
Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast
166 episodes — Page 1 of 4
Floppy Days 162 - Interview with Steve Wozniak, Apple Legend

Floppy Days 161 - Byte Shop Interviews
Floppy Days Episode 161 - Byte Shop Interviews Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench Intro 30-minute video of sound bites for Byte Shop 50th Anniversary Event - https://youtu.be/ANR1fYicwxI New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To Indy Vintage Computer Club - https://www.indyvcc.org Midwest Computer Museum - https://www.midwestcomputermuseum.com Power of Vintage - https://www.youtube.com/@powerofvintage9442 Tech Dungeon - https://www.techdungeon.xyz 8bitdevices - https://www.8bitdevices.com/ lightboxes: https://www.etsy.com/listing/4306784729/lightbox-for-retro-computer-video-games https://www.ebay.com/str/techdungeon https://www.ebay.com/itm/335958112556 Upcoming Shows (thru June, 2026) VCF East - April 17-19 2026 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ Midwest Gaming Classic - April 24-26 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ The Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - April 24-25, 2026 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2026 - April 25-26 - Burbank, CA - http://www.portcommodore.com/class VCF Europe - May 1-3 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ Vintage Computer Festival Pacific Northwest 2026 - May 2-3 - Tukwila Community Center, South Tukwila, WA - https://vcfpnw.org VCF Southwest - May 29-31, 2026 - Westin Dallas Ft. Worth Airport - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Retrofest 2026 - May 30-31 - Steam Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon, UK - https://retrofest.uk/ INIT HELLO (Apple II) - June 19-21 - System Source Computer Museum, Hunt Valley, MD - https://init-hello.org/ Vintage Computer Festival GB 2026 - June 19-21 - Leigh, Wigan, United Kingdom - https://www.facebook.com/events/25457837877216829/ Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 20 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html Pacific Commodore Expo NW 2026 - June 20-21 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - http://www.portcommodore.com/pacommex Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Feedback Stewart Cheifet tribute from S.M. Oliva - https://www.computerchronicles.blog/podcast/chronicles-revisited-podcast-018-the-publics-broadcaster/

Floppy Days 160 - The KayPro, Part 4 with Matthew Jones
Floppy Days 160 - The KayPro, Part 4, with Matt Jones Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench YouTube Channel: https://www.YouTube.com/@floppydayspodcast Hello, and welcome to episode 160 of the Floppy Days Podcast for February, 2026. I'm Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, we are at the tail end of a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. I was able to interview David Kay, son of the founder of KayPro, and president of the company for some time, in the first two episodes. Last month, Matthew Jones, an aficionado of the KayPro computers and owner of many of the models, helped me talk about KayPro history, tech specs, and more, through the topic of using the machine. This month Matt and I complete the KayPro series by starting with books and magazines and ending with current Web sites and a lot more content in between. I will have a video version of this episode posted to the Floppy Days Podcast channel on YouTube (https://www.YouTube.com/@floppydayspodcast ) that will be available for everyone soon (after the early access period for Patreon supporters has expired). So, please consider becoming a subscriber on YouTube. Doing so helps support the podcast. You will hear ads from some great vintage computer stores, themselves vintage computer fans, throughout the early part of this podcast. For all of these storefronts, when you place an order, please mention Floppy Days in the notes or comments of the order. Doing so will help support the podcast. Many thanks!! New Acquisitions Atari XF551 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_XF551 Upcoming Shows Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - March 20-22 - Wyndham Indianapolis Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ Atari Invasion 2k26 (10th Anniversary) - March 21 - Maarssen, Netherlands - https://www.atari-invasion.nl VCF East - April 17-19 2026 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ Midwest Gaming Classic - April 24-26 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ The Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - April 24-25, 2026 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2026 - April 25-26 - Burbank, CA - http://www.portcommodore.com/class VCF Europe - May 1-3 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ Vintage Computer Festival Pacific Northwest 2026 - May 2-3 - Tukwila Community Center, South Tukwila, WA - https://vcfpnw.org VCF Southwest - May 29-31, 2026 - Westin Dallas Ft. Worth Airport - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Retrofest 2026 - May 30-31 - Steam Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon, UK - https://retrofest.uk/ Popular Magazines/Newsletters Major September 1983 review in Byte - https://retrocmp.de/kaypro/1983_09_BYTE_08-09_Kaypro-II.pdf Heavily featured in Micro Cornucopia; curated Kaypro index here - https://retrocmp.de/kaypro/kay-p13_micro-c.htm First Osborne Group (FOG) - https://archive.org/details/foghornnewsletter Non-Linear Systems published Pro-Files, a Kaypro users magazine - https://archive.org/search?query=collection%3Akayproprofiles&sort=-publicdate Books Chilton's Guide to Kaypro Repair and Maintenance by Gene Williams - https://amzn.to/4nQj6XV Basic Kaypro for Kids Paperback by W. H. Darnell (Author), P. J. Barton (Author) - https://amzn.to/465ofFs KayPro books at Amazon - https://amzn.to/4goRQgy Kaypro II User's Guide (getting started, bundled software) - https://messui.polygonal-moogle.com/comp/kaypro_um.pdf Dealer Quick Reference Manual - https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_kayproKaypManual1982_1562045/page/n2/mode/1up Using the Kaypro II personal computer by Lord, Kenniston W - https://archive.org/details/usingkayproiiper0000lord The instant expert's guide to the Kaypro II by Bennett, M. D - https://archive.org/details/instantexpertsgu0000benn KayPro Documentation, including KayPro Technical Manual - https://archive.org/details/the-kaypro-II-users-guide/1484-D_KayproTechnicalManual_Dec84/ Software ROMs for KayPro - https://archive.org/details/KayproII_201809 TOSEC (The Old School Emulation Center) software collection at archive.org - https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_kayproKaypManual1982_1562045/page/n2/mode/1up Software images - https://mame.spludlow.co.uk/SoftwareLists.aspx?Exact=true&List=kaypro Ads and Appearances Starring the Computer - https://www.starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=185 Modern Upgrades Floppy emulation: Gotek/FlashFloppy widely used on Kaypros - https://www.youtube.com/

Floppy Days 159 - The KayPro, Part 3 with Matt Jones
FLOPPY DAYS 159 - The KayPro - Part 3 With Matt Jones Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench Hello, and welcome to episode 159 of the Floppy Days Podcast for January, 2026. I'm Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, we are currently in the middle of a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. I was able to interview David Kay, son of the founder of KayPro, and president of the company for some time, in the previous two episodes. This month we'll delve into history, tech specs, and more, through the topic of using the machine. Next month we'll complete the series by starting with books and magazines and ending with current Web sites and a lot more content in between. I will have a video version of this episode posted to the Floppy Days Podcast channel on YouTube. You will hear ads from some great vintage computer stores, themselves vintage computer fans, throughout the early part of this podcast. For all of these storefronts, when you place an order, please mention Floppy Days in the notes or comments of the order. Doing so will help support the podcast. Many thanks!! I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com. I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast. Regarding that, I've created some tiers for paid members and have come up with some ways to reward those who are generous enough to monetarily support the Floppy Days Podcast on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays ), such as early access to videos of interviews like the one being brought to you in audio form in this episode. Visit Patreon to see more details concerning the rewards for supporters . I just want to say that it is my intention to always make all content available to everyone at no cost, while at the same time providing some benefits for those generous enough to support the podcast. I hope you agree I've come up with a good compromise Please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!! New Acquisitions C64 Ultimate - https://www.commodore.net Smith Corona Ultrasonic 450 Typewriter and Messenger Module - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTcWEU2UPgM News Interview with Stewart Cheifet for Floppy Days back in 2017 - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-78-interview-with-stewart-chefeit-computer-chronicles Upcoming Vintage Computer Shows Vintage Computer Festival Montreal - Jan. 24-25, 2026 - Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC - https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/ Tandy Retro Show 2026 - Jan. 24-25 - virtual - tandyretroshow.com Vintage Electronics Expo - Jan. 31, 2026 - Oakland Expo Center, Waterford, MI - https://www.thevee.org/ Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 14-15, 2026 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - March 20-22 - Wyndham Indianapolis Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ VCF East - April 17-19 2026 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ Midwest Gaming Classic - April 24-26 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ The Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - April 24-25, 2026 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2026 - April 25-26 - Burbank, CA - http://www.portcommodore.com/class VCF Europe - May 1-3 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ Vintage Computer Festival Pacific Northwest 2026 - May 2-3 - Tukwila Community Center, South Tukwila, WA - https://vcfpnw.org VCF Southwest - May 29-31, 2026 - Westin Dallas Ft. Worth Airport - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Retrofest 2026 - May 30-31 - Steam Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon, UK - https://retrofest.uk/ Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub References Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaypro KayPro (CP/M) information at retrocmp.de - https://retrocmp.de/kaypro KayPro Journal - http://kayprojournal.com

Floppy Days 158 - Interview with David Kay, Kaypro - Part 2
FLOPPY DAYS 158 - Interview with David Kay, KayPro - Part 2 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench Hello, and welcome to episode 158 of the Floppy Days Podcast for December, 2025. I'm Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, this month I'm beginning a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. In researching Kaypro, I discovered that while Andrew Kay, the founder of the computer company, was no longer around, it turns out his son David, who ran the company for some time, was still around. I was able to contact David and he graciously agreed to talk with us for the podcast. Kaypro has a very interesting storyline and I hope you enjoy this. We talked so long that I decided to break the interview into 2 parts, so you'll hear part 2 this month, and part 1 was last month. Following that, we'll delve into episodes covering history, tech specs, etc. on the Kaypro. All the usual topics. It looks as though I'll have 2 episodes covering those topics. I will have a video for this posted to the Floppy Days Podcast on YouTube. One note here. This is one of the last videos where I used a videoconferencing tool that just didn't do a great job. It has a tendency to not keep up with video and you may note that the mouth doesn't stay in sync with the audio sometimes during the interview. In addition, audio-wise, you may hear some low clicks throughout the interview. I've since switched to Zoom and it seems to do a better job of audio and video quality, albeit more expensive. In the meantime, friend of the show Brian Cox offered to improve the audio quality using some high-end tools he had, and thanks to him, you benefit from his work. Hopefully, the clicks are gone and the sound from both David Kay and myself is better for the interview section. Thanks, Brian! You will hear ads from some great vintage computer stores, themselves vintage computer fans, throughout the early part of this podcast. For all of these storefronts, when you place an order, please mention Floppy Days in the notes or comments of the order. Doing so will help support the podcast. Many thanks!! I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com. I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast. Regarding that, I've created some tiers for paid members and have come up with some ways to reward those who are generous enough to monetarily support the Floppy Days Podcast on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays ), such as early access to videos of interviews like the being brought to you in audio form in this episode. Visit Patreon to see more details concerning the rewards for supporters . I just want to say that it is my intention to always make all content available to everyone at no cost, while at the same time providing some benefits for those generous enough to support the podcast. I hope you agree I've come up with a good compromise Please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!! What I've Been Up To Byte 50th Anniversary Event - https://www.facebook.com/events/853596483843378 Byte 50th Anniversary tribute mini-podcast on the Floppy Days YouTube channel - https://youtu.be/ANR1fYicwxI New Acquisitions Porta MC-10 - https://portacoco.com/ TRS-80 MODEL 4P GOTEK VERTICAL SLED - https://www.ebay.com/itm/157418076045 Upcoming Shows Vintage Computer Festival Montreal - Jan. 24-25, 2026 - Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC - https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/ Tandy Retro Show 2026 - Jan. 24-25 - virtual - tandyretroshow.com Vintage Electronics Expo - Jan. 31, 2026 - Oakland Expo Center, Waterford, MI - https://www.thevee.org/ Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 14-15, 2026 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - March 20-22 - Wyndham Indianapolis Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ VCF East - April 17-19 2026 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ Midwest Gaming Classic - April 24-26 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ The Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - April 24-25, 2026 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Interview Links "The Word Processing Book" by Peter McWilliams - https://amzn.to/3M6zJks Andrew Kay at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Kay KayPro at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaypro

Floppy Days 157 - Interview with David Kay, Kaypro - Part 1
FLOPPY DAYS 157 - Interview with David Kay, KayPro - Part 1 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench Hello, and welcome to episode 157 of the Floppy Days Podcast for November, 2025. I am Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, this month I'm beginning a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. In researching Kaypro, I discovered that while Andrew Kay, the founder of the computer company, was no longer around, it turns out his son David, who ran the company for some time, was still around. I was able to contact David and he graciously agreed to talk with us for the podcast. Kaypro has a very interesting storyline and I hope you enjoy this. We talked so long that I decided to break the interview into 2 parts, so you'll hear part 1 this month, and part 2 next month. Following that, we'll delve into episodes covering history, tech specs, etc. on the Kaypro. All the usual topics. It looks as though I'll have 2 episodes covering those topics. I will have a video for this posted to the Floppy Days Podcast on YouTube. One note here. This is one of the last videos where I used a videoconferencing tool that just didn't do a great job. It has a tendency to not keep up with video and you may note that the mouth doesn't stay in sync with the audio sometimes during the interview. In addition, audio-wise, you may hear some low clicks throughout the interview. I've since switched to Zoom and it seems to do a better job of audio and video quality, albeit more expensive. You will hear ads from some great vintage computer stores, themselves vintage computer fans, throughout the early part of this podcast. For all of these storefronts, when you place an order, please mention Floppy Days in the notes or comments of the order. Doing so will help support the podcast. Many thanks!! Please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!! What I've Been Up To Byte 50th Anniversary Event - https://www.facebook.com/events/853596483843378 New Acquisitions A2Pico - https://jcm-1.com/product/a2pico/ PicoMicroMac - https://jcm-1.com/product/picomicromac/ Upcoming Shows World of Commodore 2025 - December 6-7 - Admiral Inn, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/world-of-commodore/world-of-commodore-2025/ Vintage Computer Festival Montreal - Jan. 24-25, 2026 - Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC - https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/ Tandy Retro Show 2026 - Jan. 24-25 - virtual - tandyretroshow.com Vintage Electronics Expo - Jan. 31, 2026 - Oakland Expo Center, Waterford, MI - https://www.thevee.org/ Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 14-15, 2026 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - March 20-22 - Wyndham Indianapolis Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ VCF East - April 17-19 2026 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ Midwest Gaming Classic - April 24-26 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ The Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - April 24-25, 2026 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Interview Links "The Word Processing Book" by Peter McWilliams - https://amzn.to/3M6zJks Andrew Kay at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Kay KayPro at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaypro

Floppy Days 156 - Interview with Paul Schindler, Computer Chronicles
Floppy Days 156 - Interview with Paul Schindler, Computer Chronicles Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench Hello, and welcome to episode 156 of the Floppy Days Podcast for October, 2025. I'm Randy Kindig, your host for this "retro"spective covering vintage computers of the late 70's through the 80's and the people who were on the forefront of that incredible revolution. This month, I'm bringing you another interview episode with a tech media personality that was involved with the Computer Chronicles TV show (among many other things): Mr. Paul Schindler. Paul has a big personality and has a lot of great stories about Computer Chronicles and about the tech industry in general in those days. I really enjoyed talking with Paul and he made me laugh a lot! As you know, if you're a regular listener, I was able to interview Stewart Cheifet some ago about Computer Chronicles. Computer Chronicles was a great way to get information about computers in those early days and I've always wanted to do some follow-up. Thanks to S.M. Oliva, who is mentioned in the resulting interview, and who runs a blog called "Computer Chronicles Revisited", I was able to get in contact with Paul. Next up for Floppy Days will be a series of podcasts on the KayPro line of computers, for which I was able to line up an interview with a key figure from that company and was also able to find someone who knows a lot about the computer line to help me discuss the technical topics. Stay tuned for that series. As usual, I will begin this podcast going through new acquisitions and what I've been up to, upcoming vintage computer shows and more. Video version of the episode at YouTube: New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To Tandy Assembly - https://www.tandyassembly.com TRS-80 LED sign - https://techdungeon.xyz TS2068 mailing list - https://ts2068.groups.io/g/main/topics Compute!'s Gazette - https://www.computesgazette.com Atari Tricky Tutorial #7 Disk Utilities by Jerry White - https://www.atarimania.com/documents/Tricky-Tutorial-7-Disk-Utilities.pdf TenoxVGA for Atari TT - https://www.legacypixels.com Call-A.P.P.L.E. - https://www.callapple.org/ News Compute's Gazette article from the October, 2025 issue about Floppy Days written by Brian Cox of FutureVision Research - https://shop.computesgazette.com/product/computes-gazette-issue-4-digital-edition-october-2025/ Upcoming Shows Ami West - November 1-2, Sacramento, CA - https://www.amiwest.net Atari Party 2025 - Nov. 22, 2025 (noon to 4) - Quakertown, PA Train Station - http://atariparty.org/ World of Commodore 2025 - December 6-7 - Admiral Inn, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/world-of-commodore/world-of-commodore-2025/ Vintage Computer Festival Montreal - Jan. 24-25, 2026 - Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC - https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/ Tandy Retro Show 2026 - Jan. 24-25 - virtual - tandyretroshow.com Vintage Electronics Expo - Jan. 31, 2026 - Oakland Expo Center, Waterford, MI - https://www.thevee.org/ Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 14-15, 2026 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - March 20-22 - Wyndham Indianapolis Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ VCF East - April 17-19 2026 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ Midwest Gaming Classic - April 24-26 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ The Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - April 24-25, 2026 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Interview Paul's general Website - https://www.schindler.org Paul Website about the Computer Chronicles - http://compchron.com/ S.M. Oliva's Computer Chronicles Revisited Paul's long-running blog Paul's podcast, PS A Podcast on Things Paul recounts some tales from his Chronicles days Paul's YouTube channel Computer Chronicles at archive.org Computer Chronicles episodes on YouTube
Floppy Days 155 - Interview with Karl Hornell, C64 Developer, cartoonist, author
Interview with Karl Hornell - C64 Game Developer, Cartoonist, Author Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 155 of the Floppy Days Podcast for September, 2025! I'm Randy Kindig, your host for this podcast, where we talk about the computers that got many of us started in our careers and which still hold a lot of interest for us today. This month, I'm bringing you another interesting interview with someone who at an early age started developing commercial-grade software for the Commodore 64, which started him on an amazing trajectory with his career in software development, cartoonist, and more. His latest efforts include branching out into writing science fiction, which we will also discuss today. The person I'm referring to is Karl Hornell (Her-NELL). It's also an interesting story around how this interview opportunity came to me. I'm not used to getting contacted by an ad agency. This one indicated that their client, Karl, had just recently published a book and was looking for ways to advertise the book. They suggested that Floppy Days would be a great fit based on Karl's background and could be beneficial for both. I was skeptical at first, as I always am when I receive unsolicited, possibly spam email. However, once I researched Karl's background it became clear that he was an accomplished Swedish developer for the C64 back in the day, with some notariety. I felt his background might indeed be of interest to you, the listeners, and so happily agreed to interviewing Karl for the podcast. I hope you enjoy Karl's story and will consider taking a look at his new book. New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To Atari Bit Byter User Club (ABBUC) - https://www.abbuc.de VCFMW - https://vcfmw.org/ Atari TT030 at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_TT030 David Anderson's Timex Sinclair sites: https://andertone.com/ https://www.timexsinclair.com/ News Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer - https://archive.org/details/stan-veits-history-of-the-personal-computer/mode/2up David Greelish's YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@TheComputerHistorian Early chapters (1-9) of Stan Veit's book via audio - https://www.classiccomputing.com/CCPodcasts/Stan_Veit/Stan_Veit.html Floppy Days YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@floppydayspodcast Upcoming Vintage Computer Shows Tandy Assembly - September 26-28 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 17-19 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 25 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - https://www.chicagotiug.org/home Ami West - November 1-2, Sacramento, CA - https://www.amiwest.net World of Commodore 2025 - December 6-7 - Admiral Inn, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/world-of-commodore/world-of-commodore-2025/ Vintage Computer Festival Montreal - Jan. 24-25, 2026 - Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC - https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal/ Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 14-15, 2025 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - March 20-22 - Wyndham Indianapolis Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUdQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Interview Links Karl at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_H%C3%B6rnell Vic-Rapport Magazine (Wikipedia) - https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIC-rapport "Generation 64 - How the Commodore 64 Inspired a Generation of Swedish Gamers" by Bitmap Books - https://amzn.to/3YUUlQ5 (affiliate link) Karl Hornell's Applet Center - http://www.javaonthebrain.com/ Retro Gamer Magazine #130 with Karl interview - https://archive.org/details/retro-gamer-raspberry-pi-buenos-aires/Retro%20Gamer%20130/page/92/mode/2up "Singularity Minus Twelve" book - https://amzn.to/3S8Yr3r (affiliate link) Savage Dragonbert - https://wiki.savagedragon.com/comics/savage_dragonbert_full_frontal_nerdity_01/

Floppy Days 154 - Interview with Chuck Mauro Part 2
Floppy Days 154 - Interview with Chuck Mauro, Part 2 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To TI-55 9-Volt Battery Mod 9V Battery Clip Connectors from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Clip-Hard-Electronics-I-Type/dp/B0DRZWN3BN YouTube video that talks about and shows the modification - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G-OucjNgTk New Compute's Gazette - https://www.computesgazette.com/ C64 Ultimate - https://www.commodore.net/ Chroma81 - http://www.fruitcake.plus.com/Sinclair/ZX81/Chroma/ChromaInterface_Availability.htm Upcoming Vintage Computer Shows VCF Midwest - September 13-14, 2025 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - September 26-28 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 17-19 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 25 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - https://www.chicagotiug.org/home Ami West - November 1-2, Sacramento, CA - https://www.amiwest.net World of Commodore 2025 - December 6-7 - Admiral Inn, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/world-of-commodore/world-of-commodore-2025/ Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Order Chuck's book - https://books.by/Chuck-Mauro
Floppy Days 153 - Interview with Chuck Mauro, Apple Employee 57, Entrepreneur and Author
Floppy Days 153 - Interview with Chuck Mauro, Part 1 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To KFest - https://www.kansasfest.org CoCo 5V USB adapter - Tim Halloran: Tryout Cable at GitHub - https://github.com/hallorant/bigmit/tree/master/coco2usb#trying-out-the-usb-mod-with-the-tryout-cable Tim did a talk at Tandy Assembly 2021. You can find the slides here - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19PG-rJjY0_h8iO4LEgI_-lZHJsW6ekmSQ-hHDLxJ2CU/edit?usp=sharing Video of USB Conversion by Tim - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfa4Db2OwE8 Upcoming Vintage Computer Shows VCF West - August 1-2 - Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/2025/03/05/vcf-west-2025-save-the-date/ VCF Midwest - September 13-14, 2025 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - September 26-28 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 17-19 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 25 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - https://www.chicagotiug.org/home Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Order Chuck's book - https://books.by/Chuck-Mauro

Floppy Days 152 - The HP97 Programmable Calculator - Part 3 - With Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz
HP-97/67 Programmable Calculator, Part 3 With Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Videos of this and other episodes at the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6DQ3cyp8h373H0lXSJ8yqQ Hello, and welcome to episode 152 of the Floppy Days Podcast for June, 2025. My name is Randy Kindig and I'm the host for this lovefest for vintage computers and programmable calculators from the late 70's thru the 80's. If you love old computers, you've found the right place! This month, I'm completing the ongoing series of episodes about the HP 97/67 programmable calculators. This is the third and final in the series that provides us with a terrific co-host who is able to provide a lot of color about these machines: that being HP calculator historian Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz ("Vwahdek Meer-Yeng SHAY of itch"). No one knows more about HP calculators than Wlodek and all of us are honored to get his insight into these HP calculator gems. New Acquisitions HP History Book by Wlodek - "A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers" - https://amzn.to/4hl1Yq1 (affiliate link) PalmPilot Personal - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PalmPilot Upcoming Shows KansasFest - July 18-20 - Virtual only - https://www.kansasfest.org/ INIT HELLO Apple II Conference - July 26-27 - System Source Computer Museum in Hunt Valley, MD - https://init-hello.org/ VCF West - August 1-2 - Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/2025/03/05/vcf-west-2025-save-the-date/ Fujiama - August 11-17 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2025/ VCF Midwest - September 13-14, 2025 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - September 26-28 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 17-19 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 25 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - https://www.chicagotiug.org/home Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Feedback (videos) "A 67 or 97 is a good deal" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z8UiZz2Bm0 "Coca cola" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FN5eCvkoPM Season's greetings - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=libGuLCyikY Some examples of words you could show - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jXGb-CR1Tg HP Poem expressing sadness the early HP's had been discontinued - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMuMz623ub4 Books manuals - Can purchase document set on USB stick - https://www.hpmuseum.org/cd/cddesc.htm Better Programming on the HP-67 & 97 by Richard Nelson, Kolb, Kennedy - http://www.hp41.org/LibView.cfm?Command=Image&ItemID=94&FileID=2325 Wlodek's book - A Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers - https://amzn.to/4hl1Yq1 (affiliate link) RCL40: Recollection, Reinvention and HP Calculators - RCL40: Recollection, Reinvention and HP Calculators Software Software available from collection at Museum of HP Calculators - https://www.hpmuseum.org/cd/cddesc.htm Emulators HP Calculator Simulators - https://www.cuveesoft.ch/ RPN-67/97 Pro - Apple App Store - (iOS) itms://itunes.apple.com/app/rpn-97-pro/id816249055 HP-97 Emulator by Michael O'Shea (Windows): HP-97 - https://www.limpidfox.com/hp97.htm HP-67 - https://www.limpidfox.com/hp67.htm HP-97 Emulator by Michael O'Shea (Android, iOS) - https://www.limpidfox.com Buying One Today Getting one repaired: waterhosko (Mark Hoskins) - https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=324196333178&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l161211&_ssn=waterhosko Mainely Calculators (Adam Jones) - https://www.ebay.com/str/mainelycalculator?_trksid=p4429486.m145687.l149267 Modern Upgrades Replacement CPU Boards for HP-67 and HP-97 - https://www.Teenix.org Community Facebook HP Calculator Fan Club - https://www.facebook.com/groups/hpcalculatorclub Real Engineers Use HP Handheld Calculators - https://www.facebook.com/groups/hpcalc Forums The Museum of HP Calculators - https://hpmuseum.org/forum/index.php Reddit HPCalc - https://www.reddit.com/r/hpcalc/ Current Web Sites and Videos Article in Byte Magazine, Vol. 3 No. 6 - https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1978-06/page/n113/mode/1up Article in HP Journal on the HP-67/97 - http://hparchive.com/Journals/HPJ-1976-11.pdf HHC 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, showing off RPN-97 Pro - https://www.cuveesoft.ch/rpn67/img/RPN-97HHC.mp4 HP - https://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/museum/personalsystems/0041/index.html Eric Rechlin's hpcalc.org - http://www.hpcalc.org Craig Finseth's HPDATABase - http://www.finseth.com/hpdata/ The Hewlett Packard Calculator Page by Rick Furr - http://www.vcalc.net/hp.htm The Calculators of HP poster - https://www.vcalc.net/poster.htm#hp series of articles b

Floppy Days 151 - Interview with James Nagle, Reboot of Computes Gazette
Interview with James Nagle, Reboot of Compute's Gazette Magazine Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 151 of the Floppy Days Podcast for May, 2025. My name is Randy Kindig and I'm the host for this ode to computers that only survive in our memories and our collections. This month, I'm continuing to step aside from the ongoing series of episodes about the HP 97/67 programmable calculators to bring you a timely interview that basically constitutes current news. I don't often do this, but this news was so exciting to me that I wanted to bring this to all my listeners as soon as possible. The interviewee is James Nagle and the topic is the sudden and welcome news that James is planning to revive the iconic Compute! magazine under the equally-iconic name Compute's Gazette. I hope you'll stick around to hear about James' plans and are as excited as I am to find out where this goes. For upcoming shows, we do have one more episode in the series on the HP97 with HP calculator historian Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz ("Vwahdek Meer-Yeng SHAY of itch"). I will air that episode very soon. New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To C64OS - https://c64os.com/ PiStorm: https://www.hackster.io/news/hands-on-with-the-pistorm-the-ultimate-raspberry-pi-powered-accelerator-for-your-commodore-amiga-449ef0634f3e https://www.amigastore.com/pistorm-edition-amiga-p-91328.html Quick Reference Book - https://floppydaysqr.my.canva.site/ Upcoming Vintage Computer Shows Retrofest 2025 - May 31-June1 - Steam Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon, UK - https://retrofest.uk/ Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 14 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html VCF Southwest - June 20-22, 2025 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - June 20-22, 2025 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 21-22 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start KansasFest - July 18-20 - Virtual only - https://www.kansasfest.org/ INIT HELLO Apple II Conference - July 26-27 - System Source Computer Museum in Hunt Valley, MD - https://init-hello.org/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - July 31-Aug. 3 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2025-se VCF West - August 1-2 - Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/2025/03/05/vcf-west-2025-save-the-date/ Fujiama - August 11-17 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2025/ VCF Midwest - September 13-14, 2025 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - September 26-28 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 17-19 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 25 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - https://www.chicagotiug.org/home Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Feedback HP-97S: https://www.hpmuseum.org/hp97s.htm https://www.johnwolff.id.au/calculators/laboratory/laboratory.htm Interview Links New Compute's Gazette Website - https://www.computesgazette.com/ Compute's Gazette collection at archive.org - https://archive.org/details/computes.gazette
Floppy Days 150 - Interview with David Greelish, Apple Lisa Documentary
Interview with David Greelish, Apple Lisa Documentary Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 150 of the Floppy Days Podcast for April, 2025. My name is Randy Kindig and I'm the host for this journey through the annals of home computer history. This month, I'm going to step aside from the ongoing series of episodes about the HP 97/67 programmable calculators to bring you a timely interview with a good friend about an interesting topic. That friend is David Greelish, a computer historian, and the topic is his recent publication of a film documentary about the Apple Lisa, called "Before Macintosh: The Apple Lisa". David tells us all about the film, why he produced it, why the Apple Lisa was an important part of home computer history, who he interviewed for the film (he had some amazing guests) and much more. It's a great film and should interest a lot of the listeners, so please consider going out and purchasing the film in order to support David's efforts. For upcoming shows, we do have one more episode in the series on the HP97 with HP calculator historian Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz. I will air that episode very soon. New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To Indy Classic Expo - https://www.indyclassic.org Vintage Computer Center - https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com OmniView 80 card for Atari 800 - https://archive.org/details/Atari_OMNIVIEW_manual Commodore 16 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_16 6502 Plus 4 upgrade for C16 from Lotharek - (https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=257 News Reboot of Compute's Gazette Magazine - https://www.computesgazette.com/iconic-computes-gazette-magazine-returns-after-35-years-expanding-focus-to-entire-retro-computing-community/ Upcoming Shows The 32nd Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - May 2-3, 2025 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ VCF Europe - May 3-4 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ Retrofest 2025 - May 31-June1 - Steam Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon, UK - https://retrofest.uk/ Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 14 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html VCF Southwest - June 20-22, 2025 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - June 20-22, 2025 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 21-22 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start KansasFest - July 18-20 - Virtual only - https://www.kansasfest.org/ VCF West - August 1-2 - Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/2025/03/05/vcf-west-2025-save-the-date/ VCF Midwest - September 13-14, 2025 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - September 26-28 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 17-19 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 25 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - https://www.chicagotiug.org/home Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Documentary and Classic Computing Links Classic Computing Website - https://www.classiccomputing.com/Classic_Computing/Blog/Blog.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psAeTDYezdo - "Before Macintosh: The Apple Lisa" Full Documentary Film Exidy Sorcerer at VCFSE 2 - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-episode-17-the-exidy-sorcerer-live-from-vcfse-20 Stan Veit podcast - https://www.classiccomputing.com/CCPodcasts/Stan_Veit/Stan_Veit.html Classic Computing - the book! - https://www.classiccomputing.com/Classic_Computing/My_Book.html Documentary link at IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31122934/

Floppy Days 149 - The HP97 Programmable Calculator - Part 2 - With Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz
The HP97 Programmable Calculator - Part 2 - With Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Video version of the episode at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6DQ3cyp8h373H0lXSJ8yqQ Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research New Acquisitions 1027 print heads - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/271589-revive1027-order-thread/ ABBUC (Atari Bit-Byter Users Club) - https://www.abbuc.de Best Electronics - https://www.best-electronics-ca.com/ inexpensive keyboard available on Amazon (for domes) - https://amzn.to/3FU9ASx "Atari 400/800 Student Pilot Reference Guide" by Atari - https://archive.org/details/atari_pilot-student-guide PortaCoCo - https://portacoco.com/ Tim Halloran video on making an adapter that allows you to run much of your CoCo off of battery - https://youtu.be/6UN1XvJG-bs Ian Mavric's TRS-80 store - https://www.ebay.com/str/trs80universe Upcoming Shows Midwest Gaming Classic - April 4-6 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East - April 4-6, 2025 - Wall, NJ - http://www.vcfed.org Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 12-13 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show - April 26-27 - Burbank VFW Hall, Burbank, CA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start The 32nd Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - May 2-3, 2025 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ VCF Europe - May 3-4 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ Retrofest 2025 - May 31-June1 - Steam Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon, UK - https://retrofest.uk/ Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 14 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html VCF Southwest - June 20-22, 2025 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - June 20-22, 2025 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 21-22 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start KansasFest - July 18-20 - Virtual only - https://www.kansasfest.org/ VCF Midwest - September 13-14, 2025 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - September 26-28 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 17-19 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 25 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - https://www.chicagotiug.org/home Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub User Groups HP Handheld Conference - annual conference in the US: Website - https://hhuc.us/ YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@hpcalc HHC 2024 USB Drive - https://commerce.hpcalc.org/hhcusb.php Handheld and Portable Computer Club - https://www.hpcc.org/ Magazines/Newsletters HPX Exchange - http://www.hp41.org/LibView.cfm?Command=List&CategoryID=9 Hewlett Packard Journal: journals - http://www.hp41.org/LibView.cfm?Command=List&CategoryID=7 contents - https://www.vcalc.net/hp-jrnl.htm#JOURNAL Hewlett Packard Personal Calculator Digest Vol. 1, 1976 - (contents) - https://www.vcalc.net/hp-jrnl.htm#DIGEST HP KEYNOTES - https://www.vcalc.net/hp-jrnl.htm#KEY PPC Journal - produced by the PPC group: http://www.hp41.org/LibView.cfm?Command=List&CategoryID=14 available on USB drive from Jake Schwartz' PPC Archive - http://www.pahhc.org/ppccdrom.htm Datafile, the HPCC club journal: https://www.hpcc.org/datafile/index.html Back issues, excluding the current volume, are available on USB drive from Jake Schwartz - http://www.pahhc.org/ppccdrom.htm References Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-67/97#67 Museum of HP Calculators (David Hicks) - https://www.hpmuseum.org/hp6797.htm

Floppy Days 148 - HP97 History and Memories with Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz and Everett Kaser
HP-97 Programmable Calculator History and Memories with Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz and Everett Kaser Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 148 of the Floppy Days Podcast for February, 2025, where computers of the late 70's through the 80's are the Apple of our eye! (If you got that pun, then you're in the right place 🙂) First off, I wanted to mention that this month is the 12th anniversary of the publication of the very first episode of Floppy Days way back in 2013. That's right: 12 YEARS! A very small percentage of podcasts ever reach that sort of longevity. I can only think of one other podcast that's in my sphere of listening that has been regularly produced for that long or longer (Retro MacCast). I should be so lucky to produce a podcast as long as the 18 years that James and John have done. There are several reasons I keep doing this. I love talking about old computers, I love being able to interview incredible people that were actively part of the microcomputer revolution, I love feedback from listeners, and it keeps me out of trouble now that I'm retired from the daily grind of the workforce. This podcast wouldn't still be going if you weren't listening. The listenership actually has been pretty stable for the past several years, and I'm humbled and honored that so many continue to listen and provide feedback. Thanks to you and your support, what do you say let's keep this thing going till you and I both are tired of it?! 🙂 Okay, now onto details about this particular episode. I've been very focused recently on producing interviews with some amazing guests. Frankly, this will always remain an important part of this podcast, as the individuals who were the main drivers in microcomputers will unfortunately only be around for an increasingly shorter period of time. However, the main focus is, and always will be, covering the vast array of unique machines that existed in the late 70's through the 80's. I will admit that the amount of research and work to publish the microcomputer-specific shows is a lot; considerably more than the interview episodes. However, as I said, covering vintage computers and programmable calculators is the main impetus for this podcast. It has been a full year since we covered a vintage machine, so it's time to remedy that. To that end, in this episode we will be covering a vintage machine: the HP-97 and 67 programmable calculator. I speak of them as one, because, as we will cover in great detail, they are internally the same machine, with the main difference being the built-in printer for the HP-97. I was very fortunate to get a fantastic co-host for this episode: HP calculator historian Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz ("Vwahdek Meer-Yeng SHAY of itch") . Wlodek has a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience with the HP calculators and I think you'll find his stories and background extremely interesting and helpful as we go through the history of the HP-97/67. In this episode, we'll be spending a few minutes to get to know Wlodek, then together we will cover the history of the 97/67. As another bonus, I also was able to catch up with another gentleman who has a lot of history with HP: Everett Kaser. Long-time listeners will recall that Everett worked for HP for many years on several of their calculators and desktop computers and helped with co-hosting the Floppy Days series of episodes on the HP Series 80. It turns out that Everett had spent some time at HP repairing the HP97 and he shares his memories of those times. Based on the amount of material that was generated about this calculator, it looks as though we're going to have 3 episodes on the 97/67, with the first being this one on history and memories, the second covering tech specs and several other topics, and a third episode to finish off coverage. I should mention that the HP97 episodes do veer from the timeline a bit. Whereas I've been covering the machines that were introduced in 1982 (with the last being the Grundy NewBrain), the HP-97/67 were introduced in 1976. By rights, the HP97 should have been covered in a very early episode, just after the MITS Altair 8800 and in the same general time frame as the Apple I. However, I felt it was important to go back and pick up this machine, so I hope you will forgive me for departing from the timeline order for this. Intro Retro MacCast Floppy Days Episode on the HP Series 80 with Everett Kaser - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-62-the-hp85b-computer-with-everett-kaser-and-vassilis-prevelakis New Acquisitions ABBUC - Atari Bit Byters User Club Atari ST SidecarTridge - https://store.sidecartridge.com/products/sidecartridge-multi-device Upcoming Shows Midwest Gaming Classic - April 4-6 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East - April 4-6, 2025 - Wall, NJ - http://www.vcfed.org Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 12-13 - C

Floppy Days 147 - Lorenzo Hagerty, Dynasty Computers
Interview with Lorenzo Hagerty, Dynasty Computers Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research New Acquisitions Juiced.GS - https://juiced.gs/ Call-A.P.P.L.E. - https://www.callapple.org/ TRS-80 M1 keyboard remake - http://shop.retrostack.org/ NEC PC-8201A Dial-A-ROM - https://www.soigeneris.com/dial-a-rom-for-vintage-computers TI-74/95 RAM/Flash cart - https://www.soigeneris.com/ti-74-ti-95-mem-cart TI CC-40 RAM/ROM module - https://www.soigeneris.com/ti-cc-40-ramrom-card Upcoming Shows Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 15-17, 2025 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Midwest Gaming Classic - April 4-6 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East - April 4-6, 2025 - Wall, NJ - http://www.vcfed.org Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 12-13 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show - April 26-27 - Burbank VFW Hall, Burbank, CA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start The 32nd Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - May 2-3, 2025 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ VCF Europe - May 3-4 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 14 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html VCF Southwest - June 20-22, 2025 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - June 20-22, 2025 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 21-22 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - July 31-Aug. 3 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2025-se Fujiama - August 11-17 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2025/ VCF Midwest - September 13-14, 2025 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - September 26-28 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 17-19 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 25 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - https://www.chicagotiug.org/home Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Meet the Listeners - Carlos Byte High No Limit Podcast - https://sunspotstories.podbean.com/ Interview Volume 1 of Lorenzo's chronicles. On page 121, it mentions Dynasty - https://ia601007.us.archive.org/12/items/chroniclesoflorenzovolume1a/ChroniclesOfLorenzoVolume1a.pdf Lorenzo's Website - https://www.lorenzohagerty.com Lorenzo's Books - https://www.amazon.com/Books-Lorenzo-Hagerty/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ALorenzo+Hagerty podcast - Psychedelic Salon (https://psychedelicsalon.com/ )

Floppy Days 146 - Interview with Dan Bricklin, VisiCalc
Interview with Dan Bricklin, VisiCalc Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 146 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for December, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your host for this podcast. This month I'm staying with the recent interview theme, as I continue to get the opportunity for interviews with some amazing icons from the early personal computer days. This month, that person is Dan Bricklin, co-developer of the iconic VisiCalc software that helped kickstart the sales of early personal computers like the Apple II and began the important spreadsheet software category that persists until today. I published an interview with Dan's partner in VisiCalc (and in Software Arts), Bob Frankston, back in 2023, and now Dan adds to the story in his own words. Please note that I do plan to get back into producing episodes covering specific vintage computers. I've just had an amazing run of interview opportunities in recent months, which has reduced the time I had to do the research on computers for the podcast. Coming up in 2025 will be coverage of machines like the HP97, the Lobo Max-80, the Dragon, and the C64. New Acquisitions Ian Mavric's TRS-80 store on ebay - (https://www.ebay.com/str/trs80universe Lee Felsenstein's book "Me and My Big Ideas: Counterculture, Social Media, and the Future" at Amazon (sponsor link) - https://amzn.to/3Wh6o9h Lee Felsenstein (Fel-zen-stine) interview on Floppy Days - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-90-lee-felsenstein-interview Lee Felsenstein co-hosting episode on Osborne computer (history) on Floppy Days - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-91-the-osborne-1-with-lee-felsenstein Forrest Mims' book "Maverick Scientist: My Adventures as an Amateur Scientist" at Amazon (sponsor link) - https://amzn.to/3BxDuKT Forrest Mims interview on Floppy Days - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-130-interview-with-forrest-mims-iii News and Upcoming Computer Shows News The VintNerd (Steve Diedierch) and FutureVision Research (Brian Cox) FujiNet video - https://youtu.be/0XcsSznKbTs "Priming the Pump" book by David and Theresa Welsh - Kindle version - https://amzn.to/41Nrlw0 Upcoming Shows Virtual Tandy Retro Show (online) - January 25 - https://tandyretroshow.com Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 15-17, 2025 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Midwest Gaming Classic - April 4-6 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East - April 4-6, 2024 - Wall, NJ - http://www.vcfed.org Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 12-13 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Interview Bob Frankston interview on Floppy Days - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-126-bob-frankston-visicalc Dan Bricklin's Website - http://www.bricklin.com/default.htm Dan Bricklin's book "Bricklin on Technology" (sponsor link) - https://amzn.to/49X8DUP

Floppy Days 145 - Paul Terrell Interview - The Byte Shop Part 4
Episode 145 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 4 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 145 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for November, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your host for this audio tribute to the amazing variety of home computers that existed in the late 70's thru the 80's, before the influence of Big Blue changed the landscape forever. This month I'm continuing the series of interviews I've been doing recently with Paul Terrell. As we have discussed, Paul Terrell is a name well-known in the annals of computer history; probably most famously for his kickstart of Apple Computer through the purchase of one of Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's first batches of Apple I computers for his Byte Shop. The Byte Shop was a very early computer store that was one of the few that existed in the world, at the time. In this interview, we continue to focus primarily on The Byte Shop, how it got started, what it was like, and much more. This is part 4 of a 4-part series on just that topic with Paul. If you want to know what it was like to run a computer store in those early days, this is the interview for you! Along the way, you'll learn even more about just what the home and hobby computer scene was like in those days. In future episodes, Paul and I will discuss other topics around his long and distinguished career, such as the aforementioned dealings with the fledgling Apple Computer, and other ventures in which Paul was involved after the Byte Shop, including a business that rented software. New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To Episodes 8 (https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-episode-8-the-trs-80-model-i-part-i) and 9 (https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-episode-9-the-trs-80-model-i-part-2), containing interviews with David and Theresa Welsh, authors of the book "Priming the Pump: How TRS-80 Enthusiasts Helped Spark the PC Revolution". Lobo MAX-80 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max-80 HP-97 Calculator and repair: https://www.hpmuseum.org/hp6797.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-67/97 https://www.ebay.com/usr/waterhosko Upcoming Shows Show list I maintain for the remainder of the current year - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/current-year-vintage-computer-show-schedule) Silly Venture WE (Winter Edition) - Dec. 5-8 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-we Atari Party 2024 - Dec. 7 (noon - 4p.m.) - Quakertown Train Station, Quakertown, PA - http://atariparty.org/ Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 15-17, 2025 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Midwest Gaming Classic - April 4-6 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East - April 4-6, 2024 - Wall, NJ - http://www.vcfed.org Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 12-13 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ Interview with Paul Terrell (3) Apple-1 Prototype Polaroid Photographs Given to Paul Terrell of the Byte Shop in 1976 - https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/348985606984001-steve-jobs-3-apple-1-prototype-polaroid-photographs-given-to-paul-terrell-of-the-byte-shop-in-1976/?cat=3 Ray Borrill's Data Domain blog - https://www.landsnail.com/thedatadomain/remember.htm

Floppy Days 144 - Interview with Don French and Steve Leininger, Co-Designers of the TRS-80 Model I
Episode 144 - Interview with Don French and Steve Leininger, Co-Designers of the TRS-80 Model I Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 144 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for October, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your host for this audio ode to the home computers of the past. This month I have a special treat for you. At the recent Tandy Assembly, which I will talk about in more detail later in the podcast, not only were there a lot of great people, exhibits, vendors, and camaraderie, but we were also blessed with having Steve Leininger as one of the guest speakers along with his partner in the development of the TRS-80 Model I, Don French! I recently had an interview with Steve Leininger (episode 142: https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-142-interview-with-steve-leininger-designer-of-the-trs-80-model-i ), thanks to his willingness to be interviewed at the recent VCF Southeast in Atlanta. That was a milestone for my podcast, as I had always wanted to talk with Steve. I also had interviewed Don French several years ago, prior to his attending Tandy Assembly in 2017, in episode 53 (https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-53-interview-with-don-french-co-designer-of-the-trs-80-model-i ). This time, however, I was able to get an interview with Don and Steve together in the same interview! That in itself was amazing and I think you'll really enjoy the back-and-forth between the two gentlemen who are obviously and correctly proud of the work they did to bring the TRS-80 to the world and Tandy into the computer business. Next month, I will talk about another computer rescue that came my way recently, and which is also tied into Tandy Assembly and Radio Shack computers. I'll not go into any further detail here as I don't want to spoil the story for you next month. But believe me, it will be fun both to tell and to listen to. New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To Soldering kits from FutureVision Research The Soldering Basics Kit The BEAM Bot Soldering Kit The Demonstrator Soldering Kit Tandy Assembly 2024 - https://www.tandyassembly.com/ Drive cable for the TRS-80 Model I from Ian Mavric - https://www.ebay.com/str/trs80universe RAM card for Tandy PC2/Sharp PC1500 from Jeff Birt - https://www.soigeneris.com/sharp-pc-1500-memory-modules Upcoming Shows Retro Computer Festival 2024 - November 9-10 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72253/Retro-Computer-Festival-2024-Saturday-9th-November/ Silly Venture WE (Winter Edition) - Dec. 5-8 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-we Show list I maintain for the remainder of the current year - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/current-year-vintage-computer-show-schedule)

Floppy Days 143 - Paul Terrell Interview - The Byte Shop Part 3
Episode 143 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 3 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 143 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for September, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your host for this retro ride to the past of home computing. This month I'm continuing the series of interviews I've been doing recently with Paul Terrell. As we have discussed, Paul Terrell is a name well-known in the annals of computer history; probably most famously for his kickstart of Apple Computer through the purchase of one of Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's first batches of Apple I computers for his Byte Shop. The Byte Shop was a very early computer store that was one of the few that existed in the world, at the time. In this interview, we continue to focus primarily on The Byte Shop, how it got started, what it was like, and much more. This is part 3 of a 4-part series on just that topic with Paul. If you want to know what it was like to run a computer store in those early days, this is the interview for you! Along the way, you'll learn even more about just what the home and hobby computer scene was like in those days. In future episodes, Paul and I will discuss other topics around his long and distinguished career, such as the aforementioned dealings with the fledgling Apple Computer, and other ventures in which Paul was involved after the Byte Shop, including a business that rented software. New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To VCF Midwest - https://vcfmw.org/ Indus GT disk drive - https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Indus%20GT Coco FujiNet - https://fujinet.online/ 10502PC - https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=398 VTech PreComputer 2000 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VTech_PreComputer_2000 Upcoming Shows Show list I maintain for the remainder of the current year - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/current-year-vintage-computer-show-schedule) Portland Retro Gaming Expo - September 27-29 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Tandy Assembly - September 27-29 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ AmiWest - October 25-27 - Sacramento, CA - https://amiwest.net/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 26 - Evanston Public Library (Falcon Room, 303), Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ Retro Computer Festival 2024 - November 9-10 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72253/Retro-Computer-Festival-2024-Saturday-9th-November/ Silly Venture WE (Winter Edition) - Dec. 5-8 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-we Interview with Paul Terrell (3) Apple-1 Prototype Polaroid Photographs Given to Paul Terrell of the Byte Shop in 1976 - https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/348985606984001-steve-jobs-3-apple-1-prototype-polaroid-photographs-given-to-paul-terrell-of-the-byte-shop-in-1976/?cat=3 Ray Borrill's Data Domain blog - https://www.landsnail.com/thedatadomain/remember.htm

Floppy Days 142 - Interview with Steve Leininger, Designer of the TRS-80 Model I
Interview with Steve Leininger, Designer of the TRS-80- Model I Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper 0 Floppy Days Tune 1 min 13 sec Vintage Computer Ads 1 min 42 sec Intro 9 min 03 sec bumper - Peter Bartlett 9 min 11 sec New Acquisitions 17 min 11 sec bumper - Ian Mavric 17 min 19 sec Upcoming Computer Shows 21 min 53 sec bumper - Myles Wakeham 21 min 58 sec Meet the Listeners 28 min 37 sec Interview with Steve Leininger 1 hr 20 min 29 sec Closing This particular episode has a special meaning for me, personally. You see, as I've mentioned on earlier episodes, the TRS-80 Model I from Tandy/Radio Shack was my first home computer (even though my first programmable device was a TI58C calculator). I recall the joy and wonder of playing with the machine (it wasn't called the Model I at that time; just the TRS-80; as it was the first of the line) in the local Radio Shack store in 1977 and 1978 and the incredible rush of owning one in 1979; after my wife purchased a Level I BASIC machine for me as a gift for college graduation. That machine only had 4K of RAM and 4K of ROM (Tiny BASIC), as it was the entry-level machine, but it was a thing of beauty. I felt like I could do anything with that machine, even though my justification to the wife was that we could track our checkbook and recipes on it. I think she knew better, but went along with it anyway. The computer came with everything you needed, including a tape drive and black-and-white monitor, which was good for a poor recent college graduate. I quickly, as finances allowed with my new engineering job, upgraded the computer to 16K of RAM and Level II BASIC (a powerful Microsoft 12K ROM BASIC) and enjoyed the machine immensely, even using it in my job supporting the build-out of a new nuclear power plant back in those days. I eventually sold off the Model I, in favor of a computer that had color graphics and sound (the Atari 800), but have always continued to have a huge soft spot for that first computer. When I started the Floppy Days Podcast, one of the people that has always been on my bucket list to interview has been Steve Leininger, who, along with Don French while at Radio Shack designed the TRS-80 Model I, among other things. A few years back, I had the opportunity to participate in an interview with Steve for the Trash Talk Podcast, when I was co-hosting that show, but an ill-timed trip to the hospital for my son meant that I was not able to participate. While my son's health is of paramount importance, of course, I always wanted to get another chance to talk with Steve. Not only was Steve the designer of one of my favorite home computers of all time, but he also was a fellow Purdue University Boilermaker, who graduated just a year before I started there. The thought that I could have met Steve on campus if I'd been there just a year earlier was very intriguing to me, and fueled my desire to talk with Steve even more. In the last episode (#141 with Paul Terrell) I talked about VCF Southeast in Atlanta in July of 2024. After I had made plans to attend that show, I was flabbergasted to find out that Earl Baugh, one of the show organizers, had somehow managed to contact Steve and get him to come to the show! I have to thank Earl for the work he did to make that happen. Here was my opportunity to certainly meet Steve, and perhaps even talk with him! I prepped some questions, just in case I was able to get an interview. While at the show, I met Steve and asked him if he would be willing to do a short interview for Floppy Days while at the show. Amazingly, he was very kind and agreed to do that. We found a quiet room and I was able to talk with Steve for almost an hour. This show contains that interview. Another note on this: as you'll hear in the interview, the connection to Steve is even stronger than I realized! He not only went to my alma mater, but also grew up in some of the same towns that myself and my wife did. We personally peripherally know some of his relatives. Things like this really do make you think the world is small! One other, final, note: This interview even ties into the recent and continuing interviews I've been publishing with Paul Terrell. As you'll hear in upcoming episodes with Paul, and in this interview with Steve, Steve actually worked at the Byte Shop before getting the first job with Tandy, and in fact his work at the Byte Shop directly led to him getting hired by Tandy to design the Model I. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I enjoyed getting it. I am overjoyed I finally got the chance to talk to one of my vintage computer heroes, Steve Leininger! New Acquisitions C64 Sketch and Design by Tony Lavioe - sponsored link https://amzn.to/4dZGtt2 Compute's Mapping the IBM PC and PC Junior by Russ Davies - sponsored link https://amzn.to/3yQmrlP The Best of SoftSide - Atari Edition - https://archive.org/details/ataribooks-best-of-softside-atari-edition ZX81+38 - https://g

Floppy Days 141 - Paul Terrell Interview - The Byte Shop Part 2
Episode 141 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 2 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 141 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for July, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your host, as always, for this historical perspective on obsolete-but-still fun technology. This month I'm bringing you a follow-on interview episode from last month. As we discussed then, Paul Terrell is a name well-known in the annals of computer history; probably most famously for his kickstart of Apple Computer through the purchase of one of Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's first batches of Apple I computers for his Byte Shop. The Byte Shop was a very early computer store that was one of the few that existed in the world, at the time. In this interview, we continue to focus primarily on The Byte Shop, how it got started, what it was like, and much more. There will be even more content in future episodes, as Paul and I had a pretty lengthy discussion on just this topic. If you want to know what it was like to run a computer store in those early days, this is the interview for you! Along the way, you'll learn even more about just what the home and hobby computer scene was like in those days. New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To VCF Southeast - https://gameatl.com/vintage-computing-festival-southeast/ Upcoming Shows Show list I maintain for the remainder of the current year - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/current-year-vintage-computer-show-schedule) Vintage Computer Festival West - August 2-3 - Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - Aug. 15-18 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-se VCF Midwest - September 7-8 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ VCF Europe - September 7-8 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ World of Retrocomputing 2024 Expo - September 14-15 - Kitchener, ON, Canada - https://www.facebook.com/events/s/world-of-retro-computing-2024-/1493036588265072/ Teletext 50 - Sep 21-22 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, UK - https://www.teletext50.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - September 27-29 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Tandy Assembly - September 27-29 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ AmiWest - October 25-27 - Sacramento, CA - https://amiwest.net/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 26 - Evanston Public Library (Falcon Room, 303), Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ Retro Computer Festival 2024 - November 9-10 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72253/Retro-Computer-Festival-2024-Saturday-9th-November/ Silly Venture WE (Winter Edition) - Dec. 5-8 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-we Interview with Paul Terrell (3) Apple-1 Prototype Polaroid Photographs Given to Paul Terrell of the Byte Shop in 1976 - https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/348985606984001-steve-jobs-3-apple-1-prototype-polaroid-photographs-given-to-paul-terrell-of-the-byte-shop-in-1976/?cat=3 Ray Borrill's Data Domain blog - https://www.landsnail.com/thedatadomain/remember.htm Transcription of Audio-only Paul Terrell: Now eventually we did get to the point where we needed some legal assistance and we were once again, being in the heart of Silicon Valley, you would network with people. My salespeople knew a guy by the name of Larry Sonsini, who was a a lawyer in Palo Alto, and he happened to be the lawyer that had taken Intel public and Larry was very interested in what Byte Shop was doing because he was representing legally a lot of the electronics companies that were getting into personal computing. So Larry and I developed a friendship where we got together and I was able to convince him, since we were just a startup to be a little bit lenient with his legal fees and provide us with some legal assistance. And of course, Larry expanded his business right along with us. And he's actually the dominant legal firm in Silicon Valley. He's taken most of the companies public out there. He very much focused in the area of public markets and finance and that kind of thing. He grew his company and now he has a huge complex of buildings, a campus and in Palo Alto, which in the old days, it used to be called Wilson, Mosier and Sonsini and I think Mosier dropped out of the program, Rosati came in and so forth, but those were good, contacts to have you know in the marketplace because once again relationships. I met Bob Noyce from Intel who was the founder, one of the founders, of Intel and through Larry's relationship and friendship. Another person that was really dominant in the success that we had at Byte Shop was Regis McKenna. And Regis was one of the people that had come out of the

Floppy Days 140 - Paul Terrell Interview - The Byte Shop Part 1
Episode 140 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 1 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 140 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for June, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your guide to this journey through vintage computer goodness. This month I'm bringing you another interview episode. Paul Terrell is a name well-known in the annals of computer history; probably most famously for his kickstart of Apple Computer through the purchase of one of Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's first batches of Apple I computers for his Byte Shop. The Byte Shop was a very early computer store that was one of the few that existed in the world, at the time. I've had an earlier introductory interview with Paul where numerous topics were covered in a more general manner. I also talked with Paul about his time at Exidy working on the sorcerer computer. In this interview, we focus primarily on The Byte Shop, how it got started, what it was like, and much more. Through several conversations with Paul, the interview ran quite long, so this is part I of The Byte Shop discussion. If you want to know what it was like to run a computer store in those early days, this is the interview for you! Along the way, you'll learn even more about just what the home and hobby computer scene was like in those days. New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To American Computer and Robotics Museum - https://acrmuseum.org/ Vtech Pre-Computer Unlimited - https://vtech.fandom.com/wiki/PreComputer_Unlimited USB-C Power Adapter for Atari 8-bit - https://mozzwald.com/product/atari-8-bit-usb-c-power-adapter/ USB-C Power Adapter for Apple IIc - https://mozzwald.com/product/apple-iic-usb-c-power-delivery-adapter/ Upcoming Shows Show list I maintain for the remainder of the current year - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/current-year-vintage-computer-show-schedule) KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 16-21 (in-person), July 27-28 (virtual) - University of Illinois in Springfield, IL - https://www.kansasfest.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 19-21, 2024 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Nottingham Video Game Expo - July 20-21 - The Belgrave Rooms, Nottingham, U.K. - https://www.nottsvge.com/ Fujiama - July 23-28 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2024/ Vintage Computer Festival West - August 2-3 - Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - Aug. 15-18 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-se VCF Midwest - September 7-8 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ VCF Europe - September 7-8 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ Teletext 50 - Sep 21-22 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, UK - https://www.teletext50.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - September 27-29 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Tandy Assembly - September 27-29 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ AmiWest - October 25-27 - Sacramento, CA - https://amiwest.net/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 26 - Evanston Public Library (Falcon Room, 303), Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ Retro Computer Festival 2024 - November 9-10 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72253/Retro-Computer-Festival-2024-Saturday-9th-November/ Silly Venture WE (Winter Edition) - Dec. 5-8 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-we Meet The Listeners Brian Cox's site FVResearch.com - https://www.fvresearch.com/ Transcription of Interview-only Randy Kindig: All right. Today I'm with Paul Terrell. Paul, today we wanted to talk about the Byte Shop and, exactly what happened with that, how it got started, a lot of things about it. So maybe we could just kick it off by how did the idea of the Byte Shop come about and, how did that kind of get started? Paul Terrell: Okay, yeah basically I had a rep company called Repco in Mountain View, California. I started Repco in 1975, the beginning of the year and January sort of frame. Uh, with Repco it's a manufacturer's rep representative sales representative in a geographic territory. And Boyd and I had our partnership company for Northern California, Northern Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Paul Terrell: And then there was also another territory, the electronic rep association divides the country up into about 26 different geographical areas and then people, can join the ERA and become members of the ERA. Reps in those territories and with the association they have contractual information and they provide contact information with different manufacturers and such. Paul Terrell: With Repco we're selling electronic products, but mainly, different kind of inst

Floppy Days 139 - Vic Tolomei (Exidy) Interview
Episode 139 - Interview with Vic Tolomei, VP Software Development, Exidy Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 139 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for May, 2024. This month I'm bringing you another interview episode; in the ongoing effort to document the story of Exidy and its Sorcerer computer. I've already talked, in previous episodes, with Howell Ivy and Paul Terrell, both principals at Exidy and in the creation of the Sorcerer computer. Those were quite popular episodes! In this episode, I also tracked down Vic Tolomei, VP of Software Development at Exidy during that same time, and got his story. If you want to know what it was like to lead a software development effort at that time, this is the interview for you! Upcoming on the podcast, I have more interviews to share, as well as more hardware to cover. I'm actually a few months ahead with developing content, which I guess is an advantage of being retired! I've created some tiers for paid members and have come up with some ways to reward those who are generous enough to monetarily support the Floppy Days Podcast on Patreon. First of all, all tiers ($2/month and up) will receive early access to companion videos for any interviews that are published. The audio will be published to Floppy Days immediately, as usual, while any video will be made available exclusively to all paid members for a period of time (at least 30 days) before the general public. The videos will be published for you on Patreon.com, and then moved to the Floppy Days YouTube channel after the exclusivity period is over. Other benefits have been added for the tiers above the minimum $2 tiers, such as Floppy Days merchandise, an audio introduction for supporters, and even the option to co-host an episode! It is my intention to always make all content available to everyone at no cost, while at the same time providing some benefits for those generous enough to support the podcast. I hope this is a good compromise. Please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!! New Acquisitions VTech Advantech IQ Unlimited - https://vtech.fandom.com/wiki/I.Q._Unlimited_Computerv A8PicoCart - https://github.com/robinhedwards/A8PicoCart M100/T102/T200 Dial-A-ROM - https://www.soigeneris.com/dial-a-rom-for-vintage-computers Upcoming Shows Show list I maintain for the remainder of the current year - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/current-year-vintage-computer-show-schedule) CorgsCon (Columbus Ohio Retro Gaming Society) - June 1 - Kasich Hall – Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, OH - https://www.corgscon.com/ Game Not Over 2024 - June 8-9 - Dunstall Park Racecourse in Wolverhampton, U.K. - https://retro.directory/browse/events/326-game-not-over-2024 VCF Southwest - June 14-16, 2024 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Boatfest Retro Computer Expo - June 14-16 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 22 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 22-23 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start Kickstart Amiga UK Expo - June 29-30 - Nottingham, UK - https://www.amigashow.com/ KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 16-21 (in-person), July 27-28 (virtual) - University of Illinois in Springfield, IL - https://www.kansasfest.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 19-21, 2024 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Nottingham Video Game Expo - July 20-21 - The Belgrave Rooms, Nottingham, U.K. - https://www.nottsvge.com/ Fujiama - July 23-28 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2024/ Vintage Computer Festival West - August 2-3 - Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/ VCF Midwest - September 7-8 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ VCF Europe - September 7-8 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - September 27-29 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Tandy Assembly - September 27-29 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ AmiWest - October 25-27 - Sacramento, CA - https://amiwest.net/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 26 - Evanston Public Library (Falcon Room, 303), Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ Retro Computer Festival 2024 - November 9-10 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72253/Retro-Computer-Festival-2024-Saturday-9th-November/ Interview Links Interview with Vic - https://www.kotaku.com.au/2018/10/the-story-of-chiller-one-very-messed-up-video-game/ Vic has several software credits at Moby Games, including Arrows and Alley, and Magic Maze for the Sorcerer - https://www.mobygames.com/per
Floppy Days 138 - Interview with Hans Franke, VCF Europe and Computeum
Episode 138 - Interview with Hans Franke, VCF Europe and Computeum Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to Episode 138 of the Floppy Days Podcast for April, 2024! My name is Randy Kindig and I host this podcast about beautiful, obsolete, extremely interesting computers of 35 to 45 years ago, when computer diversity was abundant. This episode is an interview show, where we talk with Hans Franke. Hans is very active in the classic computer community, being an organizer of the European Vintage Computer show AND curator of a computer museum! We discuss both of these things with Hans and learn more about the vintage computer scene in Europe. I actually have several interviews completed and queued up to publish. So, while I continue to work on covering the next computer in the timeline, expect several interviews in the near term. I won't go into details, but these are great interviews that I think you will enjoy. I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com. I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast. What I've Been Up To Indy Classic Expo - http://www.indyclassic.org 8-Bit Classics - http://www.8bitclassics.com 80 column card for Atari 1090XL at Tindie from Brian Reifsnyder New Acquisitions Coco MPI mention on an earlier episode (Episode 131) Cloud-9 - http://www.cloud9tech.com/ Texas Instruments TI58 & TI59 calculators coverage on an earlier episode (Episode 3) TI58/59 battery pack mod from Bob Wolfson 2.4A power adapter for Atari XL/XE - https://www.8bitclassics.com/product/atari-xl-xe-2-4a-amp-power-adapter/ Upcoming Shows The 32nd Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - May 4-5, 2024 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ The Festival of Portable Computing - May 18-19 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72231/The-Festival-of-Portable-Computing-18th-19th-May-2024/ CorgsCon (Columbus Ohio Retro Gaming Society) - June 1 - Kasich Hall – Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, OH - https://www.corgscon.com/ Game Not Over 2024 - June 8-9 - Dunstall Park Racecourse in Wolverhampton, U.K. - https://retro.directory/browse/events/326-game-not-over-2024 VCF Southwest - June 14-16, 2024 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Boatfest Retro Computer Expo - June 14-16 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 22 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 22-23 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start Kickstart Amiga UK Expo - June 29-30 - Nottingham, UK - https://www.amigashow.com/ KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 16-21 (in-person), July 27-28 (virtual) - University of Illinois in Springfield, IL - https://www.kansasfest.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 19-21, 2024 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Nottingham Video Game Expo - July 20-21 - The Belgrave Rooms, Nottingham, U.K. - https://www.nottsvge.com/ Fujiama - July 23-28 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2024/ Vintage Computer Festival West - August 2-3 - Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/ VCF Midwest - September 7-8 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ VCF Europe - September 7-8 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - September 27-29 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Tandy Assembly - September 27-29 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ AmiWest - October 25-27 - Sacramento, CA - https://amiwest.net/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 26 - Evanston Public Library (Falcon Room, 303), Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ Retro Computer Festival 2024 - November 9-10 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72253/Retro-Computer-Festival-2024-Saturday-9th-November/ Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/current-year-vintage-computer-show-schedule Interview with Hans Franke VCF Europe (VCFe.org) Computeum (Computeum )

Floppy Days 137 - Post-VCF SoCal 2024 with Paul Nurminen
Post-VCF SoCal 2024 with Paul Nurminen Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper 0 Floppy Days Tune 1 min 13 sec Vintage Computer Ads 1 min 43 sec Intro 2 min 53 sec bumper - Paul Nurminen 3 min 00 sec Discussion with Paul Nurminen 1 hr 20 min 00 sec Closing Hello, and welcome to episode 137 of the Floppy Days Podcast. I'm Randy Kindig, the host of this show. This episode is an adjunct to and follow up to the last episode (#136) of Floppy Days. In that episode, which covered the Grundy New Brain, I alluded to the fact that in the "What I've Been Up To" section of the podcast, I was going to publish a separate episode just for that. I did that because I don't like to have episodes over about 90 minutes, and having this segment in that show would have pushed it well beyond that. So, for this episode I enlisted the aid of Paul Nurminen (aka Nurmix), who was also an attendee and exhibitor/vendor at the recent Vintage Computer Festival Southern California, to help me do a follow up discussion of that show. We discuss our exhibits, other exhibits of note, our general thoughts about the show, and a whole lot more. I hope you enjoy this. Links VCF SoCal - https://www.vcfsocal.com/ Intellivisionaries Podcast - http://intellivisionaries.com/ White Flag Computing - https://www.whiteflagcomputing.com Episode 83 of Floppy Days about the Intellivision Keyboard Component with Paul Nurminen - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-83-the-intellivision-keyboard-component 1090XL expansion unit and 320K RAM board - reifsnyderb Discussion - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/333084-swutils-simcheck-simtest-osdump/ Purchase - https://www.tindie.com/products/5cfab/1090xl-modernized-reproduction-main-board/ The VintNerd - https://thevintnerd.com/index.html Mega65 - https://mega65.org/ 10-Minute Amiga Retro Cast - https://www.youtube.com/c/10MinuteAmigaRetroCast Aquarius+ computer - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/352635-introducing-the-aquarius/

Floppy Days 136 - Grundy New Brain Peripherals to Web Sites with Chris Espoinidis
Grundy NewBrain Peripherals thru Web Sites with Chris Despoinidis Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper 0 Floppy Days Tune 1 min 13 sec Vintage Computer Ads 1 min 42 sec Intro 5 min 17 sec bumper - Chris Espoinidis 5 min 28 sec New Acquisitions 6 min 33 sec bumper - Gerald McMullon 7 min 16 sec Upcoming Computer Shows 12 min 01 sec bumper - Steve O'Hara-Smith 12 min 27 sec Peripherals 22 min 37 sec Using the Machine 33 min 14 sec User Groups/Newsletters 38 min 36 sec Books & Manuals 41 min 47 sec Software 44 min 11 sec Ads 46 min 45 sec Modern Upgrades 51 min 43 sec Emulation 59 min 07 sec Buying One Today 1 hr 02 min 52 sec Community 1 hr 04 min 50 sec Current Web Sites and Videos 1 hr 12 min 45 sec Closing Hello, and welcome to episode 136 of the Floppy Days Podcast. I'm Randy Kindig, the host of this show, and I'll be your guide to a journey back to the year 1982, when a very interesting, low-cost machine entered the market in Great Britain. This is the final episode on the Grundy New Brain, not a well-known machine, most particularly here in the United States where very few have even heard of it; let alone ever owned one. If you want to know more, I've recently published interviews with John Grant, Steve O'Hara-Smith, and Gerald McMullon concerning their involvement with the New Brain back in the day. I also, in the most recent episode, discussed tech specs around the machine with my co-host. Regarding that, in that last episode, to help me talk about the machine, I enlisted Chris Espoinidis to co-host this episode. Chris manages the New Brain Emulator site from his home in Greece. Even though Chris created one of the premier New Brain emulators in existence, and that was the primary focus of his Web site initially, his site has become one of the best places (along with Gerald McMullon's Website) to get any and all New Brain information (which quite honestly is quite sparse). The focus of this last episode detailing the machine, Chris and I will cover things like peripherals, Web sites, books & magazines, software, using the machine, emulators and all of the topics that have become the standard for machine coverage on Floppy Days. This episode will complete all the details we know on the New Brain, with the intent to impart every bit of information to you that I could find about this little-known machine. Before we do that, I will talk about upcoming shows. Upcoming Shows Interim Computer Festival SPRING - March 23rd and 24th, 2024 - Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://sdf.org/icf/ Midwest Gaming Classic - April 5-7 - Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East - April 12-14, 2024 - Wall, NJ - http://www.vcfed.org Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 13-14 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show - April 13-14 - Burbank VFW Hall, Burbank, CA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start VCF Europa - April 27-28, 2024 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ The 32nd Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - May 4-5, 2024 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ VCF Southwest - June 14-16, 2024 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Boatfest Retro Computer Expo - June 14-16 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 22-23 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start Kickstart Amiga UK Expo - June 29-30 - Nottingham, UK - https://www.amigashow.com/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 19-21, 2024 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ VCF Midwest - September 7-8 - NEW VENUE TBD - http://vcfmw.org/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - September 27-29, 2024 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Tandy Assembly - September 27-29, 2024 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 26, 2024 - Evanston Public Library (Falcon Room, 303), Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html Facebook show schedule - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/ Newsletters NewBrain Online (Dutch/Netherlands) - https://retro.hcc.nl/newbrain/newbrain-online.html Books and Manuals books/manuals at archive.org - https://archive.org/search?query=grundy+newbrain Modern Upgrades NewBrain SD-Box https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G5fARz7HnM https://newbrainemu.eu/new/download/nb-sd-card-box-v-2-circuit-diagram/ Emulation NewBrain Emulator by Chris https://newbrainemu.eu/new/download/newbrain-emulator-beta-4/ https://github.com/cdesp/NB-Emulator-V.3 Buying One Today https://www.ebay.com/itm/325473049117 - $999 BIN (from Greece) Grundy NewBrain Model AD.Complete with PSU, Manual, AZERTY !! Test

Floppy Days 135 - Grundy New Brain Tech Specs with Chris Despoinidis
Grundy NewBrain Tech Specs with Chris Despoinidis Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper 0 Floppy Days Tune 1 min 14 sec Vintage Computer Ads 1 min 43 sec Intro 5 min 38 sec bumper - Chris Espoinidis 5 min 51 sec New Acquisitions 16 min 32 sec bumper - Gerald McMullon 17 min 15 sec Upcoming Computer Shows 21 min 26 sec bumper - Steve O'Hara-Smith 21 min 45 sec Interview with Chris Espoinidis 36 min 23 sec Tech Specs 1 hr 12 min 07 sec Closing Hello, and welcome to episode 135 of the Floppy Days Podcast. I'm Randy Kindig, the host of this show, and I'll be your guide to a journey back to the year 1982, when a very interesting, low-cost machine entered the market in Great Britain. This machine, if you've been following the show, was the Grundy New Brain. This is not a well-known machine, most particularly here in the United States where very few have even heard of it; let alone ever owned one. As you know, I've been hot on the trail of pioneers who were involved with development of this machine. I've recently published interviews with John Grant, Steve O'Hara-Smith, and Gerald McMullon concerning their involvement with the New Brain back in the day. In this episode I move more into discussing details of the machine and its impact on the home and small business market in the 1980's. To help me talk about the machine, I was able to track down Chris Espoinidis and convince him to co-host this episode. Chris manages the New Brain Emulator site from his home in Greece. Even though Chris created one of the premier New Brain emulators in existence, and that was the primary focus of his Web site initially, his site has become one of the best places (along with Gerald McMullon's Website) to get any and all New Brain information (which quite honestly is quite sparse). The focus of this episode, and the next, is to cover things like tech specs, Web sites, emulators and all of the topics that have become the standard for machine coverage on Floppy Days. This particular episode contains an interview with Chris, and then goes into great detail concerning the technical specifications of the New Brain. The next episode will cover all the other details, with the intent to impart every bit of information to you that I could find about this little-known machine. Before we do that, I will talk about new acquisitions and upcoming shows.

Floppy Days 134 - VCF SoCal 2024 Preview with the Organizing Team
VCF SoCal 2024 Preview with Organizing Team Hello, and welcome to this bonus, interview-only episode of the Floppy Days Podcast. My name is Randy Kindig; your host. This episode is a discussion with most of the organizing team around the very first Vintage Computer Festival 2024 that is coming up February 17 & 18 in Orange, CA. You'll hear how the show came about, why the particular location and time were selected, and what you can expect to see at the show. I'm excited to have a new VCF available in an area and time that should be fantastic to visit and be a part of. Note that this interview occurred on Dec. 5, 2023, and you'll hear several references to the show being "2 and a half months" away. Links VCF SoCal Website - https://www.vcfsocal.com/ VCF SoCal Organizers - https://www.vcfsocal.com/faq#organizers The VintNerd Website (Steve and Micki) - https://thevintnerd.com/index.html The VintNerd YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/thevintnerd Matt's YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@polymatt Pathways to Invention Film (Levi) - https://pathwaystoinvention.org/ Southern AMIS Projects (Rob) - https://www.southernamis.com/ Video version of this interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y2zfRP8kyE&t=9s

Floppy Days 133 - Grundy NewBrain History with Gerald McMullon
Grundy NewBrain History with Gerald McMullon Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper 0 Floppy Days Tune 1 min 14 sec Vintage Computer Ads 1 min 43 sec Intro 6 min 33 sec bumper - Gerald McMullon 7 min 15 sec New Acquisitions 13 min 55 sec bumper - Steve O'Hara-Smith 14 min 13 sec Upcoming Computer Shows 17 min 26 sec Interview with Gerald McMullon 57 min 51 sec Closing Hello, and welcome to episode 133 of the Floppy Days Podcast for December, 2023. I'm Randy Kindig, your host on this vintage computer retrospective. Hard to believe we're coming up on the end of 2023. It was Feb. 2013 when I took the first halting steps in producing a podcast, so we're coming up on 11 years of Floppy Days very soon. We are currently covering computers that were released in the year 1982. We are very early in that year, with lots of other computers to be covered. This episode is about a machine that was developed in the UK. It was pretty much unknown in the United States and even in the UK didn't get much traction. The machine I'm talking about is the Grundy NewBrain. There are a lot of unique things about this machine that you'll discover through the history episode, these interviews and the episodes that cover the details. I've been fortunate enough to be able to contact a few people who were involved in the development of the machine. I've published interviews so far with John Grant and Steve O'Hara-Smith. This episode is also an interview episode, but this time with another key member in its development: Gerald McMullon. Gerald has a lot of interesting information to share about the NewBrain, including information about its development and support of the machine after its release. I have been able to contact some other principals in the development of the NewBrain: Basil Smith and Mike Wakefield. Unfortunately, Basil has had a lot of recent requests for interviews, so I'm waiting in line for that. However, should I be able to talk with Basil and/or Mike, I will of course bring all of that to Floppy Days in future episodes. This current episode is the end of the interview episodes around the NewBrain at this point in time. Next month, and actually likely the next 2 months, we will be covering the details of the machine such as tech specs, emulators, software, newsletters, peripherals, web sites, etc. That will happen with a special co-host that I'm going to leave as a surprise for right now. New Acquisitions TI95 cassette interface - https://github.com/molleraj/ti95interface AquariCart + 32K RAM - https://www.ebay.com/itm/124471439128 MC-10 3-button joystick pad - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzsGst8HAiI Upcoming Computer Shows Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 17-18, 2024 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Interim Computer Festival SPRING - March 23rd and 24th, 2024 - Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://sdf.org/icf/ Midwest Gaming Classic - April 5-7 - Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East - April 12-14, 2024 - Wall, NJ - http://www.vcfed.org Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 13-14 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ VCF Europa - April 27-28, 2024 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ The 32nd Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - May 4-5, 2024 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ VCF Southwest - June 14-16, 2024 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Boatfest Retro Computer Expo - June 14-16 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 14-15 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start Kickstart Amiga UK Expo - June 29-30 - Nottingham, UK - https://www.amigashow.com/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 19-21, 2024 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Fujiama - July 23-28 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2024/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - Aug. 15-28 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-se Portland Retro Gaming Expo - September 27-29, 2024 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Silly Venture WE (Winter Edition) - Dec. 5-8 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-we http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html Facebook show schedule - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/ Interview Gerald's Website - http://www.mcmullen.com NewBrain Nutshell History by Gerald at Binary Dinosaurs - https://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/Museum/Grundy/gerald.php NewBrain history article by Gerald in Micro Computer Mart newsletter - https://newbrainemu.eu/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_download/gid,96/Itemid,52/

Floppy Days 132 - Grundy New Brain History with Steve O'Hara-Smith
Grundy NewBrain History with Steve O'Hara-Smith Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper 0 Floppy Days Tune 1 min 14 sec Vintage Computer Ads 1 min 43 sec Intro 6 min 14 sec bumper - Steve O'Hara-Smith 6 min 32 sec New Acquisitions 22 min 53 sec bumper - Gerald McMullon 23 min 36 sec Upcoming Computer Shows 26 min 51 sec Feedback 30 min 19 sec Interview with Steve O'Hara-Smith 71 min 46 sec Closing Hello, and welcome to episode 132 of the Floppy Days Podcast; a podcast about home computers in the magical years of the late 70's through the 80's. I'm Randy Kindig, your host on this voyage. We are currently covering computers that were released in the year 1982; a banner year for personal computers. It's actually going to take quite some time to get through this year in history. This is the second episode about a computer that few in the United States know much about. It was released in the UK and even there didn't get much traction. It was a unique beast, with its own personality and quirks; before it went quietly into the annals of history. The machine I'm talking about is the Grundy NewBrain. As it was so relatively unknown, I'm going to be spending a lot of air time talking about its history: in the last episode (Episode 131) I summarized its history, including a short interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, whose company did some work on the machine This episode contains an very informative interview with Steve O'Hara Smith, who was involved with development of the machine The next episode will have an interview with Gerald McMullon, also having done some work on the early NewBrain, as well as support after its release Finally, there will be 1 or more episodes to cover the usual topics of tech specs, Web sites, emulators, etc. I will have a special guest co-host for that. So, as you can see, there's a ton of upcoming information about the NewBrain. Please join me in learning more about this unusual machine. Before we get into this interview, I'll let you know what I've been up to and have been able to acquire lately; which continues to grow seemingly beyond my control. That brings me to some administrative news. In order to provide maximum flexibility for my listeners, I'm going to start publishing a timeline in the show notes. It will have a time marker for each section of the podcast, so that, for instance, if you want to jump straight to an interview and re-listen to just that section, you can do so. This is an easy thing to provide, with the audio editing software I use, so from now on expect to see that information in the show notes. New Acquisitions TS2068/Spectrum group - https://groups.io/g/TS2068 Wafadrive - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotronics_Wafadrive mini-bus expansion board - https://www.andertone.com/product/ts1000-expansion-extender/ composite mod for TS1000/ZX81 - https://www.ebay.com/itm/175512970894 64K RAM pack (Memopak) - https://www.andertone.com/product/memopak-64k-ram-pack/ TS1500 keyboard membrane - https://www.ebay.com/itm/304824623956 Upcoming Computer Shows Atari Party 2023! - Saturday, December 2, 2023, 1pm to 4pm - Quakertown Train Station, Quakertown, PA - https://quakertowntrainstation.org - organized by Peter Fletcher World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/ Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 17-18, 2024 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Interim Computer Festival SPRING - March 23-24, 2024 - Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://sdf.org/icf/ Midwest Gaming Classic - April 5-7 - Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East - April 5-7, 2024 - Wall, NJ - http://www.vcfed.org Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 13-14 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ The 32nd Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - May 4-5, 2024 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ VCF Southwest - June 14-16, 2024 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Boatfest Retro Computer Expo - June 14-16 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 19-21, 2024 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Fujiama - July 23-28 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2024/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - Aug. 15-28 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-se Portland Retro Gaming Expo - September 27-29, 2024 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Silly Venture WE (Winter Edition) - Dec. 5-8 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-we http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html Facebook show schedule - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/

Floppy Days 131 - Grundy NewBrain History with John Grant
The Grundy NewBrain History with John Grant Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 131 of the Floppy Days Podcast; where old computers get a new lease on life and have a purpose once again! I'm Randy Kindig, your host on this journey to the late 70's through the 80's. We are currently covering computers that were released in the year 1982; a banner year for personal computers. Next up is a computer that few in the United States know much about. It was released in the UK and even there didn't get much traction. It was a unique beast, with its own personality and quirks; before it went quietly into the annals of history. The machine I'm talking about is the Grundy NewBrain. Certainly a bold and pretentious name for a computer, but memorable nonetheless. As it was so relatively unknown, I'm going to be spending a lot of air time talking about its history. Here's how I'm planning to cover this unique machine: in this episode I'll be summarizing its history, including a short interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, whose company did some work on the machine a later episode will have an interview with Steve O'Hara Smith, who was involved with development of the machine yet another episode will have an interview with Gerald McMullon, also having done some work on the early NewBrain, as well as support after its release Finally, there will be 1 or more episodes to cover the usual topics of tech specs, Web sites, emulators, etc. I will have a special guest co-host for that. So, as you can see, there's a ton of upcoming information about the NewBrain. Please join me in learning more about this unusual machine. Before we get into the history of the machine, I'll let you know what I've been up to and have been able to acquire lately, computer and modern upgrade-wise. New Acquisitions the Commodore Room - https://www.youtube.com/@thecommodoreroom4554 Tandy Assembly - http://www.tandyassembly.com PiKey-10 upgrade - http://www.pikey.tech/ NewSoft - (https://jaynewirth.wixsite.com/newsoft CoCo3 512K RAM upgrade - http://www.cloud9tech.com CoCo Multi-pak PAL upgrade - http://www.cloud9tech.com ChromaTRS - https://www.ebay.com/str/trs80universe Vintage computer printed items - https://techdungeon.xyz/ 48KRAM (Josh Malone) Twitch channel - https://twitch.tv/48kRAM Vintage Computer Shows Atari Party 2023! - Saturday, December 2, 2023, 1pm to 4pm - Quakertown Train Station, Quakertown, PA - https://quakertowntrainstation.org - organized by Peter Fletcher World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/ Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 17-18, 2024 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Midwest Gaming Classic - April 5-7 - Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East - April 5-7, 2024 - Wall, NJ - http://www.vcfed.org Indy Classic Computer & Video Game Expo - April 13-14 - Indianapolis, IN - http://www.indyclassic.org The 32nd Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! - May 4-5, 2024 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ VCF Southwest - June 14-16, 2024 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html Facebook show schedule - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/ References history article by Gerald McMullen - https://newbrainemu.eu/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_download/gid,96/Itemid,52/ Grundy NewBrain history at Centre for Computing History - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/5291/Grundy-NewBrain-AD/ Grundy articles at Centre for Computing History - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/8265/Grundy-Business-Systems/ Grundy NewBrain at old-computers.com - https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=176 Grundy NewBrain at Binary Dinosaurs - https://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/Museum/Grundy/index.php 2012 Article on the Grundy NewBrain at The Register - https://www.theregister.com/2012/07/02/newbury_labs_grundy_business_systems_newbrain_is_30_years_old/ NewBrain at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grundy_NewBrain

Floppy Days 130 - Interview with Forrest Mims III
Interview with Forrest Mims III, Electronics Author Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Books: Forrest's first memoir "Siliconnections: Coming of Age in the Electronic Era" - https://amzn.to/48wmIao Forrest's best-selling book "Getting Started in Electronics" - https://amzn.to/3LDExdY Forrest's upcoming book "Maverick Scientist: My Adventures as an Amateur Scientist" - https://amzn.to/3PAgP3k Hello, and welcome to episode 130 of the Floppy Days Podcast for September 2023. I'm your host, Randy Kindig, and I'll be bringing you this podcast as the beautiful fall weather and foliage descends on central Indiana. I love the podcast, and I love the computer shows that start popping up in the fall, which you'll hear more about on this show. I feel like I've been EXTREMELY lucky lately, in being able to get interviews with some outstanding contributors to the early home computer era of the late 70's and early 80's. As you know, I've had interviews recently published with Paul Terrell, who jump-started the early Apple Computer with his purchase of their first 50 Apple I's. Those interviews will continue as Paul and I continue to talk. Additionally, I also recently was able to talk with one of the most prolific, impactful authors of electronics books and kits on the planet, Mr. Forrest Mims III. I would be surprised if just about every listener of this podcast hasn't heard of Forrest and wasn't impacted in some positive manner by his terrific tutorials on electronics. In this episode, Forrest and I talk about his early involvement with the creation of MITS and the Altair, how he got into publishing numerous books for Radio Shack, and much, much more. Forrest is still extremely busy and involved with the scientific community today and was happy to share his story. Almost as happy as we are to have been able to talk with him. Before we talk with Forrest, I will give a short run-down of what I've been up to and new acquisitions (that's where the computer show discussion comes in). New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To TS2068 Twister/HDMI board - https://www.andertone.com/product/the-twist/ TS2068 OS64 board - https://www.andertone.com/product/zebra-os-64-cartridge-for-timex-sinclair-2068/ HDMI cable - https://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Original-Master-System-Console/dp/B07Z5W7QS7/ 2068 Personal Color Computer User Manual - https://www.andertone.com/product/timex-sinclair-2068-personal-color-computer-user-manual/ T/S 2068 Basics and Beyond by Sharon Zardetto Aker - https://www.andertone.com/product/t-s-2068-basics-and-beyond/ The Essential Guide to Timex/Sinclair Home Computers - https://www.andertone.com/product/the-essential-guide-to-timex-sinclair-home-computers/ TS2068 group on groups.io - https://groups.io/g/TS2068 "Back Into the Storm" by Bil Herd and Margaret Morabito (autographed) - https://www.8bitclassics.com/product/back-into-the-storm-a-design-engineers-story-of-commodore-computers-in-the-1980s/ modern power supply for TS2068 - https://www.andertone.com/product/ts-2068-power-supply/ M100/T102/T200 TPDD1 boot disk - https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/store/#!/TPDD1-disk-26-3808/p/141211027 TI99 CF7+ case - https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/store/#!/3D-printed-case-for-CF7/p/80201708 Upcoming Shows Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Amiga38 Germany - Oct. 6-7 - Das Rote Krokodil - Kunstwerk Mönchengladbach - https://amigaevent.de/WB.html The Interim Computer Festival - Oct. 7-8 - Seattle, WA - https://sdf.org/icf/ AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net Dragon MeetUp - October 7-8 - The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge - https://www.facebook.com/events/225011523831254/?ref=newsfeed Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 14, 2023 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ Mactoberfest Bay Area Meetup - October 14, 2023 - Belmont, CA - https://www.bigmessowires.com/2023/09/03/mactoberfest-bay-area-meetup-is-october-14/ World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/ http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html Facebook show schedule - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/ Interview Web site operated by Forrest - http://www.forrestmims.org/biography.html History of MITS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_Instrumentation_and_Telemetry_Systems Forrest at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Mims "The Altair story; early days at MITS.", CREATIVE COMPUTING VOL. 10, NO. 11 / NOVEMBER 1984 / PAGE 17, Forrest M. Mims III - https://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n11/17_The_Altair_story_early_d.php Easy-to-understand guide to home computers by Forrest Mims III - https://archive.org/details/easy-to-unders

Floppy Days 129 - Paul Terrell - Exidy Part 2
Paul Terrell - Exidy Part 2 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 129 for August, 2023 of the Floppy Days Podcast, with your host, Randy Kindig! If you're a regular listener, you'll know that we're in the middle of a series of episodes where we talk with Paul Terrell. Paul has been credited with essentially jump-starting the personal computer industry in many ways, not the least of which was by buying the original Apple I computer from the just-getting-started Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and selling it in his equally-famous computer store, The Byte Shop. This was one of the first personal computer retail store chains in existence. Paul was also a member of the legendary Homebrew Computer Club and attended the West Coast Computer Faire. He was involved in the development of both the Exidy Sorcerer and BYT-8 computers and he later went on to start ComputerMania Inc. which was a chain of computer stores created with the purpose of renting computers and software. The first episode with Paul (June 2023's episode) was a sort of overview before Paul's time being involved with Exidy and the Exidy Sorcerer computer. Last month was segment 1 of 2 focusing directly on Exidy and the Sorcerer. And, this month is segment 2 of 2; again focusing on Exidy and the Sorcerer. You'll hear more about how the Sorcerer came about, hear Paul's insight into why certain design decisions were made, and what mistakes were made. The Sorcerer was truly an early, important machine, and had impressive features for the timeframe that it came out. As a reminder, if you want to hear additional information about the Sorcerer and about Exidy, there are 2 other Floppy Days Podcasts you'll want to listen to: Episode 17, where the Sorcerer is covered in detail - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-episode-17-the-exidy-sorcerer-live-from-vcfse-20 Episode 114, which features an interview with Howell Ivy. Howell was the principal designer of the Sorcerer and recollects his time at Exidy. - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-114-howell-ivy-exidy-sorcerer-and-exidy Paul decided he would really like to be able to talk about his incredible career in its entirety, including an amazing number of industry-impacting contributions, more than just the time with Exidy, and I of course was ecstatic that he decided my humble podcast could be a good medium for that. What that means for the listener, is that you can expect an even broader series of continued podcasts with Paul in the near future, interspersed with other computer-based and interview episodes along the way. I really hope you enjoy the Paul Terrel series in general, and this episode should give you a nice wrap-up on his involvement with Exidy and the Sorcerer! New Acquisitions Console5 - http://www.console5.com Okimate 10 printer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okimate_10 ATR8000 - https://www.atarimagazines.com/v3n4/ATR8000.html Happy 1050 - https://www.8bitclassics.com/product/happy-1050-upgrade-for-atari-1050-disk-drive/?ref=Floppydays Atari Joystick USB Adapter (JAKAdapter) - http://kair.us/projects/jakadapter/index.html Upcoming Shows VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ World of Retrocomputing - September 16-17 - Kitchener, Ontario, Canada - https://www.worldofretrocomputing.com/2023-worc-expo Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Amiga38 Germany - Oct. 6-7 - Das Rote Krokodil - Kunstwerk Mönchengladbach - https://amigaevent.de/WB.html The Interim Computer Festival - Oct. 7-8 - Seattle, WA - https://sdf.org/icf/ AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net Dragon MeetUp - October 7-8 - The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge - https://www.facebook.com/events/225011523831254/?ref=newsfeed Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 14, 2023 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/ http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html Facebook show schedule - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/ Paul Terrell Interview Paul on LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-terrell-2441a17/details/experience/ Paul on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/paul.terrell.92/ Paul at WikiPedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Terrell Interview with Paul at NextShark - https://nextshark.com/paul-terrell-apple "Today in Apple history: The Byte Shop, Apple's first retailer, opens" by Cult of Mac - https://www.cultofmac.com/457420/byte-shop-opens-tiah/ "The Man Who Jump-Started Apple by Harry McCracken", August 23, 2007, PC World - https://web.archive.org/web/20110511

Floppy Days 128 - Paul Terrell - Exidy Part 1
Floppy Days Episode 128 - Paul Terrell - Exidy Part 1 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 128 for July, 2023 of the Floppy Days Podcast, with your host, Randy Kindig! If you're a regular listener, you'll know that we're in the middle of a series of episodes where we talk with Paul Terrell. Paul has been credited with essentially jump-starting the personal computer industry in many ways, not the least of which was by buying the original Apple I computer from the just-getting-started Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and selling it in his equally-famous computer store, The Byte Shop. This was one of the first personal computer retail stores in existence. Paul was also a member of the legendary Homebrew Computer Club and attended the West Coast Computer Faire. He was involved in the development of both the Exidy Sorcerer and BYT-8 computers and he later went on to start ComputerMania Inc. which was a chain of computer stores created with the purpose of renting computers and software. This guy has had an amazing career and I am truly honored to be able to bring you a series of interviews with Paul for the podcast. Paul and I will be covering his entire career, from his early beginnings, thru the Byte Shop years and his time with the nascent Apple Computer, and beyond. The first segment (last month's episode) was a sort of overview before Paul's time being involved with Exidy and the Exidy Sorcerer computer. This segment is part 1 of 2 focusing directly on Exidy and the Sorcerer. You'll hear how the Sorcerer came about, hear Paul's insight into why certain design decisions were made, and what mistakes were made. The Sorcerer was truly an early, important machine, and had impressive features for the timeframe that it came out. If you want to hear additional information about the Sorcerer and about Exidy, there are 2 other Floppy Days Podcasts you'll want to listen to: Episode 17, where the Sorcerer is covered in detail - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-episode-17-the-exidy-sorcerer-live-from-vcfse-20 Episode 114, which features an interview with Howell Ivy. Howell was the principal designer of the Sorcerer and recollects his time at Exidy. - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-114-howell-ivy-exidy-sorcerer-and-exidy Paul first contacted me after the interview I had with Howell Ivy and Howell's involvement and remembrances of the Exidy Sorcerer. He really liked Howell's interview and wanted to add a few details and give his perspective on the Sorcerer. As we talked further, Paul decided he would really like to be able to talk about his incredible career in its entirety, more than just the time with Exidy, and I of course was ecstatic that he decided my humble podcast could be a good medium for that. I really hope you enjoy the Paul Terrel series in general, and this episode should give you a nice perspective on his involvement with Exidy and the Sorcerer! Upcoming Shows Vintage Computer Festival West 2023 - August 4 & 5 - Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/ Atari Buy/Sell/Swap/Trade Event - August 5th 10am-2pm - 15 miles SE of Charlotte, NC - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/352517-atari-buysellswaptrade-event-august-5th-10am-2pm-15-miles-se-of-charlotte-nc/ ZZAP! Live 2023 - August 12 - The Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, CV8 1ED - https://fusionretroevents.co.uk/category/zzap-live/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - Aug. 17-20 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2023-se Fujiama 2023 - Aug. 30 - Sep. 3 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2023/ VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Amiga38 Germany - Oct. 6-7 - Das Rote Krokodil - Kunstwerk Mönchengladbach - https://amigaevent.de/WB.html The Interim Computer Festival - Oct. 7-8 - Seattle, WA - https://sdf.org/icf/ AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 14, 2023 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/ http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html Facebook show schedule - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/ Paul Terrell Interview Paul on LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-terrell-2441a17/details/experience/ Paul on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/paul.terrell.92/ Paul at WikiPedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Terrell Interview with Paul at NextShark - https://nextshark.com/paul-terrell-apple "Today in A

Floppy Days 127 - James Shackel Estate Haul and Paul Terrell Intro
Floppy Days 127 - James Shackel Estate Haul and Paul Terrell Intro Interview Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 127 for June, 2023 of the Floppy Days Podcast, with your host, yours truly, Randy Kindig! I doubt there are few listeners who don't know the name Paul Terrell. Paul has been credited with essentially jump-starting the personal computer industry in many ways, not the least of which was by buying the original Apple I computer from the just-getting-started Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and selling it in his equally-famous computer store, The Byte Shop. This was the first personal computer retail store in existence. Paul was also a member of the legendary Homebrew Computer Club and attended the West Coast Computer Faire. He was involved in the development of both the Exidy Sorcerer and BYT-8 computers and he later went on to start ComputerMania Inc. which was a chain of computer stores created with the purpose of renting computers and software. This guy has had an amazing career and I am truly honored to be able to bring you a series of interviews with Paul for the podcast. Paul and I will be covering his entire career, from his early beginnings, thru the Byte Shop years and his time with the nascent Apple Computer, and beyond. This first segment is a sort of overview leading up to Paul's time involved with Exidy and the Exidy Sorcerer computer. You'll hear a small bit about Bill Gates, the early Micro-soft, the Byte Shop, the early Apple, the Homebrew Computer Club, the West Coast Computer Faire and a whole lot more. Later episodes will be focused primarily on a single topic, such as the Sorcerer, the Byte Shop, etc. Paul first contacted me after the interview I had with Howell Ivy and Howell's involvement and remembrances of the Exidy Sorcerer. He really liked Howell's interview and wanted to add a few details and give his perspective on the Sorcerer. As we talked further, Paul decided he would really really like to be able to talk about his incredible career in its entirety, more than just the time with Exidy, and I of course was ecstatic that he decided my humble podcast could be a good medium for that. I really hope you enjoy the series in general, and this short episode should give you a taste of the things to come! What I've Been Up To and New Acquisitions Console5 (cap kit for Osborne) - http://www.console5.com "The Commodore Room" YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@thecommodoreroom4554 Upcoming Shows Kickstart Amiga UK Expo - July 1-2 - Nottingham, UK - https://www.amigashow.com/ KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 18-23, 2023 (in-person) - July 29–30, 2023 (virtual) - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri - https://www.kansasfest.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 28-30 2023 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Atari Buy/Sell/Swap/Trade Event - August 5th 10am-2pm - 15 miles SE of Charlotte, NC - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/352517-atari-buysellswaptrade-event-august-5th-10am-2pm-15-miles-se-of-charlotte-nc/ ZZAP! Live 2023 - August 12 - The Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, CV8 1ED - https://fusionretroevents.co.uk/category/zzap-live/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - Aug. 17-20 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2023-se Fujiama 2023 - Aug. 30 - Sep. 3 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2023/ VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Amiga38 Germany - Oct. 6-7 - Das Rote Krokodil - Kunstwerk Mönchengladbach - https://amigaevent.de/WB.html AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 14, 2023 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/ http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html Facebook show schedule - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/ Paul Terrel Interview Paul on LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-terrell-2441a17/details/experience/ Paul on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/paul.terrell.92/ Paul at WikiPedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Terrell Interview with Paul at NextShark - https://nextshark.com/paul-terrell-apple "Today in Apple history: The Byte Shop, Apple's first retailer, opens" by Cult of Mac - https://www.cultofmac.com/457420/byte-shop-opens-tiah/ "The Man Who Jump-Started Apple by Harry McCracken", August 23, 2007, PC World - https://web.archive.org/web/20110511184229/http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/005240

Floppy Days 126 - Bob Frankston - VisiCalc
Floppy Days 126 - Interview with Bob Frankston, Co-developer of Visicalc Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, everyone! Welcome to episode 126 of the Floppy Days Podcast, with yours truly, Randy Kindig, as the host. Everyone, and I mean everyone, listening to this podcast has surely heard of the ground-breaking application (for its time) Visicalc. Visicalc was the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for the Apple II by VisiCorp on October 17, 1979. It is considered the killer application for the Apple II, turning the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool, and then prompting IBM to introduce the IBM PC two years later. More than 700,000 copies were sold in six years, and up to 1 million copies over its history. Initially developed for the Apple II computer, VisiCalc was ported to numerous platforms, both 8-bit and some of the early 16-bit systems, such as the Commodore PET, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80 (TRSDOS), CP/M, MS-DOS, and even the HP Series 80. VisiCalc was later replaced in the market by Lotus 1-2-3 and eventually by Microsoft's Excel, which is the dominant spreadsheet today. Spreadsheets, along with word processors, and presentation tools are still today considered one of the key applications for computing. Bob Frankston, along with Dan Bricklin, are the co-inventors of VisiCalc. This month, we have an interview with the aforementioned Bob Frankston. Bob was kind enough to take time to talk with me about what it was like to create such a ground-breaking tool. Before doing that, I have a few new acquisitions to discuss and I'll tell you about upcoming computer shows. New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To Retro Innovations Lige and the YouTube show "The Commodore Room" - https://www.youtube.com/@thecommodoreroom4554 Console5 (cap kits) Upcoming Shows The 64 bits or less Retro Gaming Festival - June 3-4 - Benton County Fairgrounds in Corvallis, Oregon (sponsored by the Portland Retro Gaming Expo) - https://www.64bitsorless.com/ Boatfest Vintage Computer Exposition - June 23-25 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info VCF Southwest - June 23-25 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX - http://vcfsw.org Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 24-25 - "Interim" Computer Museum, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start Kickstart Amiga UK Expo - July 1-2 - Nottingham, UK - https://www.amigashow.com/ KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 18-23, 2023 (in-person) - July 29–30, 2023 (virtual) - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri - https://www.kansasfest.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 28-30 2023 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ ZZAP! Live 2023 - August 12 - The Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, CV8 1ED - https://fusionretroevents.co.uk/category/zzap-live/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - Aug. 17-20 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2023-se Fujiama 2023 - Aug. 30 - Sep. 3 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2023/ VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 14, 2023 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/ http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html Facebook show listings - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/ Interview Bob's Website - https://www.frankston.com/ New York Times article on Bricklin and Frankston joining Lotus (acquisition) - https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/10/business/business-people-former-friendly-rivals-joining-forces-at-lotus.html Bob interview on TwitTV - https://twit.tv/shows/triangulation/episodes/4

Floppy Days 125 - ZX Spectrum Part 7 With PJ Evans
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Welcome to Floppy Days #125 for April, 2023. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. We are currently in the year 1982 for home computers. This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Sinclair ZX Spectrum through all the usual topics. This is the seventh of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, the second and third being coverage of the history of the Spectrum with Alessandro Grussu, the fourth being the interview with the author of the terrific book "The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer", Mr. Chris Smith, the fifth covering tech specs for the Speccy with Chris, and the sixth covering the topics peripherals, using the machine, and magazines with PJ Evans, Tour Guide and Sinclair curator at The National Museum of Computing on Bletchley Park in the U.K. The topics covered in this episode include books, software, ads, modern upgrades, emulation, buying one today, community, and Web sites. Once again, my co-host will be PJ Evans, who did a wonderful job last episode. This will be the final episode covering the ZX Spectrum, after setting the record in terms of number of episodes on Floppy Days about a single machine. As usual, I will also talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on any new acquisitions that have come my way. In addition, I'll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I'm aware. Before we get started I want to mention the show sponsors for Floppy Days. https://www.8bitclassics.com, run by my friend Corey Koltz, is a great place to get vintage computer items. This includes video cables, power supplies, PC boards, cartridges, upgrades and more for a wide variety of vintage computer platforms. In the New Acquisitions section I cover each month on this show, often one of the items I talk about has been ordered from 8-Bit Classics. Corey has been a friend of the show for some time and I really appreciate his support of the podcast. Check out the site… he has some great stuff. https://www.arcadeshopper.com, run by my friend Greg McGill, is another terrific site to get vintage computer items. Greg has a wide variety of hard-to-find items for a large number of platforms. This is another site that I do and have done a lot of shopping at and have mentioned numerous times on Floppy Days. If anything shows out of stock, just ping Greg through the contact form and he can check whether he has or can get more of the item for you. I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com. This includes Chris Petzel, Tony Cappellini, laurens, Richard Goulstone, Josh Malone, Andy Collins, Simon McCullough, Jason Moore, Quentin Barnes. I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast. Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To Amiga 500 Parceiro - [email protected] Atari XEP80-II Case - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/xep80-ii-by-mytek FD sign and shirt - http://www.vistaprint.com book - Over the Spectrum - https://amzn.to/3AmFaSZ ZXPand+ Case - http://www.sellmyretro.com Upcoming Shows Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 29 & 30 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ The 64 bits or less Retro Gaming Festival - June 3-4 - Benton County Fairgrounds in Corvallis, Oregon (sponsored by the PortlandRetro Gaming Expo) - https://www.64bitsorless.com/ Boatfest Vintage Computer Exposition - June 23-25 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info VCF Southwest - June 23-25 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX - http://vcfsw.org Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 24-25 - "Interim" Computer Museum, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start j KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 18-23, 2023 - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri - https://www.kansasfest.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 28-30 2023 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ ZZAP! Live 2023 - August 12 - The Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, CV8 1ED - https://fusionretroevents.co.uk/category/zzap-live/ VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/ Books books listed at World of Spectrum - https://worldofspectrum.org/archive/books Spectrum Machine Language For Th

Floppy Days 124 - ZX Spectrum Part 6 with PJ Evans
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Welcome to Floppy Days #124 for March, 2023. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. We are currently covering the very productive year for home computers of 1982. This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. This is the sixth of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, the second and third being coverage of the history of the Spectrum with Alessandro Grussu, the fourth being the interview with the author of the terrific book "The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer", Mr. Chris Smith, and the sixth covering tech specs for the Speccy with Chris. The topics covered in this episode include peripherals, using the machine, and magazines. Next episode we will complete the ZX Spectrum coverage, by talking about books, software, ads, modern upgrades, emulation, buying one today, community, and Web sites. As usual, I will also talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on any new acquisitions that have come my way. In addition, I'll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I'm aware and share any feedback I've gotten. Before we get started I want to mention that I now have some show sponsors for Floppy Days. https://www.8bitclassics.com, run by my friend Corey Koltz, is a great place to get vintage computer items. This includes video cables, power supplies, PC boards, cartridges, upgrades and more for a wide variety of vintage computer platforms. In the New Acquisitions section I cover each month on this show, often one of the items I talk about has been ordered from 8-Bit Classics. Corey has been a friend of the show for some time and I really appreciate his support of the podcast. Check out the site… he has some great stuff. https://www.arcadeshopper.com, run by my friend Greg McGill, is another terrific site to get vintage computer items. Greg has a wide variety of hard-to-find items for a large number of platforms. This is another site that I do and have done a lot of shopping at and have mentioned numerous times on Floppy Days. If anything shows out of stock, just ping Greg through the contact form and he can check whether he has or can get more of the item for you. I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com. This includes Chris Petzel, Tony Cappellini, laurens, Richard Goulstone, Josh Malone, Andy Collins, Simon McCullough, Jason Moore, Quentin Barnes. I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast. Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To Amiga 1000 - [email protected] Commodore SX-64 repair video by The Commodore Room - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flsn_FD2zpA Upcoming Shows Midwest Gaming Classic - March 31-April 2 - Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East 2023 - Apr 14-16, 2023 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show - April 15-16, 2023 - Burbank VFW Hall, Burbank, CA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start 31st Annual "Last" CocoFest - April 22-23, 2023 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago, Carol Stream, IL - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 29 & 30 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ The 64 bits or less Retro Gaming Festival - June 3-4 - Benton County Fairgrounds in Corvallis, Oregon (sponsored by the PortlandRetro Gaming Expo) - https://www.64bitsorless.com/ Boatfest Vintage Computer Exposition - June 23-25 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info VCF Southwest - June 23-25 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX - http://vcfsw.org Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 24-25 - "Interim" Computer Museum, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start j KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 18-23, 2023 - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri - https://www.kansasfest.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 28-30 2023 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ ZZAP! Live 2023 - August 12 - The Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, CV8 1ED - https://fusionretroevents.co.uk/category/zzap-live/ VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http

Floppy Days 123 - Amiga 1000, Parceiro, and Podcast Tenth Anniversary!
Floppy Days 123 - Amiga 1000, Parceiro and Podcast Tenth Anniversary! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Welcome to episode 123 of Floppy Days for February, 2023, where classic computers are all the rage and we lovingly take you back to the days when computers were simpler and we were younger. This is a special show for me, because this month (Feb. 17 was the publish date) marks the 10th anniversary of publishing this podcast! Man, oh, man, where has the time gone?! This podcast itself has become vintage, depending on your definition of vintage. My original intent was to continue the coverage of the ZX Spectrum this month, but my special co-host for that show was unable to record this month. I decided this was the perfect opportunity to have a special show to in some way commemorate the 10-year anniversary. My co-host and I have scheduled the recording for the Spectrum show for early March, so I'll publish that as early in March as I can. In the meantime, for this show I wanted to talk about how the show has changed and grown over the years and what my plans are for the future. I apologize for not having one of my two typical formats (machine coverage or interview) for this show. Not to worry though, I've got what I think is an interesting story around my recent work to test and set up some Amiga 1000s that have come my way; including some information about a great upgrade for the A1000 called Parceiro II. I do also want to mention that I now have some show sponsors for Floppy Days. https://www.8bitclassics.com, run by my friend Corey Koltz, is a great place to get vintage computer items. This includes video cables, power supplies, PC boards, cartridges, upgrades and more for a wide variety of vintage computer platforms. In the New Acquisitions section I cover each month on this show, often one of the items I talk about has been ordered from 8-Bit Classics. Corey has been a friend of the show for some time and I really appreciate his support of the podcast. Check out the site… he has some great stuff. https://www.arcadeshopper.com, run by my friend Greg McGill, is another terrific site to get vintage computer items. Greg has a wide variety of hard-to-find items for a large number of platforms. This is another site that I do and have done a lot of shopping at and have mentioned numerous times on Floppy Days. If anything shows out of stock, just ping Greg through the contact form and he can check whether he has or can get more of the item for you. I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com. This includes Chris Petzel, Tony Cappellini, laurens, Richard Goulstone, Josh Malone, Andy Collins, Simon McCullough, Jason Moore, Quentin Barnes. I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast. On a sad note, one other thing I wanted to talk about was the passing of a good friend in the community, James Shackel (aka Airshack). James passed from this earth in January of this year due to illness, and it was a shock to me to realize I would no longer have James to talk to. James came from the TI community, but was interested in a lot of the vintage machines. Over the years, I traded a Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2A to him for a TIPI network card for the TI99 and James sent me things numerous times, such as books or software. Most recently, just 3 months ago, I traded a Commodore 128 to him for an Atari 1200XL he had. He also had been a patreon donator for Floppy Days for some time. He pinged me all the time to discuss ANTIC or Floppy Days or just to let me know about some new vintage computer thing he came across. I saw James at Tandy Assembly in October last year, just the second time I had ever seen him in person, but he never told me he was ill. James had a singular sense of humor and I will miss it, and him, very much. It reminds me that we need to appreciate the people around us while we can, as we don't know how long they will be around. James, I will truly miss you. Ok, let's get on with the show. I hope you find something interesting out of this episode. Here's to 10 more years of Floppy Days! Intro James Shackel passed away - https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/james-shackel-obituary?id=39585348 New Acquisitions computer trading cards - https://www.8bitkick.cc/home-computers.html Yamaha MSX AX-150 Computer - https://www.msx.org/wiki/Sakhr_AX-150 memory mapper + SD card interface - Arcade Shopper Amiga 1000 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_1000 Parceiro II by David Dunklee: https://bytecellar.com/2021/12/13/parceiro-an-extraordinary-upgrade-for-amiga-1000-users/ [email protected] to order one Upcoming Shows Midwest Gaming Classic - March 31-April 2 - The Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East 2023 - Apr 14-16, 2023 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festiv

Ep 122Floppy Days 122 - NEC PC-6001 and Japanese Computers with Carlos Camacho - Part II
NEC TREK PC-6001, Part II Please donate at: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays. Welcome to Floppy Days #122 for January, 2023. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. We are currently covering the very productive year for home computers of 1982. As regular listeners will know, we've been covering the ZX Spectrum and the myriad of information about that machine. While we still have more information to cover, such as emulation, Web sites, and a lot more, we are currently taking a tiny step back to pick up coverage of a machine that I recently acquired and wanted to talk about, but which came out in very late 1981. That machine is the Nippon Electric Company (NEC) PC-6001 and its US variation, the PC-6001A, or NEC-TREK. It actually was released in November, 1981 in Japan. Thus, you can see that this is really a very tiny detour to go back and pick up this machine. It's one I didn't know about, honestly, and when I acquired a very clean, boxed version in the Great Barn Find of 2022, not only did I decide to keep the machine but also to cover it on Floppy Days. I hope you can forgive me this minor detour off the path of covering the machines in the approx. order they were released. I think you'll find this machine interesting, as I did, and enjoy hearing about it. This is the second episode of a 2-part arc on this machine, due to the amount of material we were able to pull together and length of time it took to go through it. Last episode we covered history and tech specs (as well as a brief interview with my co-host), and this month we will cover the remaining usual topics. With me this month again to provide the co-hosting duties will be Carlos Camacho. Carlos lived in Japan for a while and has a great perspective on this line of computers, as well as a lot of experience and knowledge around Japanese computers in general, which I think you'll find interesting. The research he did on the PC-6000 line a few years ago was a tremendous help in pulling together information for this show. At the end of the day, if you have an interest in acquiring anything for this platform, you'll need the information that Carlos provides on how to navigate the Japanese vintage computer market. I know I learned a ton from Carlos. Very soon we'll return to ZX Spectrum coverage. As usual, I will also talk a bit about a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way. In addition, I'll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I'm aware and share any feedback I've gotten. I hope you enjoy the show! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions IBM PC5140 Display Adapter - http://ohlandl.ipv7.net/5140/5140.html#CRT_Display Spectrum Machine Language for the Absolute Beginner by William Tang - https://amzn.to/3Y1p8rq C128D JiffyDOS - https://store.go4retro.com/jiffydos-kernal-rom-overlay-ic/ Atari Fast BASIC - https://github.com/dmsc/fastbasic Upcoming Computer Shows VCF East 2023 - Apr 14-16, 2023 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show - April 15-16, 2023 - Burbank VFW Hall, Burbank, CA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start 31st Annual "Last" CocoFest - April 22-23, 2023 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago, Carol Stream, IL - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 29 & 30 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 24-25 - "Interim" Computer Museum, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start j KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 18-23, 2023 - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri - https://www.kansasfest.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo - July 28-30 2023 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Feedback Khalid Yousif NEC PC-6001 MkII SR FM synth music capability - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvVq8MHoybA Khalid's website to document and archive findings on the Iraqi Warkaas - https://warkaa.org/ YouTube Playlist by Todd Geiger - Computers - In Their Own Words Byte High No Limit Podcast - https://sunspotstories.podbean.com/ Popular Magazines/Newsletters PC-6000, 6600 information magazine SAVE, produced by Hokuten (owner of pc-6001.net) - http://www.pc-6001.net/p6/save/index.html Oh, PC! - all NEC models - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Issue_of_Oh!PC.jpg I/O Magazine - https://archive.org/details/iomagazine PIO Magazine - https://archive.org/details/PioVol.1 Books PC-6000,6600 related book list - http://www.pc-6001.net/p6/syoseki/index.html Amazon Japan - to get books in Japanese Software TOSEC: NEC PC 6001 (archive.org) - https://archive.org/details/NEC_PC_6001_TOSEC_2012_04_23 Software Compilation Neo Kobe - NEC PC-6001 (archive.org) - https://archive.org/details/Neo_Kobe_NEC_PC-

Ep 121Floppy Days 121 - NEC PC-6001 and Japanese Computers with Carlos Camacho - Part I
Please donate at: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays. Welcome to Floppy Days #121 for December, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. Happy holidays to all! We are currently covering the very productive year for home computers of 1982. As regular listeners will know, we've been covering the ZX Spectrum and the myriad of information about that machine. While we still have more information to cover, such as emulation, Web sites, and a lot more, we're going to take a tiny step back and pick up coverage of a machine that I recently acquired and wanted to talk about, but which came out in very late 1981. That machine is the Nippon Electric Company (NEC) PC-6001 and its US variation, the PC-6001A, or NEC-TREK. It actually was released in November, 1981 in Japan. So, you can see that this is really a very tiny detour to go back and pick up this machine. It's one I didn't know about, honestly, and when I acquired a very clean, boxed version in the Great Barn Find of 2022, not only did I decide to keep the machine but also to cover it on Floppy Days. I hope you can forgive me this minor detour off the path of covering the machines in the approx. order they were released. I think you'll find this machine interesting, as I did, and enjoy hearing about it. With me this month to provide the co-hosting duties will be Carlos Camacho. Carlos lived in Japan for a while and has a great perspective on this line of computers, as well as a lot of experience and knowledge around Japanese computers in general, which I think you'll find interesting. The research he did on the PC-6000 line a few years ago was a tremendous help in pulling together information for this show. This will be a 2-part episode, due to the amount of material we were able to pull together and length of time it took to go through it. After that, we'll return to ZX Spectrum coverage. As usual, I will also talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on the The Great Barn Find of 2022, as well as a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way. In addition, I'll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I'm aware and share any feedback I've gotten. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. On that topic, I do intend to beef up the various Floppy Days offerings, including some additional content depending on the donation level at Patreon. Look for that as soon as I've figured out what I want to offer and how to manage it. I do want to send out a heart-felt thank you for everyone who has already contributed and continues to contribute! I hope you enjoy the show! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions Tandy M100/T102 items from http://www.ArcadeShopper.com Inside Commodore DOS by Richard Immers and Gerald G. Neufeld The Personal Computer BASIC S Reference Manual by Donald A. Sordillo An Introduction to Electronic Data Processing by Roger Nett and Stanley A Hetzler Principles of Compiler Design by Alfred V. Aho and Jeffrey D. Ullman A Comparative Study of Programming Languages by Bryan Higman Assembly Language Programming for the IBM Personal Computer by David J. Bradley Upcoming Computer Shows VCF East 2023 - Apr 14-16, 2023 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ 31st Annual "Last" CocoFest - April 22-23, 2023 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago, Carol Stream, IL - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ Indy Classics presented by Indy Vintage Computer Club - late April - near Indy airport - TBA Feedback Byte High No Limit Podcast episode - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/byte-high-no-limit/id1649091845?i=1000590462992 You can play the Elite game yourself here - https://www.bbcelite.com/hacks/teletext_elite.html Co-host Interview The Color Computer Store - https://twitter.com/trs80cocostore, @TRS80CocoStore, https://www.ebay.com/usr/colorcomputerstore

Ep 120Floppy Days 120 - ZX Spectrum Part 5 - Tech Specs with Chris Smith
Dontate at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Welcome to Floppy Days #120 for November, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. I hope everyone is well. We are currently covering the very productive year for home computers of 1982. This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. I'm still unsure how many episodes we're going to end up with in this arc. There's so much to talk about and so many knowledgeable people on the subject, that the Spectrum is probably going to set the illustrious Floppy Days record for the number of episodes about a single machine. This is the fifth of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, the second and third being coverage of the history of the Spectrum with Alessandro Grussu, and the fourth being the interview with the author of the terrific book "The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer"; Mr. Chris Smith. As I don't know of anyone who knows more about the internals of this machine than Chris, as evidenced by his book, other than maybe the original designers, Chris continues to help me with this episode and we cover the tech specs of the Spectrum. As usual, I will also talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on the The Great Barn Find of 2022, as well as a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way. In addition, I'll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I'm aware and share any feedback I've gotten. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. On that topic, I do intend to beef up the various Floppy Days offerings, including some additional content depending on the donation level at Patreon. Look for that as soon as I've figured out what I want to offer and how to manage it. I do want to send out a heart-felt thank you for everyone who has already contributed and continues to contribute! Before we get started, I want to apologize for the lateness of this episode. It's being published a couple days into December due to my son having been in the hospital the past week. However, I'm happy to report that he's home now and I'm delighted to be able to get this to you now. I hope you enjoy it. Links Mentioned in the Show: Upcoming Shows World of Commodore = Dec. 3-4. - Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/world-of-commodore/world-of-commodore-2022 - Virtual and Physical! VCF East 2023 - Apr 14-16, 2023 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ Indy Classics presented by Indy Vintage Computer Club - late April - near Indy airport Feedback Josh Renaud blog - https://breakintochat.com/blog/2022/11/26/bringing-dry-bones-back-to-life-the-kirschen-software-collection/ Tech Specs The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer (ZX Design Retro Computer) Illustrated Edition by Christopher David Smith (Author) - https://www.amazon.com/ZX-Spectrum-Ula-Microcomputer-Computer/dp/0956507107

Ep 119Floppy Days 119 - ZX Spectrum Part 4 - Interview with Chris Smith
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Welcome to Floppy Days #119 for October, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. I hope everyone is safe and sound... We are currently covering the prolific year (for home computers) of 1982. This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. I don't even know yet how many episodes we're going to end up in this arc. There's so much to talk about and so many knowledgeable people on the subject, that the Spectrum is probably going to set the illustrious Floppy Days records for the number of episodes about a single machine. This is the fourth of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, and the second and third being coverage of the history of the Spectrum with Alessandro Grussu. In this episode, I talk with the author of the wonderful book "The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer"; Mr. Chris Smith. I don't know of anyone who knows more about the internals of this machine than Chris, as evidenced by his book, other than maybe the original designers. In this episode, I interview Chris about him, his book, his collection and other topics. As usual, I will talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on the The Great Barn Find of 2022, attendance at a computer show, as well as a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way. In addition, I'll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I'm aware. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To Apple GS monitor connector for CoCo - Mike Rojas, Facebook - (https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/392874865780089/?ref=share_attachment) GFA BASIC - http://gfabasic.net/ "GFA BASIC Training Reboot Camp - A Beginning Tutorial for the GFA BASIC Interpreter" - https://docs.dev-docs.org/ "GFA BASIC Book - An intermediate programming tutorial for GFA BASIC" - https://docs.dev-docs.org/ GFA BASIC Atari Reference Manual Tandy Assembly - http://www.tandyassembly.com Vintage is the New Old with Paulo Garcia - https://www.vintageisthenewold.com/ Jeff Birt's Website at Tindie - https://www.tindie.com/stores/hey_birt/ Upcoming Shows Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ World of Commodore = Dec. 3-4. - Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/world-of-commodore/world-of-commodore-2022 - Virtual and Physical! Interview with Chris Smith The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer (ZX Design Retro Computer) Illustrated Edition Chris' Web site - http://www.zxdesign.info/indexPage.shtml Harlequin - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ZX_Spectrum_clones#Harlequin ZX Spectrum 30-year Anniversary event - http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/news/23039/Celebrating-30-Years-of-the MicroMen: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1459467/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIcAyFVK0gE
Floppy Days 118 - The Great Barn Find of 2022
"The Great Barn Find of 2022!" Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Welcome to Floppy Days #118 for September, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. I hope everyone is doing well.. I decided to take a 1-month break from the ZX Spectrum series of episodes, of which I'm currently in the midst, in order to talk about some other vintage computer activities with which I've been involved lately. There has been a lot going on the vintage computer front for me, as well as some changes in my personal life that I wanted to share with all of you. I apologize that you're just going to hear my voice for the entire show, but I'll make sure not to drone and try to keep it lively. I will talk a bit about what I have been up to, an amazing barn find, attendance at the largest vintage computer show of the year, and an incredible computer museum adventure, as well as a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way. In addition, I'll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I'm aware. Next month, we'll pick up where we left off with the Spectrum series. I have some additional guest hosts lined up to really dive into topics like tech specs, peripherals, books, magazines, modern upgrades, Web sites, etc. I think you'll enjoy the remaining Spectrum topics and guests I have planned. Links Mentioned in the Show: What I've Been Up To VCFMW - http://vcfmw.org/ Kevin Ottum and his Nu-Brick company - https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/181163469893545 Jim Brain and his RetroInnovations company - http://go4retro.com American Computer and Robotics Museum - https://acrmuseum.org/ Upcoming Shows Portland Retro Gaming Expo = Oct. 14-16, Portland, OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ World of Commodore = first weekend of Dec. - https://www.tpug.ca/category/woc-posts/ NOT YET ANNOUNCED

Floppy Days 117 - ZX Spectrum Part 3 - History with Alessandro Grussu
Dontate at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Welcome to Floppy Days #117 for August, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. I hope everyone is doing well.. Thank you so much, Andy Collins, for providing your thoughts and memories about the ZX Spectrum to kick off this episode. Great work! We are currently covering the prolific year (for home computers) of 1982. This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. I don't even know yet how many episodes we're going to end up in this arc. There's so much to talk about and so many knowledgeable people on the subject, that the Spectrum is probably going to set the illustrious Floppy Days records for the number of episodes about a single machine. This is the third of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, and the second being coverage of the history of the Spectrum through about 1984. In this episode, I once again talk with the author of the wonderful book "Spectrumpedia"; Mr. Alessandro Grussu. In this episode, Alessandro and I continue to walk through the history of the machine, covering additional models that were produced, its competition at the time, its positives and negatives, and ultimately the impression it left in home computer history books. As usual, I will talk a bit about a few new acquisitions that have come my way in my attempt to use up every square inch of exhibition and storage room in my home, as well as bring you news about upcoming shows. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions A500 mini - https://www.amazon.com/Amiga-A500-Mini-Retro-Console-Commodore/dp/B09BW8N7JZ BlueSCSI - https://scsi.blue/ Upcoming Shows VCF Midwest = Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly = Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo = Oct. 14-16, Portland, OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ World of Commodore = first weekend of Dec. - https://www.tpug.ca/category/woc-posts/ NOT YET ANNOUNCED References "Spectrumpedia" by Alessandro Grussu https://www.alessandrogrussu.it/sp.html Amazon.it: Spectrumpedia - seconda edizione: volume 1 - Grussu, Alessandro - Libri Wikipedia

Floppy Days 116 - ZX Spectrum Part 2 - History with Alessandro Grussu
donate at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Welcome to Floppy Days #116 for July, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. Mark Hacker provides his thoughts and memories about the ZX Spectrum to kick off this episode. As mentioned in the last show, 1982 was a landmark year for home computers, as there were some significant introductions in this year. One of the most impactful computers released at this time was the ZX Spectrum; in the UK by the iconic Sir Clive Sinclair. This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. In fact, there's such a rich history leading up to the introduction of the Spectrum, and through its lifetime in the market, of which many in the US may not be aware, that we're going to be spending three (3) full episodes just on its history. This is the second of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, who played a part in the development of the Speccy. As I was looking for materials to help discuss the history of the Spectrum, I had difficulty in finding books and other references that went into the full timeline, other than Wikipedia. Luckily, I happened upon a wonderful reference that covers all aspects of the machine, called "Spectrumpedia" by the Italian Alessandro Grusso. I was able to contact Alessandro and he graciously agreed to co-host on one or more topics, starting with history. His book has a wonderfully complete and detailed section about the history of the Speccy. In this episode, Alessandro and I attempt to walk through the introduction of the machine, all of the different models that were produced, its competition at the time, its positives and negatives, and ultimately the impression it left in home computer history books. I will, as usual, talk about a few new acquisitions that have come my way in my never-ending adventures to discover new modern upgrades for my collection of old machines; as well as bring you news about upcoming shows. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions Commodore 64 Assembly Language Programming by Derek Bush and Peter Holmes - https://archive.org/details/Commodore_64_Assembly_Language_Programming/page/n13/mode/2up Complete Commodore Inner Space Anthology by Karl J. H. Hildon - https://archive.org/details/Complete_Commodore_Inner_Space_Anthology_The_1985-03_Transactor_Publishing Visible Solar System cart - https://www.amazon.com/Visible-Solar-System-Commodore-64/dp/B001RY5X0U The Paper Computer Unfolded by Mark Jones Lorenzo - https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Computer-Unfolded-Twenty-First-Illustrative/dp/1537421131/ Vic-20 Exposed edited by John Vander Reyden - https://www.amazon.com/VIC-20-Exposed-Retro-Reproductions/dp/1789825857/ Upcoming Shows VCF West 2022 = Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/ VCF Midwest = Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly = Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo = Oct. 14-16, Portland, OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ World of Commodore = first weekend of Dec. - https://www.tpug.ca/category/woc-posts/ NOT YET ANNOUNCED References "Spectrumpedia" by Alessandro Grussu https://www.alessandrogrussu.it/sp.html Amazon.it: Spectrumpedia - seconda edizione: volume 1 - Grussu, Alessandro - Libri Wikipedia

Floppy Days 115 - ZX Spectrum Part 1 - History with John Grant
https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going! ZX Spectrum Part 1 History with John Grant Welcome to Floppy Days #115 for June, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. I hope everyone is doing well. As you know, we are generally following the timeline of computers as they were released to the world. We have arrived in the year 1982. 1982 was a landmark year for home computers, as there were some significant introductions in this year. Machines that played a critical part in the rich home computer period of the 1980's. In particular, I'm talking about the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64 as well as some other interesting machines. One of the most impactful computers released at this time was the ZX Spectrum; across the pond in the UK by Sir Clive Sinclair. This episode kicks off a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. The first topic we always start with is history. I was able to catch up with a person who played a significant role in the history of the Spectrum through his company Nine Tiles. Of course, I'm talking about Mr. John Grant. John was kind enough to talk about the work he did on the machine and some of the stories surrounding its development and introduction. I hope you find this interesting. I will, as usual, talk about a few new acquisitions that have come my way in my never ending quest to discover new modern upgrades for my collection of old machines; as well as bring you news about upcoming shows. Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions XEP-80 II by MyTek (Michael St. Pierre) MyTek Website - https://ataribits.weebly.com/xep80-ii.html Purchasing XEP-80 II at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/xep80-ii-by-mytek MidiMaze cart + SIO2Midi + cart shells SIO2Midi by MyTek - https://ataribits.weebly.com/midi.html SIO2Midi at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/midi-for-your-atari-8-bit-400-800-xl-xe-xel-xld 8-bit cartridge shells at Vintage Computer Center - https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/product/atari-8-bit-cartridge-shells OSS 4-in-1 cart - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimized_Systems_Software#:~:text=Optimized%20Systems%20Software%20(OSS)%20was,bit%20family%20of%20home%20computers FujiCart + case MyTek Website - https://ataribits.weebly.com/576nuc.html FujiCart and case at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/myteks-576nuc-atari-computer/products/myteks-576nuc-and-internal-fujinet?variant=39350116024422 Steve Boswell (Mr Robot) site - https://atari8bit.net/ Upcoming Shows VCF Southeast - July 15-17 Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/ KansasFest 2022 = July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/ VCF West 2022 = Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/ VCF Midwest = Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly = Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Interview Links Grant, who also worked on the guts of Sinclair's ZX80 and ZX81 (and can be heard talking about his experiences in Randy Kindig's Floppy Days podcast), donated the prototype hardware to the museum "The first ZX Spectrum prototype laid bare…" at The Register - https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/05/the_first_zx_spectrum_prototype_laid_bare/

Floppy Days 114 - Howell Ivy, Exidy Sorcerer and Exidy
https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going! Interview with Howell Ivy, Co-founder of Exidy and Developer of Exidy Sorcerer Computer Welcome to Floppy Days episode 114 for May, 2022. I am Randy Kindig, your host. Again this month, I have a special interview show for you that actually has been a few years in the making. Some time ago, I had come across and had gotten initial contact with Howell Ivy, who it turns out was co-founder of Exidy and was instrumental in the development of the Exidy Sorcerer computer. The Exidy Sorcerer is a machine that I covered clear back in 2014 in episode 17 of Floppy Days. It was a very early machine, just after the release of the home computer triad of the Commodore PET/Apple II/TRS-80 Model I and before the Atari 400/800, with great graphics, a Z-80 processor, and one of the first home computers (after the VideoBrain) to have plug-in cartridges (these based on the 8-track tape cartridges). After the initial contact with Howell, he went silent and I was unable for the last few years to get an interview set up. Finally, recently, I was able to get a response and quickly got the interview in the books. I also recorded a video for an interview for the first time! The link to the video interview on YouTube is in the show notes here. Before getting into the interview, I do want to talk about some vintage hardware or modern upgrades I was able to acquire, as well as bring you information about upcoming vintage computer shows. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links: New Acquisitions Mattel Aquarius Aquaricart and 32K RAM "Combo Pack" - https://www.ebay.com/itm/124471439128?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 Apple II Yellowstone Disk Controller - Big Mess o' Wires Upcoming Shows Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 - June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297 The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 - June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start VCF Southeast - July 15-17 Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/ KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/ VCF West 2022 - Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/ VCF Midwest - Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Interview Links The History of Exidy - http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-ultimate-so-far-history-of-exidy_24.html Howell Ivy interview at RetroGamer - https://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/developer/howell-ivy/
Floppy Days 113 - Monte Davidoff, Developer of Altair BASIC Floating Point
https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going! Interview with Monte Davidoff, Developer of Altair BASIC Floating Point Welcome to Floppy Days episode 113 for April, 2022. I am Randy Kindig, your host. I'm going to take a break this month from covering machines in order to bring you a special interview show. Monte Davidoff worked with the very early Microsoft, while in college, when they were famously getting started by developing a BASIC for MITS and Ed Roberts for the Altair 8800. Monte developed the floating point routines for that BASIC that they so desperately needed at the time. If you're like me, I previously was unaware of Monte's contributions to essentially the first BASIC developed for arguably the first personal computer. It's interesting to hear Monte's perspective on how he managed to get involved with Microsoft, Bill Gates, Paul Allen and the project on which he worked with them. His recall of specifics about programming for the 8080 is pretty amazing. Before getting into the interview, I do want to talk about some vintage hardware or modern upgrades I was able to acquire, as well as bring you information about upcoming vintage computer shows. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links: New Acquisitions Odyssey multi-cart - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/306480-magnavox-odyssey-multicard-call-for-orders/ TI-99 TIPI https://github.com/jedimatt42/tipi/wiki https://atariage.com/forums/topic/277635-tipi-usage-and-support/ https://thebrewingacademy.com/products/tipi-ti-raspberry-pi-interface-for-the-ti-99-4a?variant=31641974669414 Upcoming Shows CocoFest 2022 - May 14th & 15th 2022, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest-2022/ Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 - June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297 The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 - June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start VCF Southeast - July 15-17 Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/ KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/ VCF West 2022 - Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/ VCF Midwest - Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly - Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ Interview Links https://www.theregister.com/2001/05/11/microsoft_altair_basic_legend_talks/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/12/31/alter-egos/91b267b0-858c-4d4e-a4bd-48f22e015f70/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_BASIC