Computer data encoded in LPs

[snopes]

Comment: I heard that some records from the 1980s included sections of
noise which if recorded onto a cassette could be put onto a computer. This
in turn would allow an individual to play games or have access to other
hidden information. I first heard of this on
http://www.kempa.com/blog/archives/000053.html

From the linked page:

That's right: there were a handful of records released in the late 70's and early 80's that contained computer programs as part of the audio. This is totally insane, and totally great.

I think the operative word here is a handful

I was a computer geek in the the glory days of personal computing in the 80's (ok, I'm still a computer geek, but the glory days are long past), I remember well what the "noise" of a cassete-based computer program sounded like. It isn't something you could "hide" on a vinyl LP. About the best thing to compare it to is the static of a fax machine or lower-speed modem connection (without all the beeps, blips, and boings -- just the background static like if you pick up the phone when someone's sending a fax).

So I don't doubt that "a handful" of people released records with the "bonus track" of a computer program of some sort. These were the days where the dozens of computer mags in existance had program listings in every issue you coded in by hand, after all. BUT in the cassette-based days (which would be the early 80's, at the latest) there wasn't a single dominant platform, and everybody's cassette systems, programming languages, and computer architectures differed, so you'd be playing to a small segment of the computer market (which was, indeed, a pretty small portion of the population back then).

ETA: OK, I actually read more of the article now, and they talk about this being mainly for the Sinclair computer. That machine was popular in the UK, not so much in the US (here it was known as the Timex-Sinclair 1000). It also was an awfully limited machine, even by the standards of the day -- consisting of a membrane keyboard, and, I believe, shipping with something like 2K of RAM. Your average cheap cell phone these days has about 10 magnitudes of the computing power in it...

-Tim

[Grand Illusion]

I had heard a FOAF account that there was a computer TV show on (I think in the UK) where, in one regular segment, they would feature a small program that the producers of the show had written, and then they would broadcast the data audio so that people who wanted it could tape it from the TV speakers.

Here's something currently for sale that advertises a data track for the Commodore 64: Link

[Towknie]

Tales from the Punch Bowl by Primus was actually a CD-ROM that had all these freaky interactive things you could do on your computer while listening to the disk. The link above is from Amazon, and I see no mention of the CD-ROM part of the album, but I owned it, I played it, and I wasn't even using drugs at the time.

[TwoGuyswithaHat]

I can't speak for LPs, but Alan Cross on his show Ongoing History of New Music speaks of several different cds that have similar information, including one that has fax information that will send text via a fax machine if hooked up to a modem.

As of June 24, the show can be heard here titled Hidden Tracks and the segment in particular is the beginning of Segment 3.

[Eddylizard]

Originally Posted by Grand Illusion

I had heard a FOAF account that there was a computer TV show on (I think in the UK) where, in one regular segment, they would feature a small program that the producers of the show had written, and then they would broadcast the data audio so that people who wanted it could tape it from the TV speakers.

I seem to remember that, though I don't have any details. I also seem to remember the succsess rate was quite small.

I also recall computer magazines giving away software on those floppy cheap 7" 45's - the ones made out of extremely thin plastic that you had to place on a regular vinyl single to five it the stability to play succesfully.