I also started programming on a C64... good times! I also remember radio shows about C64 programs (in Dutch!) that would discuss the program first, and then transmit the source code over radio waves. Since the C64 had a cassette tape as memory, you could record that part of the radio show on a cassette tape, and play the tape back on your C64. It was a bit error prone, and I still have the occasional nightmare from the strange sounds...
"BASICODE was a computer project intended to create a unified standard for the BASIC programming language. BASIC was available on many popular home computers, but there were countless variants that were mostly incompatible with each other. The project was initiated in 1980 by Hobbyscoop, a radio program of the Dutch broadcasting organisation Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS).
Around 1980 the Dutch broadcaster NOS began transmitting computer programs by radio. Because programs and data were stored as audio on compact cassettes, it was possible to record such a broadcast on tape and load it into the computer later. However, because of the problems mentioned earlier, the program had to be adapted for nearly all popular types of computers and broadcast multiple times as well. Because the compact cassette has a very low data density compared to today's storage media, the recording of the programs took quite a long time, and only a limited number of programs could be broadcast per show. So, the additional broadcasting of different versions of the same programs was a great inconvenience.
In 1982 the executives at NOS decided to develop a unified data format. An application that was specific for each computer model, called Bascoder, managed the recall and storage of programs and data in this unified format from tape. The Bascoders were broadcast by NOS as well, but could also be bought from NOS on cassette and shared among friends and acquaintances. The format, which was very well-protected against interference, could be read and written by all popular home computer hardware. The robustness of the format also made broadcasting via mediumwave radio possible, which increased the range and in turn the number of potential users."
We copied the (100% pirated) cassettes very carefully in CZ, never mind recording fancy radio waves. And it was still unreliable as hell!
The magnetic cassette loading was sometimes more suspenseful than the actual loaded game :-)
Gamified by live-tuning the cassette head with a screwdriver...
I remember the early games on Amstrad CPC464 were pretty easy to copy. Then game makers started compressing the signal heavily in order to shorten load time, which at the same time made cassettes much harder to copy due to increased sensitivity to errors.
The sound was pretty different too. I still remember the sound of the Sorcery tape which was a lot more distorted than the early games :)
Luckily, nowadays you can still get that suspenseful experience by attempting to flash BIOS/UEFI on your motherboard. Will it work? Or will my motherboard get bricked in less than two minutes?
I've only heard about that era, I wasn't alive back then yet. Only thing I know is a cousin that had an old MSX, he'd go to the library to pick up old books containing full BASIC sources, typing them over meticulously and recording it on tape (or something, at least the things were loaded off of tapes. This was probably mid-90's)
