If you want to remember feeling hopeful for the future, you can read over 200 issues of the legendary Byte magazine for free on the Internet Archive

Thanks to user DamnInteresting on Hacker News, I've found my latest rabbit hole obsession on the Internet Archive: A significant portion of the English back catalogue of Byte Magazine, the granddaddy of personal computing periodicals, stretching all the way back to 1975.

If you're unfamiliar with Byte, the magazine basically grew up alongside personal computing. It was spearheaded by Wayne Green, editor of an amateur radio magazine⁠—there's a fun parallel there to how tabletop roleplaying emerged from the earlier, grognardier wargaming scene at almost the exact same time.

Looking back, I think Byte is invaluable not only as a more prosaic record of personal computing's development, but also as a reminder of a different way of thinking about computers, back when they were magical and exciting, a symbol of almost-inevitable progress.

These days, computers cost too much because we're building useless warehouses full of them that are, altogether, more expensive than the interstate highway system. Also, every computer now has a goblin living in it that will lie to you or tell you that the sound of your farts has a lo-fi late night indie game menu music vibe.

Anyway, I've always found Byte's anachronistic, hopeful outlook on the future of computing epitomized by its iconic cover illustrations by Robert Tinney, which by turns celebrated and skewered the microprocessor future with whimsy, surrealism, and impish charm. Here are a few choice ones from the Internet Archive: