FloppyDays Vintage Computing Podcast

Hosted by Randall Kindig

Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast

106 Episodes

Technology
History
News
                        

Floppy Days 102 - The BBC Micro, Part 3

      12/21/2020

The BBC Micro, Part 3 with Daniel Jameson

Hello, and welcome to episode 102 of the Floppy Days Podcast for December, 2020.  I just love these old machines and love to learn and talk about them.  The year is 1981 and we are talking about the legendary BBC Micro or Beeb as it’s affectionately known.  This is the final episode on this incredible machine, where we will be covering Ads and Appearances, Modern Upgrades, Emulators, Buying One Today, Community, and current Web Sites.

Again, as with the last episode, since the BBC Micro is a British machine I thought it only right that my co-host for these episodes should be someone from the UK.   Daniel Jameson, a prominent member of the stardot forums, graciously agreed to help me with this and provide the “color” commentary during this episode.  I think he adds a lot to the show.

Before getting into the details of the Beeb, I will talk a bit about new acquisitions and what I’ve been up to, a very brief mention of any upcoming shows, and then right into the meat of the episode.

New Acquisitions

Upcoming Shows

Feedback

Ads and Appearances

Modern Upgrades

Emulation

Community

Current Web Sites

Floppy Days 101 - The BBC Micro, Part 2

      9/30/2020

The BBC Micro, Part 2

Hello, and welcome to episode 101 of the Floppy Days Podcast for September, 2020.  The year is 1981 and we are talking about the legendary BBC Micro.  In this episode and next we will fully cover this incredible machine; from tech specs, peripherals, and books/magazines/software to emulators, modern upgrades, and current Web sites.

The BBC Micro is a British machine, and I thought it only right that my co-host for these episodes should be someone from the UK.  I acquired my BBC Micro, a BBC Master Series model, from my good friend and frequent contributor to the show via feedback, Andy Collins.  We did an international swap, where I sent him a machine that is common in the US (the Apple IIGS) and he sent me a machine common in the UK (the aforementioned BBC Master).  It would have cost each of us a not-insignificant sum of money otherwise to acquire our respective machines, as they each are rare in the country from which they did not originate.  I’m very happy with the trade and thankful to Andy for helping me get a BBC Micro.

In any event, Andy agreed to co-host this episode, for which I’m grateful, and I will have another UK resident for next month’s co-host.

Before getting into the details of the Beeb, I will talk a bit about new acquisitions and what I’ve been up to, a very brief mention of any upcoming shows, and then right into the meat of the episode.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Aquisitions

Upcoming Shows

Peripherals

Magazines

Books

Software

Floppy Days 100 - Ed Smith, Developer of APF MP1000 and IM-1

      6/30/2020

Ed Smith, developer of the Imagination Machine

Ed Smith is an African American was born in 1954  in Brownsville Brooklyn, NY. Ed studied electrical engineering at Westinghouse High School, then computer science and marketing at Pace University.

Ed is one of only two African Americans to develop a video game system in the 1970s and the first African American to work in the design of a personal computer – The Imagination Machine.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Intro

New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To

Upcoming Shows

Interview

Floppy Days 99 - The BBC Micro, Interview with Hermann Hauser

      5/31/2020

The BBC Micro - Interview with Hermann Hauser

Hi, everyone, and welcome to episode 99 for May 2020 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where we look at home computers of the 70’s and 80’s across the globe, not just the U.S.

This episode is one in a series of episodes on one of the iconic British machines that was so important to the home computer revolution: The BBC Micro.  In episode 97, I had an interview with one of the key members of the BBC Micro team: Mr. Steve Furber.  In this episode, with Steve’s help, I was able to get an interview with another key member of that team: Mr. Hermann Hauser.

Last episode (#98) I summarized the history of the BBC Micro and I don’t want to repeat that here, but I want to give you just a bit of information about Hermann to help set the stage for the interview to follow:

Chris Curry and Mr. Hauser set up a company called Acorn Computer Ltd. and in January 1979 they launched their first product: a microcomputer kit named Acorn System 75.  The name Acorn was chosen because the microcomputer system was to be expandable and growth-oriented and appeared before "Apple Computer" in a telephone directory.

Their follow-up product was a microcomputer called the Atom.  After it had been released into the market, Acorn (due to an idea proposed by Hermann) decided to build an improved 6502-based machine with far greater expansion capabilities: the Proton.

Hauser quickly pulled in Steve Furber (who had been working for Acorn on a voluntary basis) and Sophie Wilson to help complete a revised version of the Proton which met the specifications that the British Broadcasting Corporation was shopping around to find a partner for their planned literacy program.  BBC visited Acorn and were given a demonstration of the Proton. Shortly afterwards, the literacy program computer contract was awarded to Acorn, and the Proton was launched in December 1981 as the BBC Micro.

Hermann Hauser believes that if he had had just a little more foresight all those years ago, the world would now talk about Acorn compatible rather than IBM compatible computers.  Wouldn’t that be interesting?

Anyway, I’m very excited and proud to have gotten an interview with Hermann and I enjoyed talking with him very much.  I hope you enjoy it as well.

I’m still planning, in upcoming episodes, to cover all of the usual topics on the Beeb, such as its history in depth, tech specs, modern upgrades, Web sites and a ton of other information about this machine.

Before we jump into the interview, I’ll spend just a moment to let you know about any new acquisitions I’ve managed to get for the hobby and any hobby-related things I’ve been working on.

Please enjoy!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

Upcoming Shows

Floppy Days 98 - The BBC Micro History

      4/30/2020

The BBC Micro: History

Hello, everyone, and welcome to episode 98 of the Floppy Days Podcast for April, 2020!

I hope everyone is staying safe in these days of isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic.  One day we’ll look back at this as a strange time in all our lives.

Again, for the podcast, we are finishing up the tail-end of the year 1981 in the personal computer timeline and the primary topic of this and the next couple of podcasts will be the BBC Micro.  I talked with Steve Furber, one of the primary developers of the Beeb, in the last episode concerning his part in and thoughts about those heady times.  In this episode I’m going to cover a more general history of the BBC Micro to give everyone a view of why the machine was developed and its huge impact on personal and educational computer history, especially in the UK.  For the UK listeners, you’ll likely be very familiar with the Beeb’s history.  For the  US listeners, and listeners in other parts of the world, you may be less familiar with the story.  I know that until I dove into the research for this episode, I only had a cursory familiarity with this machine and had no inkling of its true place in computer history.

For future episodes, software, emulators, books, Web sites, modern upgrades, etc. will be explored.

I hope you enjoy this short excursion into the history of a machine that I’ve come to love and respect.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Thoughts and Memories - Richard Broadhurst

New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To

Upcoming Shows

References

  • There is a docudrama "Micro Men" about the early 80s and winning the joint government/BBC contract to produce a computer that would be the focus of the initiative.
  • 78 page PDF by Tilly Blyth of the Science Museum: "The legacy of the BBC Micro - effecting change in the UK's cultures of computing"
  • “Now the Chips are Down: The BBC Micro (Platform Studies)” by Alison Gazzard - https://amzn.to/2yLnYdf 

Floppy Days 97 - The BBC Micro, Interview with Steve Furber

      2/24/2020

The BBC Micro - Interview with Steve Furber

Hi, everyone, and welcome to episode 97 for February 2020 of the Floppy Days Podcast.

This episode kicks off a series of episodes on one of the iconic British machines that was so important to the home computer revolution: The BBC Micro.  This machine has an amazing history and continues to have a very large following among vintage computer enthusiasts. What better way to start off this series than by beginning with an interview with someone who was right on the front lines in the development of the machine.  Those of you who aren’t familiar with Steve Furber will be much more familiar after listening to the interview that I was able to get with him for this show. Steve worked at Acorn Computers in the decade of the 1980’s where he was the principal designer of the BBC Micro and the ARM microprocessor.  I’m very honored to have been able to talk with Steve for about 50 minutes and am elated that I’m able to bring this interview to you this month.

Next month, we’ll kick off some episodes to cover all of the usual topics on the Beeb (as it’s affectionately called), such as its history in depth, tech specs, modern upgrades, Web sites and a ton of other information about this machine.

Before we jump into the interview, I’m a bit behind in letting you know about any new acquisitions I’ve managed to get for the hobby and any hobby-related things I’ve been working on, so I’ll try to do some catch-up there.

Please enjoy the show and let me know what you thought of it. 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

Upcoming Shows

Feedback

Floppy Days 96 - Epson HX-20 Bonus, Norbert Kehrer Interview

      12/31/2019

Interview with Norbert Kehrer, Flashx20

Hello, and happy 2020 to all the listeners out there.  As the final episode of 2019 I’m bringing to you a bonus show on the Epson HX-20.  I was able to get an interview with a gentleman who has developed a terrific piece of software that qualifies as a modern upgrade for the HX-20, called flashx20.  That gentleman is Mr. Norbert Kehrer and he was kind enough to talk with me about his software and how it’s used. I think you’ll find it interesting, especially if you have a machine and can give his software a whirl.

Next month I will begin a series of episodes on one of the groundbreaking machines in the UK, the BBC Micro.  I haven’t decided yet how many episodes there will be, but I was able to get an interview with an early computer pioneer involved with the development of the BBC Micro, so I intend to be as thorough as possible in the coverage of the machine.  Stay tuned for more on that.

For this episode, I will talk a bit about my new vintage computer acquisitions and what I’ve been up to, as well as the usual news about upcoming vintage computer shows and a bit of feedback.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

Upcoming Shows

Interview with Norbert Kehrer

Floppy Days 95 - The Epson HX-20 Part 2 With Earl Evans

      11/29/2019

The Epson HX-20, Part 2, With Earl Evans

Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 95 of the Floppy Days Podcast for November, 2019, where once again this month (in Part 2) we will continue talking about one of the world’s first portable computers: The Epson HX-20.

I’m extremely happy to again have my good friend, and vintage computer podcast legend, Mr. Earl Evans, as my co-host for this episode.

It turned out we had so much material to cover that I ended up breaking this topic into 2 parts.  Last month was part 1, where Earl and I covered HX-20 history, tech specs, and peripherals. This month will be part 2, in which Earl and I will continue coverage by discussing how to use the machine, emulators, software, ads and appearances, modern upgrades, Web sites and more.  In addition, I will include an interview with a gentleman who has done recent work around the HX-20 in the area of emulation, Mr. Pontus Rodling.

First, however, I will spend a few minutes talking about my recent acquisitions in the vintage computing space and what I’ve been up to, then I’ll cover upcoming shows.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Commercial

New Acquisitions

Upcoming Shows

Ads and Appearances

Modern Upgrades

Emulators

Community

Web Sites

References

Floppy Days 94 - The Epson HX-20 Part 1, with Earl Evans

      10/31/2019

The Epson HX-20 Part 1

Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 94 of the Floppy Days Podcast for October, 2019, where this month we will be talking about one of the world’s first portable computers: The Epson HX-20.  Thank you, Terry Stewart, for your thoughts about the HX-20 to lead off the show. For those that want more information from Terry, check out his Website and Youtube channel where he has a terrific video on the HX-20, as well as lots of information on other vintage computers.

I’m extremely happy to announce that my good friend, and one of the godfathers of vintage computer podcast, Mr. Earl Evans, will be my co-host for this topic.  It’s always a thrill to have Earl join me on this podcast as he and his Retrobits podcast were the inspiration for Floppy Days. It turned out that Earl not only knows the gentleman I interviewed last month, Chris Rutkowski, but he also used to work for Epson and supported the HX-20 and its successor the PX-8.  He also owns a couple of machines. As a result, Earl is able to provide great insights into the HX-20 and is a perfect color commentator for this topic. I know you’ll enjoy Earl’s contributions to this show.

It turned out we have so much material to cover that I’m breaking this topic into 2 parts.  This month will be part 1, and Earl and I will cover HX-20 history, tech specs, and peripherals.  Next month will be part 2, in which Earl and I will continue coverage by discussing how to use the machine, emulators, software, ads and appearances, modern upgrades, Web sites and more.  In addition, I was able to get interviews with a couple of gentlemen who have done recent work around the HX-20 in the areas of emulation and modern upgrades.

So, we have a lot to cover and a short time to get there!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions and What I’ve Been Up To

Upcoming Shows (https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows)

Floppy Days 93 - Chris Rutkowski, Epson QX10, ValDocs

      9/6/2019

Interview with Chris Rutkowski, Epson QX10 & ValDocs

Hello and welcome to episode 93 of the Floppy Days Podcast.  We’re still in the year 1981 for computer introductions and next up on the docket is the venerable Epson HX-20, oft-considered the very first laptop computer.  It spawned an entire series of laptop computers from Epson, such as the PX-8 and QX-10.

In this episode, I have an interview with Mr. Chris Rutkowski.  Chris worked for or at Epson during the days of the HX-20 and the other machines.  Although Chris didn’t work directly on the HX-20, as he was more focused on the QX-10 and software for it (such as ValDocs), Chris has a great perspective on what it was like to work at Epson at that time.

In the next episode I will then talk in detail about the HX-20, including the usual topics of history, specs, software, magazines, ads, Web sites, emulators and more.

After talking with Chris, I was very impressed with the work that he did and impact that he made on the fledgling microcomputer industry.  Not only did he work on the design of the QX-10, Chris came up with the idea for the VALDOCS software for the QX-10 that included the HASCI keyboard (Human Application Standard Computer Interface) while at Rising Star Industries.

I hope you enjoy this interview!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

Upcoming Shows

Interview with Chris Rutkowski

Floppy Days 92 - Dave Lagerquist Interview, Editor CLOAD and Chromasette

      7/6/2019

Hello, welcome to Floppy Days Podcast #92, coming to you in July, 2019.  This month, I’m bringing to you an interview I’ve had in my backlog for almost 2 years now.  Thank goodness, most of the information on Floppy Days is timeless, so the interview is just as relevant today as it was then.  Anyway, I’m very happy to present an interview with Mr. Dave Lagerquist, who was the editor of both the CLOAD cassette magazine, which was produced for the TRS-80 Model I and Model III, and Chromasette cassette magazine, which was produced for the Tandy Color Computer.

As usual, I will cover a few new acquisitions, a run-down of upcoming shows and other news, a piece of feedback, and then we’ll get right into the meat of the interview.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Upcoming Shows

Feedback

Interview

Floppy Days 91 - The Osborne 1 with Lee Felsenstein

      5/30/2019

The Osborne 1 with Lee Felsenstein

Welcome to episode 91 of the Floppy Days Podcast for May, 2019.

In the timeline for personal computer introductions, we are now in the year 1981.  For this episode we are going to be talking about the Osborne 1.

The Osborne 1 was the first commercially successful portable microcomputer, released on April 3, 1981 by Osborne Computer Corporation (OCC).  It was powered by the Z80 CPU at a blazing 4MHz, weighed 24.5 lb, cost US$1,795, and ran the CP/M operating system. It was powered from a wall socket, as it had no on-board battery, but is a portable device since it can be hand-carried when packed.  The computer shipped with a large bundle of software that was almost equivalent in value to the machine itself.

The Osborne 1 was the brain child of Adam Osborne and was brilliantly engineered by Lee Felsenstein.  So, who better to have help me talk about the machine than Lee Felsenstein himself! For this show, we’re going to spend some time with Lee talking about the history surrounding the Osborne 1.  Finally, Lee will leave us and I will cover the usual computer topics such as tech specs, emulators, Web sites, and more.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To

Upcoming Shows

Feedback

Popular Magazines/Newsletters

The entire run is on archive.org - https://archive.org/details/theportablecompanion

Also at Yesterbits - https://yesterbits.com/scans/the-portable-companion-magazine/ (Paul Hagstrom)

Books/Manuals

Ads and Appearances

User Groups

Modern Upgrades

Emulation

Community

Current Web Sites

References

 

Floppy Days 90 - Lee Felsenstein Interview

      4/26/2019

Episode 90 - Interview with Lee Felsenstein (Osborne 1)

Welcome to episode 90 of the Floppy Days Podcast for April, 2019.

In the timeline for personal computer introductions, we are now in the year 1981.  For this episode, and actually the next couple as well, we are going to be talking about the Osborne 1.

The Osborne 1 was the first commercially successful portable microcomputer, released on April 3, 1981 by Osborne Computer Corporation.  It was powered by the Z80 CPU, weighed 24.5 lb, cost US$1,795, and ran the CP/M operating system. It was powered from a wall socket, as it had no on-board battery, but is a portable device since it can be hand-carried when packed.  The computer shipped with a large bundle of software that was almost equivalent in value to the machine itself.

The Osborne 1 was the brain child of Adam Osborne and was brilliantly engineered by Lee Felsenstein.  So, who better to have help me talk about the machine than Lee Felsenstein himself. To kick off this series, we’re going to spend some time with Lee talking about his time before and after the Osborne 1.  And then in the next show we will talk about the history surrounding the Osborne 1 itself. Finally, we will cover the usual computer topics such as tech specs, emulators, Web sites, and more.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

Upcoming Shows

Lee Felsenstein Interview

Floppy Days 89 - The Apple III - Part 3 with David Fradin

      2/3/2019

The Apple III - Part 3 with David Fradin

Welcome to episode 89 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where we love our computers and programmable calculators of the 70’s and 80’s (and even into the 90’s).

As mentioned on the last episode, we’ve moved in to the year 1981 for computer introductions and have been discussing the much maligned but misunderstood Apple III for the past couple of shows.  This episode will be the last in the series about that machine. This episode we focus on an interview with someone who was responsible for the Apple III line at Apple in his tenure there, Mr. David Fradin.  David was product manager for that line and has some insights into the challenges of managing and marketing it.

Before we get to the interview, I will briefly talk about what I’ve been up to and about some new-to-me vintage computer acquisitions.  I’ll also run through the upcoming vintage computer show schedule for 2019, which is pretty full, and I have a bit of feedback to share.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To

News

Feedback

Interview

Floppy Days 88 - The Apple III, Part 2 with Paul Hagstrom

      12/30/2018

Floppy Days Episode 88 - The Apple III - Part 2

Hi, all, and welcome to Floppy Days #88 for December, 2018.  I’m your host, Randy Kindig, and it’s hard to believe that 2018 is coming to an end.  I hope you all had a great year! As stated in the last show, we are into the year 1981 for computer introductions and we are covering the Apple II’s more powerful sibling, the Apple III.  This is part 2 of the 2-part series and will again have Paul Hagstrom, prolific podcaster himself, to help me cover this machine. We will continue where we left off the last show, and will cover magazines, books, software, emulators, Web sites and a whole lot more.  Stay tuned to learn more than you ever wanted to know about the Apple III.

New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To

Upcoming Shows

  • The Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network will have three tables at the second annual Retro City Festival, taking place January 5-6, 2019 at the famous Fairplex, Expo Hall 9, 1101 W McKinley Ave. in Pomona, California (east of Los Angeles). - http://retrocityfestival.com - a yearly celebration of video game history
  • VCF Pacific Northwest 2019 will take place March 23-24, 2019 at Living Computers: Museum+Labs in Seattle, Washington.  Details can be found at http://www.vcfed.org/vcf-pnw.

Feedback

Popular Magazines/Newsletters

Books

Software

Ads & Appearances

Modern Upgrades

Emulators

Buying One Today

Community

Current Web Sites

References

 

Tandy Assembly 2018 Ads

      11/4/2018

Tandy Assembly - http://www.tandyassembly.com 

Ian Mavric - ianm@trs-80.com

PSKI Software - http://www.pski.net

 

Floppy Days 87 - The Apple III - with Paul Hagstrom

      11/4/2018

The Apple III - Part 1

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Episode 87 of the Floppy Days Podcast for November, 2018.  In the timeline, we continue to cover machines that were released in the year 1980. The topic of this show is a machine that while it came from a very well-known computer company, was never popular enough to make a large splash in the computer market.  Nevertheless, it was an important piece in the history of personal computers and I’m happy to bring it to you this month. Of course, the machine that we’re talking about, as you already know from the excellent memories intro by Mike Maginnis, is the Apple II’s more powerful brother, the Apple III.

I’m very happy to have one of the well-known members of the Apple III community today, and co-host of the Apple III podcast “Drop III Inches” as well as a cohost of the RetroComputing Roundtable Podcast, Mr. Paul Hagstrom, assist me with this month’s topic.

New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To

Upcoming Shows

Feedback

Peripherals

References

Floppy Days 86 - The Sinclair ZX80 Part II with Earl Evans

      8/11/2018

The Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81

Welcome to the Floppy Days Podcast with myself, Randy Kindig, and a whole host of vintage computers surrounding me, each one wanting their time in the limelight.  This will be part 2 of the 2-part series on the Sinclair ZX80 & 81 computer line. Once again, I will have one of the grand-daddy’s of vintage computer podcasting, Earl Evans, co-hosting with me as we complete the journey through one of the historically significant computers from across the pond.  We will be covering the normal topics from where we left off the last show, so we’ll be talking about peripherals, software, books & magazines, ads, emulators, Web sites and whatever else comes to mind. Before we do that, though, I do want to talk a bit about my new acquisitions and projects, let you know about upcoming shows so you can make your plans, and I might even have a little feedback.

I want to thank Ian Bucknell for providing his thoughts and memories of the ZX81.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Memories

New Acquisitions/Projects

Upcoming Shows

Peripherals and Expansion

Magazines and Newsletters

Books

Software

User Groups and Shows

  • ZX-TEAM: THE active user group for the legendary Sinclair ZX81- http://www.zx81.de/zxcms/ , next international meeting March 29-31, 2019

Modern Upgrades

Emulation

Community

Current Web Sites

References

Tandy Assembly 2018 Ad

      7/11/2018

Advertisement for Tandy Assembly 2018

November 10 & 11, 2018 in Springfield, OH

http://www.tandyassembly.com

 

Floppy Days 85 - Interview with John Grant, developer of ZX80 OS-BASIC

      7/8/2018

Interview with John Grant - Developer of the OS & BASIC for the Sinclair ZX80

In the last show Earl Evans and I covered part I of the Sinclair ZX80/81 line of home computers; its history and tech specs.  Before delving into part II, we’re going to have a topic-relevant interview this month. I was able to, with the help of Kevin Palser, track down and interview Mr. John Grant, a man whose name we mentioned several times last month when going through the Sinclair ZX80 history.  You see, John is literally the gentleman who wrote the operating system and BASIC for the ZX80. He still owns Nine Tiles today and still has the rights to that OS. I think you’ll enjoy this discussion with a true vintage computer pioneer.

 

Floppy Days 84 - The Sinclair ZX80 with Earl Evans

      5/31/2018

The Sinclair ZX-80

Hello and welcome to the Floppy Days Podcast for May, 2018, where we remind everyone of the days when everyone knew how to program a computer, not just use it for social media.  My name is Randy Kindig and I host this podcast.

We are coming near the end of the computers to be covered on this podcast that were introduced at the beginning of the 8-bit era, when things really started to take off, that being the year 1980.  This month, we will be talking about a limited, inexpensive, but definitely historically significant line of computers known as the Sinclair Z80, ZX81, and Timex Sinclair 1000 and 1500.

I was very happy to get an old friend, and vintage computer podcasting legend, Earl Evans to help me host this episode.  Earl does a great job of researching and discussing vintage computers and his help was great. In addition, I was able to get some members of the Sinclair ZX80/81 community to provide memories and to help provide information, as well as assisting with going through the topic of emulation.  As a result, there turned out to be so much information to present that it turned into 2 episodes. So, this month we will cover the history of the ZX80 computer line and tech specs and next month we will cover the remaining topics such as peripherals, software, emulation, magazine & newsletters, Web sites and more.  I’m also working on a special interview with someone key to the development of the ZX80 that I’m hoping will come to fruition.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions and What I’ve Been Up To

Upcoming Shows

Feedback

Interview with Earl Evans

History

Floppy Days Special Promo for VCF East XIII with Evan Koblentz

      5/13/2018

This is a special promo episode of Floppy Days for the upcoming VCF East XIII show, May 18-20, 2018.  I speak with VC Federation Executive Director Evan Koblentz about the show.

Please attend if you can!

VCF East Web Site

Connor Krukosky Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45X4VP8CGtk 

 

Floppy Days 83 - The Intellivision Keyboard Component with Paul Nurminen of Intellivisionaries

      4/16/2018

The Intellivision Keyboard Component

Hello everyone and welcome to Floppy Days #83 for April, 2018.  My name is Randy Kindig and I host this little retrospective on vintage computers.  I’m stepping outside the normal timeline for this particular episode in order to cover a vintage gaming console and an upgrade that could be purchased for it that turned it into a home computer.  The gaming console is the Intellivision and the upgrade was called the Intellivision Keyboard Component. This system falls roughly into our current timeline, which sits currently at 1980, in that the Intellivision Master Componenet was released in 1979 and the Keyboard Component while work was started on it in 1978 it was never officially released except for about 4,000 units before it was officially canceled in 1982.

Paul Nurminen, aka Nurmix, of the Intellivisionaries Podcast, came to me some time ago and suggested that we collaborate on a podcast about this system as he thought it might be interesting to Intellivisionaries and Floppy Days listeners alike.  I agreed with him and we set about to pull together information and guests about this gaming/computing machine, code-named the Blue Whale, or whimsically occasionally called the Intelliputer. To that end, Paul was able to contact two gentlemen with intimate knowledge of the keyboard component.  The first is Dave Rolfe, who was involved in the development of the keyboard component. The second is Frank Palazzolo, who is working on emulating the keyboard component.

Paul will be co-hosting this show with me and we have a lot of information to pass on to you that I hope you find interesting.  I’ll first go over a few new acquisitions and upcoming shows and then we’ll jump right into the interview with David, followed by Frank.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

Upcoming Shows

Interview with Frank Palazzolo

Ads

Community

Current Web Sites

Floppy Days 82 - The Acorn Atom with Roland Leurs

      3/1/2018

The Acorn Atom and the Fifth Year of Floppy Days

1980 was a very prolific year for the development of personal computers around the globe and we continue to cover machines made in that year.  This month’s topic is a machine that was never made available in the United States.  It was popular in parts of Europe and particularly in the Netherlands.  The machine: The Acorn Atom.  This is the first non-US machine I’ve covered and I have plans to cover other machines that were made outside of North America.

I want to start out by thanking Walter Miraglia and Andy Collins for providing their thoughts and memories of the Acorn Atom.  I have zero personal experience with the Atom, never having seen one or even heard of it prior to doing some recent research on non-US personal computers and deciding to cover it.  So, it was great to have a couple of people who do have some experience with the machine volunteer to share their memories.

To help me cover this machine, I found one of the foremost Atom experts on the forums, Mr. Roland Leurs, out of the Netherlands.  He was kind enough to agree to provide his insight and expertise for this show.  As you will hear, he knows this computer very well and really helps us understand its nuances.  I think you will enjoy the knowledge he shares with us.

As usual, I’ll also talk about new acquisitions and what I’ve been up to, a bit of news, and a modicum of feedback before we get into the main topic.

Before moving into new acquisitions, I wanted to stop for a moment and reflect on the 5th year anniverary of the show this month.  It’s really hard to believe that it’s been 5 years and 82 shows since I first pulled out a microphone and took my first halting steps into podcasting.  It’s been a fun ride.  The thing that I enjoy the most of anything about doing the podcast is the feedback, comments, emails, and more that I get.  Every time someone says hi at a vintage computer show and tells me that they listen to the podcast, it gives me a thrill.  When I see an episode get downloaded over 3,000 times, it amazes me.  The friends that I’ve gained as a result of this hobby have been incredible.  Every person who has come onto the show to help me cover a computer, talk with me for an interview, or provide thoughts and memories has become part of my circle of friends.  I consider this a collaborative show.  This is not Randy Kindig talking for an hour about a computer.  Just about every show has had involvement from others in the community.  I want you all to know how much all of those things are appreciated.  I can definitively tell you I don’t have any plans to end the podcast any time soon.  If it ever quits being fun, then maybe, but you’re stuck with me for a while yet.

thank you everyone.

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Upcoming Shows

Feedback

  • Ken Partridge - pictures from Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA (Facebook and Instagram) - search #floppydayschm

Popular Magazines/Newsletters

Books

Software

User Groups

Emulation

Community

Current Web Sites

Floppy Days 81 - David Needle, technology reporter

      2/1/2018

David Needle, technology reporter

David Needle is a technology reporter and editor based in Silicon Valley. He has worked for a variety of publications including:

  • Computer World
  • InfoWorld
  • Personal Computing
  • Information Week
  • Computer Currents

He has interviewed many technology giants of the early computer days, such as:

  • Steve Jobs
  • Bill Gates
  • Dan Bricklin
  • Jack Tramiel
  • Nolan Bushnell
  • Steve Leininger

This interview occurred on November 3, 2016

Links:

Floppy Days 80 - Tandy Pocket Computers, Part 2 with Ian Mavric

      12/31/2017

Tandy Pocket Computers, Part 2

Welcome to episode 80 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for December, 2017!

This episode is part 2 of the coverage of the TRS-80 pocket computer line.  In the timeline we’re still in the year 1980, with the first of the pocket computer line, the PC-1, having been released in that year.  Again, the TRS-80 icon known as Ian Mavric will be walking through various aspects of that computer line with me.  We will be covering newsletters, magazines, emulation, Web sites, modern upgrades and much more.

Web site: http://floppydays.com

email: floppydays@gmail.com

Twitter: @floppydays

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/floppydays

on iTunes and Stitcher (www.stitcher.com)

part of the Throwback Network (www.throwbacknetwork.net )

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/I5bhao6ixoxkzq52qlku5mfb43q?t=FloppyDays_Vintage_Computing_Podcast

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Upcoming Shows

  • other shows that will definitely occur but not yet announced:
    • VCF Southeast - Roswell, GA - April
    • VCF Midwest - Elk Grove Village, IL - September
    • Tandy Assembly - OH - October
    • TI International World’s Faire - Chicago - Oct/Nov
    • World of Commodore - Toronto - Dec
    • Atari Party - keep eye open

Magazines/Newsletters

Books

Ads

Emulation

Modern Upgrades

Community

Web Sites

Floppy Days 79 - Tandy Pocket Computers, Part 1 with Ian Mavric

      11/30/2017

Tandy Pocket Computers, Part 1

Web site: http://floppydays.com

email: floppydays@gmail.com

Twitter: @floppydays

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/floppydays

on iTunes and Stitcher (www.stitcher.com)

part of the Throwback Network (www.throwbacknetwork.net )

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/I5bhao6ixoxkzq52qlku5mfb43q?t=FloppyDays_Vintage_Computing_Podcast

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

 

Floppy Days 78 - Interview with Stewart Cheifet, Computer Chronicles

      10/27/2017

Stewart Cheifet, Computer Chronicles

Links:

Floppy Days 77 - The Commodore Vic-20, Part II

      9/28/2017

The Commodore Vic-20, Part II

Web site: http://floppydays.com

email: floppydays@gmail.com

Twitter: @floppydays

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/floppydays

on iTunes and Stitcher (www.stitcher.com)

part of the Throwback Network (www.throwbacknetwork.net )

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/I5bhao6ixoxkzq52qlku5mfb43q?t=FloppyDays_Vintage_Computing_Podcast

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Feedback

Magazines

Books

Software

User Groups and Shows

Modern Upgrades

Connectivity to Modern Computers

Emulation

Community

Web Sites

References

Tandy Assembly Ads and Sponsors

      9/1/2017

This is a special set of ads for the Tandy Assembly show coming to Chillicothe, OH October 7 & 8.

Thank you to all our sponsors.

http://www.tandyassembly.com 

 

Floppy Days 76 - Interview with Ian Mavric, TRS-80

      8/12/2017

Interview with Ian Mavric, TRS-80 Recycler

This is an interview-only episode of Floppy Days.  I was able to catch up with someone well-known in the TRS-80 community, Mr. Ian Mavric, or Mav for short.  Mav bills himself as a TRS-80 recycler who also sells a lot of upgrades for the TRS-80 line of computers, including the FreHD, hi-res boards, the Quinnterface and others.  He’s also a member of the TRS-80 Trash Talk Podcast and writes for the TRS8BIT newsletter.  Mav is very active in the TRS-80 community and I was very happy to be able to sit down with him and talk about everything in which he’s involved.

Links:

Mav can be found on the following internet Tech Forums:

 

Sites which may interest TRS-80 Purists:

Floppy Days 75 - VCFSE 5 Post-show with Thomas Liebert, Jon Guidry, Amiga Bill & Anthony

      7/8/2017

Vintage Computer Festival Southeast 5.0 Post-show

Hi, everyone and welcome to episode #75 of the Floppy Days Podcast.  I’m your host, Randy Kindig.  It’s July, 2017, and I have a special episode for you where I cover the VCFSE 5.0 show that took place April 29-30 this year in Roswell, Georgia.  When I say I “cover” the show, what I really mean is that I give you a limited perspective of the show from my eyes, as an exhibitor at the event.  I will be talking about the exhibit I was a part of, some of the people I met, and purchases or sales that I made.  The largest part of this episode, however, are the interviews that I was able to get at the show.  They were interesting and fun for me.  I hope you enjoy it, and if you were not able to make it to VCFSE this year, please consider attending next year.  It’s well worth the effort to get there.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

00:00 Theme Song

01:23 Ads

01:52 Intro

03:11 Exhibit Discussion

08:47 Tandy Assembly Ad

09:35 My Acquisitions, items sold, or give-aways

16:57 Thomas Liebert Interview

28:45 Jon Guidry Interview

49:44 Amiga Bill & Anthony Interview

1:41:54 Conclusion

1:44:52 Out-takes

Floppy Days 74 - Giacomo Vernoni, Commodore Vic 20: A Visual History

      6/12/2017

Interview with Giacomo Vernoni, author Commodore Vic 20: A Visual History

Hello and welcome to the Floppy Days Podcast.  I’m Randy Kindig, your host.  This is a special interview-only episode.  I was able to track down Giacomo Vernoni(Jockamo VERnoni), a computer historian who recently published a book called “Commodore Vic 20: A Visual History”.  As I’ve been covering the Vic-20 on recent shows, it thought it was very timely and that it would be great to interview someone who is very familiar with the machine and liked it well enough to publish a book about it.  It was awesome to catch up with Giacomo and talk with him for a little while.

This interview took place on April 1st, 2017.

Links:

Floppy Days 73 - The Commodore Vic-20, Part I

      5/29/2017

The Commodore Vic-20, Part I

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Episode 73 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where modern computers are simply considered peripherals to the classic computers.  My name is Randy Kindig.  In the computer timeline, we’re still squarely in the year 1980.  In that year, a breakthrough computer, with a great keyboard, color graphics and sound was announced for under $300.  Of course, if you’ve been listening to the last few episodes of the podcast, you know that we’re talking about the Commodore Vic-20.  William Shatner said it best in the TV ads of the time: “The wonder computer of the 1980’s: The Commodore Vic-20”.  So far on Floppy Days, we’ve covered the history of the machine from the perspective of three different gentlemen: Brian Bagnall, historian; Neil Harris, member of the Vic Commando Team; and Michael Tomczyk, leader of that same Vic Commando Team and assistant to Jack Tramiel.  In this episode, friends and fellow podcasters Jeff Salzman and Todd George, help me go through tech specs, peripherals, books, magazines, emulators, Web sites, and more for this groundbreaking machine.  As there was a lot of material to cover, rather than making an extra-long episode, I’m breaking this topic up into 2 different shows.  So, I hope you enjoy part 1 of this episode about the Vic-20. 

Before we do that, I want to thank Brent Santin and Peter Cetinski for sharing their memories of the Vic-20.  Later in the episode Brent has some additional memories that he shares with us as well.

Web site: http://floppydays.com

email: floppydays@gmail.com

Twitter: @floppydays

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/floppydays

on iTunes and Stitcher (www.stitcher.com)

part of the Throwback Network (www.throwbacknetwork.net )

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/I5bhao6ixoxkzq52qlku5mfb43q?t=FloppyDays_Vintage_Computing_Podcast

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Feedback

Peripherals

Floppy Days 72 - Neil Harris, Vic-20 Commando Team

      4/27/2017

Interview with Neil Harris, Member of the Vic Commando Team

Welcome to the Floppy Days Podcast, where classic computers will always have a home.  My name is Randy Kindig.  This is the final of four consecutive episodes where I talked to gentlemen who were either involved with the development of the historically significant Commodore Vic-20, or who have written books on its history.  In this episode Neil Harris is my guest.  Neil was a key member of the Vic Commando Team within Commodore, the team that was responsible for the introduction of the Vic-20 and helping it to become the first home computer to sell 1 million units.  Neil also later worked for Atari, when the Tramiels left Commodore and purchased Atari from Warner.  Neil helps me walk through the history of the Vic through the eyes of someone on the front line.  I think you’ll find this interesting.

Before we get to that, I have a few housekeeping items to cover and then we’ll get into the meat of the podcast.

Web site: http://floppydays.com

email: floppydays@gmail.com

Twitter: @floppydays

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/floppydays

on iTunes and Stitcher (www.stitcher.com)

part of the Throwback Network (www.throwbacknetwork.net )

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/I5bhao6ixoxkzq52qlku5mfb43q?t=FloppyDays_Vintage_Computing_Podcast

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Feedback

Interview

Floppy Days 71 - Brian Bagnall, Commodore: A Company on the Edge

      3/31/2017

Interview with Brian Bagnall, Author “Commodore, A Company on the Edge”

Welcome to the Floppy Days Podcast, where old computers survive to tell another tale.  My name is Randy Kindig.  In the previous couple of episodes, I covered the history of the Vic-20 computer with the help of Neil Harris, Brian Bagnall, and Michael Tomczyk.  Although I used some audio clips from each of those gentlemen to walk through the history timeline, I actually have a full-blown interview with each that I want to share with you over the span of three episodes.  I’ve already published the interview with Michael Tomczyk, leader of the Vic Commando Team and assistant to Jack Tramiel.  Next up, I am publishing the interview with Brian Bagnall, author of the book “Commodore, A Company on the Edge” and who is working on the follow-up book “Commodore: The Amiga Years”.

Before we get to that, I will very briefly cover upcoming shows and a bit of feedback, but then we will get right into the interview with Brian Bagnall.

Web site: http://floppydays.com

email: floppydays@gmail.com

Twitter: @floppydays

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/floppydays

on iTunes and Stitcher (www.stitcher.com)

part of the Throwback Network (www.throwbacknetwork.net )

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/I5bhao6ixoxkzq52qlku5mfb43q?t=FloppyDays_Vintage_Computing_Podcast

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

News

Feedback

Interview

“Commodore, A Company on the Edge” by Brian Bagnall - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0973864966/?tag=flodaypod-20

Floppy Days 70 - Michael Tomczyk (Vic-20)

      3/1/2017

Interview with Michael Tomczyk, Vic-20 Commando Team Leader at Commodore

Welcome to the Floppy Days Podcasts, where old computers are the best computers and new old computers are even better.  Last month, I covered the history of the Vic-20 computer with the help of Neil Harris, Brian Bagnall, and Michael Tomczyk.  Although I used some audio clips from each of those gentlemen to walk through the history timeline, I actually have a full-blown interview with each that I want to share with you over the span of three episodes.  For this episode, I will be publishing the interview with Michael Tomczyk.  Michael was with Commodore for some time, was an assistant to none other than Jack Tramiel, and was the leader of the team known as the Vic Commando Team.  He was happy to talk about his time at Commodore and turned out to be a very interesting interview and a great guy with which to talk.

Before we get to that, I do have a few housekeeping items to cover, such as a few new acquisitions, some brief news, and a bit of feedback.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

References

Floppy Days 69 - The Commodore Vic-20, History with Michael Tomczyk, Neil Harris, Brian Bagnall

      1/29/2017

The Commodore Vic-20 - History, with Brian Bagnall, Michael Tomczyk, and Neil Harris

Welcome to episode 69 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where our computers may be old, but that’s why we love them.

In the vintage computer timeline, we are in 1980.  The next computer I want to discuss that debuted that year is the Commodore Vic-20.  The Vic-20 is significant because it was the first color computer to sell for less than $300, at a time when other home computers with color graphics were 2 to 4 times that amount.  It also was the first home computer of any type to sell over 1 million units.

In this first episode about the Vic-20, I want to cover the history of this machine: why it was developed, some of the stories around its development, what happened after its release, and when it was canceled.  To that end, I contacted some notable persons that were involved with the roll-out and support of the Vic-20, as well as a person who was involved in documenting Commodore’s history.  The first person I contacted was Michael Tomczyk, who was an assistant to Jack Tramiel at Commodore and who led the so-called “Vic Commando Team”.  Michael was intimately involved in the marketing and support of the Vic.  In addition, a key member of his team, Neil Harris, agreed to help with this episode as well.  And, finally, I talked with Brian Bagnall, who you might recognize as the author of “Commodore: A Company on the Edge”.  This is an amazing line up of people who are very familiar with the Vic-20 and its history and I’m very lucky to have been able to get their assistance with telling its story.

Before we jump into that, I will cover a few new vintage computer items I’ve acquired, cover a bit of news, and cover a bit of feedback I’ve received.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Feedback

References

Floppy Days 68 - Interview with Bill Kemper, HP Series 80 Software Engineer

      1/1/2017

Interview with Bill Kemper, HP Employee and HP Series 80 Software Engineer

Hello, again, and welcome to episode 68 of the Floppy Days Podcast.  This will be a fairly short, interview-only show.  As a final piece of the recent series of podcasts on the HP Series 80 family of machines, I was able to sit down and talk with Mr. William Kemper.  Bill worked directly on software for the HP Series 80 and later was the manager of software engineering for the line until it was canceled.  He then continued on for some time with HP until the merger with Compaq around 2002.  In the interview, we discuss Everett Kaser, who worked for Bill, and who was one of my co-hosts for the HP Series 80 podcasts.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

HP Series 80 Forum at groups.io - https://groups.io/g/hpseries80

Floppy Days 67 - The HP85B Computer, Part 3, with Everett Kaser and Vassilis Prevelakis

      11/26/2016

The HP Series 80 (HP83/85/86/87)

This episode is the third and final in a series about the Hewlett Packard HP-85 computer, or more accurately, the entire line of similar computers known as the HP Series 80.  Once again, I have the tremendously knowledgeable duo of Everett Kaser and Vassilis Prevelakis helping me impart information to you about that venerable line of historically significant desktop computers.  In this episode, we will primarily be covering tech specs, peripherals, expansion, magazines and newletters, books, emulation, modern upgrades, connectivity to modern computers, buying one today, community and Web sites.  Wow, now that I list this out, it’s obvious we have a lot to cover.  In addition, I will briefly talk about my new vintage computer acquisitions, feedback and perhaps a little news.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

Tech Specs

Popular Magazines/Newsletters

Books/Manuals

Software

  • The Forth ROM was recovered with the help of Everett Kaser and Don Person, but was written by Larry Woestman. The following ZIP file contains source code as well as image files for the HP-85 and HP-87: HP-85 / HP-87 Forth ROM: HP_Series_80_Forth.zip
  • André Koppel wrote some utilities for the HP-87 called SYSEXT, which he transferred to a ROM. This can be downloaded together with a manual in German from http://www.akso.de/index.php?id=hp_series_80&L=1

Modern Upgrades

  • expansion - PRM-85 (Bill Kotaska (USA), with support from John Shadbolt (UK))  e-mail if interested
  • HP85 recreation with an FPGA - FPGA HP85B
  • SD or CF card interface - HP85DISK - HP-85 Disk Emulator using AVR and MicroSD card for classic HP series 80 computers - https://github.com/magore/hp85disk by Mike Gore

Connectivity to Modern Computers

Emulation

Community

Current Web Sites

Floppy Days 66 - VCFMW 11 Live Event Diary

      11/1/2016

Welcome to Episode 66 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where we try to relive our youth by talking about computers nearly as old as we are.  Vintage Computer Festival Midwest #11 recently happened on Sep. 10 and 11, 2016 in Elk Grove Village, IL and I managed to find my way there again this year.  Once again, I had an incredible time at the event and thought I’d share some of it with you.  I managed to get a few interviews, meet several people I had never met before, catch up with old friends, and come home with far more items than I left with.  So, I plan to give you a quick run-down of the event through my eyes and I hope you find this interesting.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

00:00 Theme Song

01:20 Ads

01:49 Intro

02:34 CoCo Crew Ad

03:21 Presentations Discussion

05:53 My Presentation (audio)

27:56 My Exhibit

31:21 Intro to Peter Bartlett Interview

32:00 Peter Bartlett Interview

34:54 Intro to Evan Wright Interview

35:35 Evan Wright Interview

44:41 Intro to Simon Wells Interview

45:18 Simon Wells Interview

59:26 My Purchases

1:07:36 What I didn't buy, TI-99 UStream, and Cosmac Elf Exhibit

1:11:19 Conclusion

Floppy Days 65 - Week of the KFest with Mike Whalen

      10/7/2016

Welcome to Episode 65 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where a summer computer camp for middle-aged geeks is the highlight of our year.  My name is Randy Kindig.  This is a very special edition of Floppy Days produced and contributed by my good friend Mike Whalen and it includes sound bites from many of the attendees of this year’s annual week-long KansasFest Apple II event that always happens in Kansas City, Missouri.  Mike is a long-time Apple II and retro-computer fan and one of the hosts of the currently-dormant Electric Dreams BBS Podcast.  I met Mike at the one-and-only KansasFest event that I’ve been able to attend thus far, that being in 2014.  I would certainly recommend the event to anyone that enjoys getting together with a large number of vintage computer nuts for an entire week, living the college dorm life, and generally immersing themselves in the out-of-date-but-still-loads-of-fun Apple II computer.  It’s one of things that you must experience at least once, although for most people it tends to be like Lay’s Potato Chips: no one can stop at just one.

I’m amazed at the effort and quality Mike put into this podcast.  I want to thank him and the Apple II KFest community for allowing me to air this ode to KFest on Floppy Days.

Enjoy!

KansasFest Website - http://kansasfest.org

KansasFest talks on Internet Archive - https://archive.org/details/kansasfest

KansasFest HackFest - http://www.kansasfest.org/hackfest/

KansasFest Door Contest from 2015 - http://www.kansasfest.org/2016/07/door-signs-2015/

YouTube playlist of Dr. Steven Weyrich's KFest-related Parody Songs - http://bit.ly/2dkQfvc

Twitter Accounts for some of the folks involved:

@a2fan -- Sean Fahey

@the_jongleur -- Michael Mulhern

@quinndunki -- Quinn Dunki

@callapple -- Call A.P.P.L.E.

@retroconnector -- Charles Mangin

@kevinsavetz -- Kevin Savetz

@CT6502 -- Chris Torrence

@textfiles -- Jason Scott

@65816guy -- Dagen Brock

@ultramagnus_tcv -- Mike Whalen

Call-A.P.P.L.E. - http://www.callapple.org

Call-A.P.P.L.E.'s "Nibble Viewpoints - Business Insights From The Computing Revolution" by Mike Harvey

Reactive Micro - http://reactivemicro.com/wiki/Main_Page

8-Bit Weapon - http://8bitweapon.bandcamp.com/

Bits With Byte - http://8bitweapon.bandcamp.com/album/bits-with-byte

BlipTastic by ComputeHer - http://8bitweapon.bandcamp.com/album/bliptastic

Charles Mangin's RetroConnector - http://retroconnector.com/

Quinn Dunki's Blog - http://quinndunki.com/blondihacks/

Nibble Magazine - http://www.nibblemagazine.com/

Mike has provided links in the show notes for Web sites that can help you find out more about the attendees you heard in this episode and about KFest itself ; just go to floppydays.com for the full list.  If you wish to contact Mike about this episode, you can find some contact information for him in the show notes.

I very much encourage you to provide feedback for the show at iTunes or on the Web site, via email at floppydays@gmail.com, via Twitter at @floppydays or on Facebook, at http://www.facebook.com/groups/floppydays .  I also want to mention that Floppy Days is also a member of the Throwback Network, a network of retro-themed podcasts.  Check it out at http://www.throwbacknetwork.net.  For one more way to listen, Floppy Days is also available for streaming at stitcher.com.

Until the next show, pull out a vintage computer and compute as if it were yesterday.

Bye!

Floppy Days 64 - The HP85B Computer, Part 2, with Everett Kaser and Vassilis Prevelakis

      9/1/2016

The HP-85B Microcomputer, Part 2

Hello, and welcome to episode 64 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where old computers come to live.  I’m Randy Kindig and I’m happy to bring you this episode this month.  This episode is Part 2 about the HP Series 80 line of microcomputers.  Last month I interviewed 2 well-known members of the HP Series 80 community, Everett Kaser former HP engineer who worked on the Series 80 and runs kaser.com and Vassilis Prevelakis of series80.org.  This month, they are back to help me talk about the history of these fabulous machines.  It’s a fascinating conversation with two gentlemen who have a lot of love of and knowledge about these machines.

I want to thank Everett for providing the intro to this episode with his memories of the Series 80.

Before getting into the meat of the program, I do intend to talk briefly about any new vintage computer acquisitions, upcoming shows and feedback.

Ok, let’s fire up the ol’ HP-85 and see what we can learn.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Co-hosts

New Acquisitions

Shows

Feedback

Floppy Days 63 - VCF Midwest 11 Preview with Jason Timmons

      8/28/2016

Vintage Computer Festival Midwest 11, Sep 10-11, 2016, Elk Grove Village, IL

This a special interview show to help get the word out about an upcoming event: Vintage Computer Festival Midwest.  This will be the eleventh iteration of this event and I talk with Jason Timmons, one of the main organizers of the event.  He tells us all about the event, including guest speakers that will be there, exhibits, vendors and much more.  If you can make it to the Chicago area the weekend of September 10 & 11, 2016, I highly recommend that you drop in and enjoy the show.

Links

Floppy Days 62 - The HP85B Computer, with Everett Kaser and Vassilis Prevelakis

      7/27/2016

Welcome to episode 62 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where a little smoke once in a while is a hazard of the hobby.  In the vintage computer timeline, we are still in the 1979 to 1980 timeframe.  This month we are covering the HP-85 desktop computer, or actually the entire series of which the HP-85 was a part known as the HP Series 80.

I struck gold when I found the two gentlemen who are co-hosting this episode with me.  First is Everett Kaser, who worked for HP for 20 years and was intimately involved in the development and support of the HP-85.  Secondly, we have Vassilis Prevelakis, who runs one of the best resources about the HP Series 80 in existence today, hpseries80.org.  Once we started talking, and I interviewed the two gentlemen, I realized we were going to need a multi-part show to cover the large amount of information and history around this significant platform.  So, the first show will be the interview with Everett and Vassilis and next month we will get into history, tech specs, emulation, Web sites, and all of the other information I like to cover.

Before we get into that, however, I will cover new acquistions, a little news, and some feedback I’ve received.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To

News

Feedback

Interview

Floppy Days 61 - VCF West with Earl Evans and Evan Koblentz

      7/26/2016

VCF West Official Site - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west-xi/

Floppy Days 60 - The HP41C Calculator, Part II, with Richard Nelson and Gene Wright

      6/11/2016

Welcome to episode 60 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where vintage in the term vintage computers simply means “cool”.  My name is Randy Kindig.  I am happy to bring you this month the follow-up or second of two episodes on the HP41C programmable calculator.  Once again, I have two stellar members of the HP41 community, Richard J. Nelson and Gene Wright, with me to bring you all the information you care to know about the HP41.  That includes a wrap-up to the history of the machine, tech specs, books, software, newsletters, modern upgrades, emulation, current Web sites, and so much more.  Before that, I do want to discuss a few new acquisitions that have come my way, as well as some feedback I’ve received from listeners.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Books

Modern Upgrades

Emulation

Web Sites

Museum Document Sets - http://www.hpmuseum.org/cd/cddesc.htm

Floppy Days 59 - The HP41C Calculator, Part I, History with Richard Nelson and Gene Wright

      5/14/2016

Hello, all, and welcome to the next installment of the podcast that says “vintage electronics: I WANT IT”.  I’m Randy Kindig and I’m your host.  This episode is the first of a 2-parter on the Hewlett Packard HP-41 line of programmable calculators.  The HP-41 is a seminal example of programmable calculators from the late 70’s and into the 80’s and is still very desirable and sought after today.  I was lucky enough to find 2 gentlemen to co-host who are well-known among the active HP calculator community that exists today: Richard J. Nelson, who has written, edited, and published as much HP-41 material as anyone ever.  And Gene Wright who is on the HP Handheld Conference Committee and he was a TI fan before becoming “hooked” on the HP-41.  In this first part on the HP-41, I interview the co-hosts and then we cover the history of the calculator line in detail.  Next month, with the same co-hosts, we will cover Web sites, emulation, software, and much more.

To start out, as usual, I will cover my new vintage computer acquisitions, a little news, and some feedback.

I hope you enjoy this and please let me know what you think.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Upcoming Shows

Feedback

Interview and History

References

 

Floppy Days 58 - Ralph Rees, Editor, VAST TI-99 Newsletter Interview

      4/24/2016

Ralph Rees, Editor, VAST TI-99 Newsletter

Hi, everyone and welcome to episode 58 of the Floppy Days Podcast.  I’m Randy Kindig.  To sort of finish off the TI-99 series of episodes I’ve been running, I have an interview-only show for you this month.  This interview is with Ralph Rees, president and newsletter editor of the VAlley of the Sun TI-99ers (VAST) back in the 1990’s.  He produced his high quality newsletter directly on a TI-99 system and received quite a few compliments about it while it was still being published.  Ralph still has an extensive TI-99 collection today.

This interview was conducted on June 7, 2015.

Links:

The Western Horizon Technologies FTP server - ftp://ftp.whtech.com

 

Floppy Days 57 - VCFSE4 Podcasters Roundtable

      4/12/2016

Welcome to this special episode of Floppy Days, live from Vintage Computer Festival Southeast 4.0!  A group of podcasters at the show got together and did this fun little podcast.  Learn more about the show and about your favorite podcasters.

 

Floppy Days 56 - TI99 Emulation, Web Sites with Chris Schneider and Rich Polivka

      3/29/2016

Welcome to episode 56 of the Floppy Days Podcast where old computers come to life again.  I’m Randy Kindig.  I want to thank Ian Baronofsky and Rick Reynolds for providing their thoughts and memories of the TI-99 computer.  This is the fifth and final installment in a series of episodes on the TI-99/4A home computer.  This episode will cover TI-99 ads, user groups and shows, emulation, buying one today, community, and Web sites.  My very special co-hosts for this episode are again two well-known figures in the TI-99 community: Chris Schneider, who produces the SHIFT838 newsletter and Rich Polivka, who manages the popular 99er.net Web site.  They provide a ton of information about the amazing TI-994/A home computer.  I hope you enjoy this.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Feedback

Ads

User Groups and Shows

Emulation

Community

Web Sites

Floppy Days 55 - VCFSE 4 Preview with Earl Baugh

      3/14/2016

Hello, welcome to Floppy Days Podcast #55.  This a special interview show to help get the word out about an upcoming event: Vintage Computer Festival Southeast version 4.  My special guest is Earl Baugh of the Atlanta Historical Computing Society.  He tells us all about the event, including special guest speakers that will be there, exhibits, gaming areas, a workshop where you can learn to solder and much more.  If you can make it to Roswell, Georgia, the weekend of April 2 & 3, 2016, I highly recommend that you drop in and enjoy the show.

Links

VCF East 4.0 - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-southeast-4-0/

Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/302393381/help-fund-the-vintage-computer-festival-southeast-1 

Floppy Days 54 - TRS-80 Trash Talk Podcast Promo

      3/3/2016

Hello and welcome to a special episode (#54) of the Floppy Days Podcast.  For this episode, I am announcing involvement in a new podcast that I’m very excited about.  Peter Cetinski, a well-known figure in the TRS-80 community as a result of some great software that he’s written for the platform, contacted me and others about doing a podcast about the TRS-80 line.  This is a major line of historically significant computers and has sorely needed its own podcast.  I wanted to help kick off the new podcast and promote it, so I invited all the members of the podcast to come onto Floppy Days and talk about it.  Please enjoy.

Links

Floppy Days 53 - Interview with Don French, Co-designer of the TRS-80 Model I

      2/21/2016

This is a special interview-only episode.  I’m very happy to announce that my special guest for this show is Don French, co-designer of the TRS-80 Model I computer and long-time Tandy employee.  Don has a long and storied history with Tandy.  The TRS-80 Model I, the machine that saved Tandy and spawned a long line of historically significant computers, was his brainchild.  He worked closely with Steve Leininger to develop the Model I.  In addition, you’ll hear that he worked with Bill Gates, Paul Allen and many other giants of the microcomputer industry.  I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed talking with Don.

Links

Floppy Days 52 - TI99 Software,Books,Magazines with Chris Schneider and Rich Polivka

      2/21/2016

Welcome to episode 52 of the Floppy Days Podcast where we talk about our beloved old computers like some guys talk about their old cars.  I’m Randy Kindig.  I want to thank Michael Glaser for providing his thoughts and memories of the TI-99 computer.  No, this hasn’t suddenly turned into a TI-99 podcast.  However, this IS the fourth in a series of what now will be 5 episodes on the TI-99/4A home computer.  There just turned out to be so much material on this very interesting machine and so much interest in the community, that this turned out to be quite an extended series.  Having already covered history and technical topics on previous episodes, I had originally intended this episode to cover everything from software and magazines to Web sites, but by the time my co-hosts and I had gotten through the material it turned out to be over 2 hours of audio and I decided to break it into 2 parts.  This episode will cover TI-99 software, books, magazines, ads and user groups while the next one will cover emulation and Web sites.  My very special co-hosts for this episode are two more luminaries in the TI-99 community: Chris Schneider, who produces the SHIFT838 newsletter and Rich Polivka, who manages the popular 99er.net Web site.  They provide a very interesting perspective on the TI-99 and I think you will enjoy this show.

One final thought.  It was 3 years ago this month, on Sunday, Feb. 17, that I posted the very first episode of Floppy Days.  It’s incredible to think that here we are 51 episodes later, still going strong.  I was new to the podcasting game at that time, unsure how well the show would be received or if anyone would care, but determined to do this because it seemed like a tremendous amount of fun to learn about all the old computers from the 70’s and 80’s.  I’ve been blown away by the interest and support from the community and have made an awful lot of friends along the way.  I honestly and deeply want to thank everyone who helped me produce this show, provided an interview, or simply provided words of encouragement.  Who would have thought that there would be 1,000 or so geeks like me out there who would care enough about old computers to listen to me ramble on month after month.  All I can say, is thank you so much, and please keep listening because I have a lot of ideas for interesting shows for some time to come.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Feedback

Interview With Co-Hosts

Magazine/Newsletters

Books

Software

Floppy Days 51 - TI99 Tech Specs, Modern Upgrades with Tursi

      1/25/2016

The TI-99/4A - Tech Specs, Peripherals, Modern Upgrades with Tursi

This show is a continuation of the on-going series about the TI-99/4A computer.  In the last couple of episodes, I had TI-99 fans Jim Fetzner and Mark Wills on the show and interviewed them about their experiences with the TI-99 and then we covered the history of the machine.  In this show, I have a new co-host, Mike Brent, better known as Tursi or Harmless Lion, the creator of the Classic 99 emulator and so much more.  After a short interview with Tursi, we discuss the technical aspects of the TI-99, including the tech specs, peripherals, modern upgrades, and connectivity to modern computers.  It’s an information-filled show, so I hope you enjoy it.

Before we get into that, I’ll discuss a few new vintage computer-related acquisitions that have come my way, give you the scoop on upcoming shows, and share with you a few pieces of feedback I’ve received about the show from listeners.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Intro

New Acquisitions

News

Upcoming Shows

Feedback

Interview with Co-host

Modern Upgrades/Connectivity

Reference

Floppy Days 50 - TI-99 History

      12/20/2015

The TI-99/4A - History, with Jim Fetzner and Mark Wills

This is the second in a multi-part series on the TI-99/4A computer.  For this history segment, I was lucky enough to find a couple of people who have an incredible history with the TI-99, Jim Fetzner and Mark Wills.  Jim has an extensive, multilingual library of all things TI and possesses some very interesting hardware items related to the TI-99.  Mark is the author of TurboForth for the TI-99/4A and has been involved in the TI-99/4A scene pretty much since 1983.  He’s also English, living in the UK, so he has a rather British take on the home computer wars.  I will cover TI-99 history with the help of these two gentlemen.  I think you will find this very interesting!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Intro

New Acquisitions

News

Feedback

History

 

Floppy Days 49 - TI99, Interview with Jim Fetzner and Mark Wills

      11/16/2015

The TI-99/4A - History, Interview with Jim Fetzner and Mark Wills

In the home computer timeline, I’m currently covering computers released in the era from 1979 to 1980.  Next up is the TI-99/4A.  When I went to research the TI-99 I found an incredible amount of information about the machine and an involved, vibrant community surrounding it.  As a result, I pulled in as many experts as I could find to be involved in providing information about this very interesting machine.  I got so much involvement, and found so much information, that I will be covering the TI-99 for the next several shows.  That will include the typical topics, such as history, tech specs, modern upgrades, emulation, Web sites and much more, as well as interviews with some TI luminaries.  As I typically like to cover the history of the machine first, that will be the topic of the first couple of shows.  For the history segment, I was lucky enough to find a couple of people who have an incredible history with the TI-99, Jim Fetzner and Mark Wills.  Jim has an extensive, multilingual library of all things TI and possesses some very interesting hardware items related to the TI-99, as you will hear.  Mark is the author of TurboForth for the TI-99/4A and has been involved in the TI-99/4A scene pretty much since 1983.  He’s also English, living in the UK, so he has a rather British take on the home computer wars.  Since the interview piece I typically do with the co-hosts before covering the main topic took so long and turned out to be so interesting in it’s own right, I decided to break out the interview into its own show and the next show will then cover just the TI-99 history with the help of these two gentlemen.

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Mark’s Forth for the TI-99/4A - http://turboforth.net

Tursi’s (Mike Brent) Website - http://harmlesslion.com

Classic99 TI-99 Emulator - http://www.harmlesslion.com/cgi-bin/showprog.cgi?search=classic99

F18A video upgrade - http://codehackcreate.com

SID Master 99 Card - Marc Hull - http://www.dsapsc.com/what-is-sid.html

ForTI - Forth-driven sound card - http://www.unige.ch/medecine/nouspikel/ti99/forti.htm

ninerpedia - http://ninerpedia.org/index.php/Main_Page

FTP Site at whtech.com - ftp://whtech.com/

Chicago TI International World Faire - http://www.chicagotiug.com/tiki-index.php?page=Faire

Floppy Days 48 - Kevin Savetz Interviews Wayne Green

      10/24/2015

Welcome to a special interview-only episode of the Floppy Days Podcast.  For this show, we have an interview conducted by Kevin Savetz, interviewer-extraordinaire from the Antic Podcast.  Kevin conducted this interview 2 years ago.  Since the interviewee and topic are not Atari-related, but are very much vintage computer related, Kevin and I thought perhaps Floppy Days would be a good medium for publishing this interview.

Wayne Green, Computer Magazine Publisher

Wayne Green was founder of 73 magazine; Byte magazine; Kilobyte, which became Kilobaud, then Kilobaud Microcomputing; 80 Micro magazine for the TRS-80; Hot Coco for the TRS-80 Color Computer; Run for the Commodore 64, inCider magazine for the Apple II; and several other computer magazines.  

This interview took place over Skype on January 29, 2013, when I was doing research for a book about the very first personal computer magazines — Byte, Kilobyte, and Creative Computing. Although I've decided not to write the book, I am publishing the interviews that I did for them.

Wayne Green died on September 13, 2013, eight months after we did this interview.

Teaser quotes:

"Sharing is the big deal for me. When I find something fun, interesting, I have to share it."

"Steve Jobs ... I heard about the Apple computer so my wife and I stopped by to visit him. ... He took me out to the garage and showed it to me. He says, 'What do you think?' I said 'I think you've got a winner. There's a first computer conference is going to be in Atlantic City in two weeks. Be there.' He says 'Oh, I can't afford to fly.' I said, 'Take a bus. Be there.'"

"Amelia Earhart kept her plane at my dad's airport. ... I used to play in that when I was a kid. ... I'm one of the few people who knows exactly what happened to her."

Links:

Obituary:  http://www.arrl.org/news/ham-radio-publications-pioneer-visionary-iconoclast-wayne-green-w2nsd-sk

An article remembering Wayne: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2474900/windows-pcs/goodbye-wayne-green--and-thanks-for-the-memories.html

Wayne Green FBI file:  https://archive.org/details/Wanye_Green_FBI_FOIA_Request_Response

Kilobaud Microcomputing issues: https://archive.org/details/kilobaudmagazine

Floppy Days 47 - Tandy CoCo, Part 3

      10/19/2015

This episode is part 3 of a 3-part series on the Tandy Color Computer, also known as the CoCo.  I have special guest hosts to help me again this month: John Linville and Neil Blanchard of the “CoCo Crew Podcast”.  Join us as we discuss Coco magazines, books, software, modern upgrades, emulation, Web sites and much more. 

I also go over my new acquisitions, tell you about upcoming vintage computer shows and cover some podcast feedback.

Finally, we also have audio segments from no less than 4 different CoCo fans who share with us their memories and thoughts about the Tandy Color Computer.  Thank you to Michael Moore, Rick Adams, Jon Day, and Tony Cappellini for your contributions.

Note that Floppy Days now has a Facebook page where you can discuss the show or vintage computers in general.  Search for “Floppy Days” on Facebook.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Intro

New Acquisitions/What I’ve been Up To

Upcoming Shows

Feedback

Magazines/Newsletters

Books

Software

Ads

User Groups and Shows

Modern Upgrades

Connectivity to Modern Computers

Emulation

Community

Current Web Sites

Floppy Days 46 - Tandy CoCo, Part 2

      9/20/2015

This episode is part 2 of a 3-part series on the Tandy Color Computer, also known as the CoCo.  I have special guest hosts to help me this month: John Linville and Neil Blanchard of the “CoCo Crew Podcast”.  Join us as we discuss Coco tech specs, peripherals and pulling it out of the box.

 

I also go over my new acquisitions, a short overview of VCF Midwest 10 that occurred on August 29 & 30, tell you about upcoming vintage computer shows and cover some podcast feedback.

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

 

Intro

New Acquisitions

News - Upcoming Shows

Interview

Floppy Days 45 - Evan Koblentz, Book-Abacus to Smartphone

      9/7/2015

Hello, welcome to a bonus interview-only edition of the Floppy Days Podcast, the podcast about the obsolete computers of the late 70’s through the 80’s, but which we love anyway.  I’m Randy Kindig, the person who brings you this nostalgia on a monthly basis.  I’ve had many vintage computer authors on Floppy Days in the past and I like to discuss new books when they come out, one: because books on vintage computing are rare and two: I like to help and encourage new books on my favorite hobby.  My special guest today is Evan Koblentz. Evan’s here to discuss his new book, “From the abacus to smartphone: The evolution of mobile and portable computers.”  Evan will tell you all about why you should run, not walk, and go get this interesting book.  Enjoy!

 

Links

Evan’s Web Site - http://www.snarc.net/

Book Web Site - http://abacustosmartphone.com

Floppy Days 44 - Tandy CoCo, Part 1, History with Boisy Pitre

      8/23/2015

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Floppy Days, the show about home computers of the late 70’s through the 80’s.  The next machine up to cover on the timeline is the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer, affectionately known as the CoCo.  Since there’s SOO much information to cover about this interesting machine, it will be a multi-parter, with the first episode covering the history of the CoCo.  I was lucky enough to get one of the authors of THE CoCo history book, my good friend Boisy Pitre, to come on the show and co-host this with me.  We’re going to cover the history of the CoCo from before its inception, through its introduction, until its eventual cancellation.  Boisy provides a fantastic perspective on the life and career of this machine and I think you’ll enjoy it.

 

Before delving into the main part of the show, I’ll cover a little bit of news, new acquisitions and feedback.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

 

New Acquisitions

News

Feedback

 

Interview with Co-host Boisy Pitre

Floppy Days 43 - VCFMW 10 Preview with Jason Timmons

      8/22/2015

Hello, welcome to the Floppy Days Podcast.  My name is Randy Kindig and this a special interview show to help get the word out about an upcoming event: Vintage Computer Festival Midwest.  This will be the tenth iteration of this event and I talk with Jason Timmons, one of the main organizers of the event.  He tells us all about the event, including guest speakers that will be there, exhibits, vendors and much more.  If you can make it to Chicago, IL the weekend of August 29 & 30, 2015, I highly recommend that you drop in and enjoy the show.

 

Links

 

VCF Midwest home page - http://vcfmw.org

VCF Midwest Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/events/820722747964784

VCF Midwest Twitter - https://twitter.com/vcfmidwest

ECCC home page - http://starbase.globalpc.net/eccc/

Jim Brain, Retro Innovations - http://store.go4retro.com/

GoFundMe page for show donations - http://www.gofundme.com/vcfmw10

 

Floppy Days 42 - TRS-80 Model III & 4, Michael Nadeau

      7/28/2015

The TRS-80 Model III and 4

 

On the personal computer timeline, we’re currently in the 1979 to 1980 time frame.  I do apologize that this month’s topic, the TRS-80 Model III and 4, is being presented slightly out of order in that there were a couple of machines introduced a little prior to this that I plan to cover.  However, as I already had this one recorded I decided to present it now rather than hold up publishing an episode just to maintain a precise order.

 

As usual, I have a short preamble before we get into this month’s topic, covering new acquisitions, upcoming shows, and a little bit of feedback.

 

I was lucky enough to get author and vintage computer collector Michael Nadeau to agree to co-host this episode with me, so this should be a fun and interesting episode.

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

 

News

Interview with Co-Host - Michael Nadeau

 

Magazines/Newsletters

 

Books

 

Modern Upgrades

 

Emulation

 

Current Web Sites

 

Floppy Days 41 - Jason Scott, Every Computer in your Browser

      6/29/2015

Jason Scott Presentation at VCF Southeast 3.0 in Roswell, GA, May 2, 2015.

 

This is the Floppy Days Podcast on vintage computing and my name is Randy Kindig.  This is a special episode featuring Jason Scott of archive.org fame.  Many of you will be familiar with Jason Scott and the work he does in helping to preserve media and content, including content associated with our beloved vintage computers.  You may or may not be as familiar with the work also being done to emulate vintage computers and vintage gaming platforms in a browser.

 

On May 2, 2015 Jason Scott gave a presentation to the crowd at VCF Southeast entitled “Every Computer in Your Browser-The Internet Archive Emulated Software Collection.”  Jason and the VCFSE organizers  were kind enough to agree to allow me to rebroadcast this presentation on Floppy Days to help get the word out about all the great work being done to preserve our machines.  Jason also had presentation material to go along with the talk that I am posting on the Floppy Days site for your enjoyment.

 

Jason Scott is a Free-Range Archivist at the Internet Archive (archive.org), home of the Wayback Machine and 20 petabytes of saved media and content, provided for free for all. As the software curator, he is responsible for JSMESS project and integration into the Internet Archive's seemingly-endless pile of software, making it playable. He lives in Hopewell Junction, NY, mere hundreds of feet from where the CPUs of Nintendo 64s were manufactured. Jason is also a filmmaker. He is the creator of a 2005 documentary film about BBSes, BBS: The Documentary, and a 2010 documentary film about interactive fiction, GET LAMP.

 

Links

 

Presentation material - http://imgur.com/gallery/cNX4E

Floppy Days 40 - The Atari 400/800, Part III

      5/24/2015

Welcome to part 3 of the now 3 part episode covering the Atari 400 & 800 computers.  This episode will cover Web sites, emulation, books, software, modern upgrades, connectivity to modern computers, and much more.  I’m very happy to have pretty much the entire Atari 8-bit podcasting group as special guest hosts helping me cover these topics.  This includes Wade from Inverse Atascii (http://inverseatascii.info/ ) , Rob of Player/Missile (http://playermissile.com/ ), Jack of RCR (http://rcrpodcast.com/ ), Kevin from Antic (http://ataripodcast.com/ ), and Brad from Antic (http://ataripodcast.com/ ).  Enjoy!!

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

 

New Acquisitions

 

News

 

Feedback

 

Books

 

User Groups and Shows

 

Modern Upgrades

 

Connectivity to Modern Computers

 

Emulation

 

Web Sites

 

Floppy Days 39 - Inverse Antic Personal Computing Floppy Maccast

      5/11/2015

In this special joint podcast, live from VCF Southeast 3.0, we discuss our favorite parts of the show, play a game of “Never Have I Ever”, and more!

 

Podcast Title: “Inverse Antic Personal Computing Floppy Maccast”

 

Hosts:

Antic - Randy Kindig, Kevin Savetz, Brad Arnold

Floppy Days - Randy Kindig

Inverse Atascii - Wade Ripkowski

History of Personal Computing - David Greelish

RetroMacCast - James Savage

 

Floppy Days 38 - Anniversary Computers, with History of Personal Computing

      5/10/2015

Hi Everyone, and welcome to this special edition of The History of Floppy Days… uh, I mean, One o’clock, Two o’clock, Three o’clock Personal Computing! No, that’s not right… No… wait, it’s the combo podcast of Floppy Days AND The History of Personal Computing podcast! We’re live, here at the Vintage Computer Festival Southeast and I’m your host, David Greelish! Please join me in welcoming my co-hosts, Jeff Salzman and Randy Kindig!

 

We have three significant machines to discuss on this special podcast, as we’re celebrating three significant milestones in the history of personal computing this year. First, it’s the fiftieth anniversary of the DEC pdp-8, then it’s the fortieth anniversary of the Altair 8800, and lastly, it’s the thirtieth anniversary of the Commodore Amiga.

 

Links:

 

PDP-8

 

Altair 8800

 

Podcast Links

 

 

Floppy Days 37 - John Linville, author Fahrfall

      5/10/2015

Welcome to the Floppy Days Podcast.  My name is Randy Kindig and I’m your host.  This is an interview-only episode of Floppy Days.  I was recently at Vintage Computer Festival Southeast 3.0 in Roswell, GA, and I had a chance to sit down with John Linville.  John is a legend in the Tandy Color Computer circles and has produced a cartridge for the CoCo containing a fun game called Fahrfall.  This is an exciting development for the CoCo community and John tells us all about it.

 

Links

 

Internet Archive link, where you can play Fahrfall - https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_coco_fahrfall

 

Fahrfall blog - http://fahrfall.blogspot.com/

 

John’s Other Blogs - http://vdgtricks.blogspot.com/, http://retrotinker.blogspot.com/

 

Most up-to-date Fahrfall gameplay video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc3iKXOxUH8

The Atari 400/800, Part II

      4/30/2015

Welcome to part 2 of the now 3 part episode covering the Atari 400 & 800 computers.  This episode will cover Web sites, emulation, books, software, magazines, tech specs, and much more.  I’m very happy to have pretty much the entire Atari 8-bit podcasting group as special guest hosts helping me cover these topics.  This includes Wade from Inverse Atascii, Rob of Player/Missile, Jack of RCR, Kevin from Antic, and Brad from Antic.  We also have memories from Bill of Antic.  Enjoy!!

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

 

New Acquisitions

News

Feedback

Peripherals

Magazines

Floppy Days 35 - VCFSE 3.0 Preview with Earl Baugh

      4/21/2015

Hello, welcome to the Floppy Days Podcast.  My name is Randy Kindig and this a special interview show to help get the word out about an upcoming event: Vintage Computer Festival Southeast.  This will be the third iteration of this event and I talk with Earl Baugh, of the Atlanta Historical Computing Society.  He tells us all about the event, including special guest speakers that will be there, exhibits, gaming areas, a workshop where you can learn to solder and much more.  If you can make it to Roswell, Georgia, the weekend of May 2 & 3, 2015, I highly recommend that you drop in and enjoy the show.

 

Links

 

VCF East 3.0 - http://www.vintage.org/2015/southeast/

 

Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/20859909/help-fund-the-vintage-computer-festival-southeast-0

Bob Swoger, CoCoFest 2015

      4/4/2015

Hello, welcome to Floppy Days Episode #34.  This is a special bonus episode and the topic of this show is the upcoming (as of this podcast) 2015 24th Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFest on April 25 & 26 at the Heron Point Convention Center in Lombard, IL.  I interview Bob Swoger, secretary of the Glenside Computer Club, which sponsors the show.  He talks all about the show and he gives the scoop about what you can expect to see there.  Although the intent of this episode was to primarily cover the CoCoFest, it turns out that Bob has a very interesting and storied history with vintage computers.

 

One final note: The "Man from Canada" mentioned by Bob several times is Markus Blumrich of Grandora, SK, Canada.

 

I hope you enjoy it.

 

Links:

Glenside Computer Club - http://ncmedals.com/glenside/index.htm

Cloud9, Cool Stuff for Your CoCo - http://www.cloud9tech.com/

CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts - http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco

LogiCall - http://ncmedals.com/glenside/LogiCall.html

Vintage Computer Festival Midwest 6.0 2011 LogiCall (video) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-R4UfU9_Cw

Casey’s Restaurant & Bar - http://www.caseysrestaurant.com/home.aspx

 

The Atari 400/800, Part I

      3/25/2015

I’m particularly excited to be bringing you this 2-part episode because I will be covering the Atari 400 & 800 computers.  This first episode will cover the history of these machines and next month I will cover Web sites, emulation, books, software, magazines, tech specs, and much more.  Even more exciting, for both episodes I have several special guest hosts helping me cover these topics.  I think you’re going to enjoy these.

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

 

New Acquisitions

News

Upcoming Shows

References

VCF East 10.0, Evan Koblentz

      3/6/2015

Evan Koblentz comes on and talks all about the upcoming Vintage Computer Festival East 10.0.

 

Special co-hosts Earl Evans (Retrobits & RCR) and Michael Mulhern (RCR).

 

Links and stuff:

 

Evan’s book project:

 

Eric Enge, Phoenix Tech.

      2/28/2015

I wanted to bring to you this month a special interview-only episode which is a bit different.  My guest on this show is Mr. Eric Enge, who was an executive at Phoenix Technologies, most well-known as the company that clean-roomed an IBM PC compatible ROM BIOS and helped spark an era of IBM PC clones.  This is a piece of computer history that may not be particularly well-known, but was an important milestone nonetheless.  Enjoy.

 

Links:

Phoenix Technologies - http://www.phoenix.com/

Phoenix Technologies at wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Technologies

Stone Temple Consulting (Eric’s site) - https://www.stonetemple.com/about-eric-enge/

Eric at LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericenge

 

Paul Ceruzzi, Smithsonian

      1/29/2015

Hi, everyone and welcome to a special interview-only episode of Floppy Days.  My name is Randy Kindig and I’m the host of this podcast.  This interview is with Paul Ceruzzi, curator of Aerospace Electronics and Computing at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C and author of several computer history books.  Those books include “A History of Modern Computing”, “Computing: A Concise History”, “Landmarks in Digital Computing: A Smithsonian Pictorial History” and more.  Paul also sits on the Honorary Council of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

 

Links

Freiberger & Swaine, Fire in the Valley

      1/18/2015

Hello and welcome to episode 29 of Floppy Days.  My name is Randy Kindig and I’m the host of this podcast.  This is a special interview-only episode of Floppy Days.  I’m very excited to have with me today the authors of the various editions of the computer history book entitled “Fire in the Valley”; that being Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine.  I think a majority of the listeners will be familiar with the book.  I have mentioned it several times before on this podcast and have used it as a reference for the vintage computers I’ve covered.  Many listeners will also be familiar with the movie “The Pirates of Silicon Valley” starring Anthony Michael Hall as a young Bill Gates and Noah Wyle as a young Steve Jobs which was made based on the book.  I was amazed when I recently contacted the authors about coming onto Floppy Days and both of them immediately responded that they would be happy to.  Pay special attention to our conversation at the end of the interview, which may hint at something special to come on Floppy Days.  Before we begin, I do want to warn you that the Skype quality for this interview was not the best at times.  Nevertheless, I think you will enjoy it!!

 

Links:

 

“Fire in the Valley” 2nd Edition at Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071358927/?tag=flodaypod-20

“Fire in the Valley” 3rd Edition at Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/1937785769/?tag=flodaypod-20

 

“Fire in the Valley: The Birth and Death of the Personal Computer, Third Edition” by Michael Swaine and Paul Freiberger at the Pragmatic Bookshelf  - https://pragprog.com/book/fsfire/fire-in-the-valley

 

“The Pirates of Silicon Valley” at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168122/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_38

“The Pirates of Silicon Valley” at Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009NSCS0/?tag=flodaypod-20

Paul Freiberger’s Site - “Fire in the Valley: the Making of the Personal Computer” - http://www.paulfreiberger.com/book/fire-valley-making-personal-computer/

Swaine’s World - Michael Swaine’s Blog on Writing and Technology - http://www.swaine.com/wordpress/category/about/

Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/FireInTheValley

Paul Freiberger Contact Information:

paul.freiberger@gmail.com

 

Michael Swaine Contact Information:

Blog: www.swaine.com

Email: mike@swaine.com

Twitter: @pragpub or @mswaine

TRS-80 Model II

      12/25/2014

Main Topic: The TRS-80 Model II

 

At this point in the podcast run, we are still in the late 1970’s time frame, and the TRS-80 Model II falls into that time frame for its release.  As usual, we’ll cover the history, technical specs, peripherals, Web sites, books, emulation and much, much more.  I am joined by special guest host Myles Wakeham who will help me cover this machine.  But first, I’ll cover new acquisitions, news, feedback, and an interview with Myles before diving into the TRS-80 Model II.


Links Mentioned in the Show:


New Acquisitions


News


Feedback


Magazines/Newsletters/Books/Manuals


Ads


Modern Upgrades


Emulation


Videos


Current Web Sites


References

Ohio Scientific Challenger

      11/26/2014

Main Topic: The OSI Challenger series of computers

 

At this point in the podcast run, we are still in the late 1970’s time frame, and the OSI machines fall into that time frame for their release.  No vintage computer historical journey would be complete without including these very important machines.  As usual, we’ll cover the history, technical specs, peripherals, Web sites, books, emulation and much, much more.  I am joined by special guest host Terry Stewart of the Classic Computers website who will help me cover these machines.  In addition, we are joined by OSI aficionados Mark Csele and David Fenyes who share their first-hand memories of the OSI.  But first, I’ll cover new acquisitions, news, and feedback before diving into the OSI.

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

 

New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been up to

 

News

 

Ads

 

Software

 

Books

 

Manuals/Catalogs

 

Emulation

 

Buying and Using One Today (eBay and replicas)

 

Current Web Sites 

computing
vintage

Terry Stewart interview, Classic Computers Website

      11/23/2014

This is a special interview-only show with none other than Terry Stewart, aka Tezza, of the classic-computers.org.nz Web site.  Terry is long-time member of the vintage computing community and has done the community a great service by producing excellent videos about each member of his extensive vintage computer collection.  If you haven’t had a chance to see any of Terry’s videos, you definitely should check them out; they’re on YouTube and you can subscribe to his channel.  You should also check out his Web site, which has tons of useful information about each machine as well as troubleshooting tips, a forum, and much more.

 

Terry was kind enough to co-host the Floppy Days episode on the OSI Challenger series of computers and since the episode ran a little long I decided to pull out the interview into its own show.

 

Please enjoy and let Terry know that you appreciate the great work that he does.

 

Terry’s Classic Computers - http://classic-computers.org.nz

New Zealand Computer Museum - http://www.techvana.org.nz/

New Zealand winds - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/63231922/140kmh-winds-leave-path-of-damage

A bit on the roaring 40s - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Forties

 

Pepe Tozzo interview, author of Retro-Electro

      10/11/2014

Special interview-only episode with Pepe Tozzo, author of Retro-Electro: Collecting Technology from Atari to Walkman.

Book "Retro-Electro: Collecting Technology from Atari to Walkman" at Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0789313022/?tag=flodaypod-20

The CompuColor II

      10/4/2014

News, upcoming vintage computer shows, feedback.  Special co-host Jim Battle of compucolor.org and audio clips from Graham and Garry Epps!

 

Main topic: The CompuColor II

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

 

What I’ve Been Up To/New Acquisitions

 

News

 

Emulation

 

Current Web Sites/Links/Mail Lists

 

References

 

Closing

 

Jim Battle Links

KansasFest Diary

      9/5/2014

KansasFest 2014 through the eyes of a first-timer!

computing
vintage
retrocomputing

The APF Imagination Machine

      8/20/2014

News, upcoming vintage computer shows, feedback.

 

Main topic: The APF Imagination Machine

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

 

News

 

Feedback

 

Emulation

 

Current Web Sites/Links/Mail Lists

 

References

 

Closing

computing
vintage
retrocomputing

Live from KansasFest!

      7/30/2014

In this special joint podcast, live from KansasFest 2014, we discuss our favorite parts of KFest, play a game of 2 Truths and 1 Lie, and more!

 

Podcast Title: “Retro Open ANTICHertz Mac Quarter Poly Floppy Drop”

 

Hosts:

Antic - Randy Kindig, Kevin Savetz

Drop III Inches - Mike Maginnis, Paul Hagstrom

Floppy Days - Randy Kindig

IndieSider - Ken Gagne

No Quarter - Carrington Vanston, Mike Maginnis

1 MHz - Carrington Vanston

Open Apple - Mike Maginnis, Quinn Dunki

Polygamer - Ken Gagne

Retro Computing Roundtable - Carrington Vanston, Paul Hagstrom, Steve Weyhrich

RetroMacCast - John Leake

 

Intro Song -  “Lazy Hazy Crazy KFest” lyrics created and sung by Steve Weyhrich

Peter Bartlett TRS-80 Model I MISE

      7/21/2014

Bonus episode. Interview with Peter Bartlett, TRS-80 Model I enthusiast and creator of the Model I System Expander (MISE).

 

MISE is a fantastic device that gives the TRS-80 hi-res graphics, VGA, compact flash storage, joystick port, networking and more.

 

Links mentioned in the episode:

Interview with Apple II Fan Ken Gagne

      7/20/2014

Bonus episode this month. Interview with Apple II Enthusiast Ken Gagne about KFest, Open Apple Podcast, Juiced.GS and more.

 

 

computing
vintage
apple
gagne
retrocomputing

The VideoBrain Family Computer

      6/18/2014

Main topic: The VideoBrain Family Computer.  Special guest host Jeff Salzman (Vintage Volts)!

 

Links Mentioned in the Show:

 

News