23. Commodore 64 Training Tape With Jim Butterfield
You'd better believe we're going to be talking about a legend in this episode.
Jim Butterfield was a computing enthusiast whose writing was first published in Popular Electronics magazine in the late 1950s before spending the 1960s and 1970s working as a programmer on CN Rail's mainframes. Butterfield later came to be associated with the Toronto PET User's Group (TPUG), was the featured speaker at TPUG's first meeting in 1979. Eventually, he left his job at CN to develop a variety of free software for the Commodore platform (like the 6502 monitor Supermon), author many books on assembly language programming, and act as an educator on the topic of personal computers up to his death in 2007.
All these accomplishments aside, Butterfield is probably best known for his 1983 Commodore 64 Training Tape. This video has gained a reputation as the quintessential C64 video instructional of the 80s, and I feel that reputation is generally well-deserved. When you consider the fact that there were probably quite a few of these training tapes produced, but everyone's memory inevitably seems to snap to *that* Training Tape anytime those words are used, you know we're in for a treat.
Butterfield's video production is characterized by its unmistakably-80s sports-highlight-compilation soundtrack and graphics enveloping a well-organized video chock-full of discussion of the C64's setup, hardware and software ecosystem, and basic operations and functionality. Butterfield and Commodore used the video's 2-hour runtime to its fullest potential, covering a broad selection of operating system concepts: sequential vs. random access, CP/M, debuggers, databases, file headers and blocks, buffers, ASCII encoding, alternative BASIC ROMs, machine language monitors, obscure programming languages such as PILOT, Pascal, FORTRAN - it's all there.
Part of the video feels like a visual complement to Commodore's own 64 user manual. Historically, much emphasis was placed on developing friendly marketing and training material at CBM headquarters in the 80s (with Michael Tomczyk at the helm), and Butterfield is a personable and engaging host (rumor has it that a rule prohibited the use of off-putting nerds on the set). The host does a great job of explaining concepts that might be totally to unfamiliar to prospective computer users of the early 80s without coming off as condescending. The current generation may take the function of a Return key, the concept of a program, or the usefulness of a printer for granted nowadays, but Butterfield clearly does not, and takes particular care to explain their purpose.
The first 10 minutes of the video cover initial setup and peripheral connections. We also get a nice look into the C64's innards, highlighting the C64's CPU, SID, and VIC chips.
Butterfield also showcases his technical-evangelical side and does a great job of touching on the potential applications of the C64 as an education tool. This includes a demo of LOGO, explanation of turtle languages such as LOGO and Lisp and their value in teaching geometry, a walkthrough of the Paperclip word processor, and a showcase of an interactive math tutor application.
The C64's modem, terminal software, and bulletin board services are discussed. A breakdown of character, high-res raster, and sprite graphics (complete with a demonstration of custom character graphic sets) and demonstration of the C64s sound capabilities are also included.
A discussion of HES's "Coco" CPU simulator tool and its security key dongle, which has to be one of the earliest hardware security dongle examples in existence, and a spotlight of some C64 games (including Space Rescue) round out the agenda. Let's just say old Hank isn't ashamed to admit he found himself drooling at some of the freshly-unwrapped software presented from the C64's library.
The video has some unique quirks tying it to its era. Instead of the typical screen-capture presentation we see in tutorials nowadays, we have a video camera zoomed in to a 1701 monitor, bezel and all, with Butterfield's mug superimposed picture-in-picture style on top. I swear it feels like staring straight into a time capsule.
If my arguments haven't been articulated well-enough by now, this video is an essential watch for any Commodore enthusiast (and even a few of your Atari and Apple weirdos, while we're at it). Even if you've had the training material securely under your belt for years, it makes a great soft-watch as you drift off on the couch on a quiet Sunday evening.
"Programming can be really fun. Why else would someone stay up until 3 o'clock in the morning cursing then claim the next day that they had a great time?"
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