What do you think?
Rate this book
Exploring Artificial Intelligence On Your Spectrum+ And Spectrum
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 2, 2025
At first glance this book may seem obsolete, as a a relic from an era of cassette tapes, flickering CRTs and 8 bit BASIC code.
Yet when read as one might read an old history book, it becomes something entirely different: a fascinating window into how people once imagined the future we now inhabit.
In an age shaped by ChatGPT and machine learning revisiting Tim Hartnell’s words is almost poetic.
Here, forty years ago, was someone introducing "artificial intelligence" to home computer users, not as an abstract concept, but as something they could explore, type in and make come alive on a spectrum keyboard.
Hartnell's tone is that of a curious teacher. A storyteller who truly believed that machines could one day reason, learn, or even talk.
And today they do.
Reading him now, we feel that spark of early wonder: the belief that understanding and imagination were enough to make technology meaningful.
Tim is no longer with us, but his voice remains. Between the lines of simple code and the optimism of his prose, one can still sense the same curiosity that fuels today's conversations about AI. His book reminds us that despite our modern sophistication we are still taking our first steps, guided by the same human fascination that once inspired him to write.
Yet when read as one might read an old history book, it becomes something entirely different: a fascinating window into how people once imagined the future we now inhabit.
In an age shaped by ChatGPT and machine learning revisiting Tim Hartnell’s words is almost poetic.
Here, forty years ago, was someone introducing "artificial intelligence" to home computer users, not as an abstract concept, but as something they could explore, type in and make come alive on a spectrum keyboard.
Hartnell's tone is that of a curious teacher. A storyteller who truly believed that machines could one day reason, learn, or even talk.
And today they do.
Reading him now, we feel that spark of early wonder: the belief that understanding and imagination were enough to make technology meaningful.
Tim is no longer with us, but his voice remains. Between the lines of simple code and the optimism of his prose, one can still sense the same curiosity that fuels today's conversations about AI. His book reminds us that despite our modern sophistication we are still taking our first steps, guided by the same human fascination that once inspired him to write.
Displaying 1 of 1 review