But somehow someone must have pointed you in the direction of these books and magazines. I wasn't even aware there were programming magazines then.
Also in the early 80s using a computer pretty much meant programming. In the early 90s (my youth) computers all had some form of GUI and lots of shareware, and computer magazine weren't really talking about programming.
Yeah, it was me who pointed me in the direction of those books and magazines. You would probably not believe the number of computer related magazines in the 80s. Even my computer (the not-too-popular TRS-80 Color Computer) had like four magazines devoted to it.
I was born in 71 and my dad got us an Apple II in 1980. He wasn't a programmer, but the Apple II came with a full set of hardware and software manuals. We also had a Byte subscription. I taught myself Applesoft Basic, then 6502 assembly. I distinctly remember having printouts of assembly listings spanning dozens of pages spread across the floor which I annotated.
Also in the early 80s using a computer pretty much meant programming. In the early 90s (my youth) computers all had some form of GUI and lots of shareware, and computer magazine weren't really talking about programming.