David H. Ahl (born May 17, 1939) is an American author who is the founder of ''

Creative Computing ''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format t ...

'' magazine. He is also the author of many

how-to How to or how-to (among other spellings) may refer to: * A user guide ** An owner's manual, more narrowly * A tutorial ** Especially, instructional material created for the do it yourself market In titles of specific works * How to... (film serie ...

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

s, including ''

BASIC Computer Games ''BASIC Computer Games'' is a compilation of type-in computer games in the BASIC programming language collected by David H. Ahl. Some of the games were written or modified by Ahl as well. Among its better-known games are '' Hamurabi'' and '' Su ...

'', the first

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

book to sell more than a million copies.

Career

After earning degrees in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

, while completing his Ph.D. in

educational psychology Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive psychology, cognitive and behavioral psychology, behavioral perspectives, allows researc ...

, Ahl was hired by

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president until ...

as a marketing consultant in 1969 to develop its educational products line. He edited ''EDU'', DEC's

newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of ...

on educational uses of computers, that regularly published instructions for playing

computer games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

minicomputer A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a type of general-purpose computer mostly developed from the mid-1960s, built significantly smaller and sold at a much lower price than mainframe computers . By 21st century-standards however, a mini is ...

s. Ahl also talked DEC into publishing a book he had put together, ''101 BASIC Computer Games''. During the 1973 recession, DEC cut back on educational product development and Ahl was dismissed. Before he even received his last cheque, he was rehired into a DEC division dedicated to developing new hardware. This group became caught up in building a

that was smaller than any yet built, intending to bring the new product into new markets such as schools. DEC built a machine combining a

PDP-8 The PDP-8 is a family of 12-bit minicomputers that was produced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). It was the first commercially successful minicomputer, with over 50,000 units sold during the model's lifetime. Its basic design follows the pi ...

with a VT50 terminal, and another that crammed a

PDP-11 The PDP–11 is a series of 16-bit minicomputers originally sold by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1970 into the late 1990s, one of a set of products in the Programmed Data Processor (PDP) series. In total, around 600,000 PDP-11s of a ...

into a small portable chassis. When it was presented to DEC's Operations Committee, the engineering side loved it but the sales side was worried it would cut into the sales of their existing lines. The decision ultimately fell to Ken Olsen, who finally stated that "I can't see any reason that anyone would want a computer of his own." With that, the project was dead. Frustrated, Ahl left DEC in 1974, and started ''Creative Computing'', one of the earliest magazines covering the

microcomputer revolution The history of the personal computer as a mass-market consumer electronic device began with the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s. A personal computer is one intended for interactive individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer whe ...

. For the next decade ''Creative Computing'' covered the whole spectrum of hobbyist, home, and personal computing, and although Ahl sold the publication to

Ziff Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related servi ...

in the early 1980s, he continued in his capacity as Editor-in-Chief. In 2010, David Ahl helped re-publish a Special 25th and 30th Anniversary Edition of two of his classic programming books, specifically for a new development environment for beginners, called

Microsoft Small Basic Microsoft Small Basic is a programming language, interpreter and associated IDE. Microsoft's simplified variant of BASIC, it is designed to help students who have learnt visual programming languages such as Scratch learn text-based programmin ...

. In June 2022, Ahl released everything he had ever written, from prose to software, into the public domain.

References

External links

Basic Computer Games: Microsoft Small Basic Edition — Special 30th Anniversary Edition
Edited by David H. Ahl
David Ahl's Small Basic Computer Adventures — Special 25th Anniversary Edition
by David H. Ahl & Philip Conrod

at David Ahl's personal site
Basic Computer Games
by David Ahl
More Basic Computer Games
by David Ahl
Big Computer Games
by David Ahl

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahl, David 1939 births Living people American publishers (people) Tepper School of Business alumni Cornell University College of Engineering alumni