Get the latest tech news

In the 1980s we downloaded games from the radio

So there I was, minding my own business, doom-scrolling my way through Facebook posts when I happened upon one that hit me straight in the nostalgia. A photo of a 1980s home computer, a cassette player and some tapes. The text underneath proclaimed "In the 1980s, people could download video

Late at night when anyone with any sense was asleep and not listening to their radio, the BBC would broadcast BASICODE programs for home computer enthusiasts to record and use on their machines. Newer 16 bit machines eschewed cassette storage for new-fangled disk drives and the screeching of a BASICODE takeaway became a forgotten sound on Britain's radio waves. According to Wikipedia BASICODE 3 was also developed and continued to be popular in the old East Germany up until the early 1990s but for those of us in the UK it had already moved into the realm of "unbelievable facts".

Get the Android app