monochrome green screen. With that intro, the first time I used QBasic, I remember marveling at not having to use line numbers.
We used to play Wordle in high school. Except it was called "the five-letter word game", and it was a competitive enterprise, in which several people would take turns guessing and the winner chose the next word.
In 1980 they opened a new mall in Manchester, NH which was an hour from DEC’s headquarters and they had an actual DEC retail store that I bought a copy of that book from.
Notably DEC machines like the PDP-11 gave a timesharing BASIC experience that was similar to having your own Apple ][ or TRS-80 but a little bit better, probably the best thing was saving your files on a hard drive.
Not directly related but there was a game called Muddled that focused on anagrams of 7 letter words that was such a time waster for me. Probably because seven letter words seem so much more fun.
I think it's wonderful (and remarkable) that DEC employed David Ahl in educational product marketing, where he basically (indeed BASICally) bootstrapped the computer gaming field.
After DEC killed its first microcomputer projects (not wanting to compete with its own minicomputer business) in 1974, Ahl left DEC to found Creative Computing and catalyze the microcomputer (and BASIC gaming) revolution of the 1970s. DEC later realized its mistake in ignoring the growing PC market, but never became a major player until they were eventually (and perhaps poetically/ironically) acquired by Compaq.
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[ 5.4 ms ] story [ 39.3 ms ] threadBecause OCT 31 == DEC 25
Which comes after the board game Mastermind, which was created in 1970 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastermind_(board_game))
The program is named "Word"
I was exposed to this book in about 1975 when I was in detention in the math teacher's room. It set me on a path to programming.
https://archive.org/details/ahl-1978-basic-computer-games
Notably DEC machines like the PDP-11 gave a timesharing BASIC experience that was similar to having your own Apple ][ or TRS-80 but a little bit better, probably the best thing was saving your files on a hard drive.
After DEC killed its first microcomputer projects (not wanting to compete with its own minicomputer business) in 1974, Ahl left DEC to found Creative Computing and catalyze the microcomputer (and BASIC gaming) revolution of the 1970s. DEC later realized its mistake in ignoring the growing PC market, but never became a major player until they were eventually (and perhaps poetically/ironically) acquired by Compaq.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_H._Ahl
Edit: I thought this companion guidebook was interesting and wonder if DEC ever published its sequels:
https://archive.org/details/understanding-mathematics-and-lo...