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/20110511184229/http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/005240.html

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 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.html

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.html

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

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 - amiga.parceiro@outlook.com  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 The Absolute Beginner by William Tang 2020 - https://amzn.to/3Ix6mn3 (Retro Reproductions) Over the Spectrum by Philip Williams 2020 - https://amzn.to/3YFsbGu (Retro Reproductions)  Spectrum Games Bible 1982-1984 Paperback – June 11, 2008 by P Johns - https://amzn.to/3KfL0vy  ZX Spectrum Games Code Club: Twenty fun games to code and learn Paperback – November 23, 2015 by Gary Plowman  (Author) - https://amzn.to/3EgSFGk  Spectrumpedia by Alessandro Grussu (2 volumes) - https://www.alessandrogrussu.it/sp.html  Volume I (English) - https://amzn.to/3Ek9boX  Volume II (English) - https://amzn.to/3IGVwet  The Micro Kids: An 80s Adventure with ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and more Paperback – Illustrated, December 8, 2018 by Gary Plowman - https://amzn.to/3Klsan7  The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer Illustrated Edition by Christopher David Smith - https://amzn.to/3IwGgjU  Sinclair ZX Spectrum : A Visual Compendium - https://www.bitmapbooks.com/collections/by-system/products/sinclair-zx-spectrum-a-visual-compendium  Software archive at World of Spectrum - https://worldofspectrum.org/archive  TOSEC at archive.org by Lady Eklipse - https://archive.org/details/zx-spectrum-tosec-set-v-2020-02-18-lady-eklipse  Top 10 games - https://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/30-best-zx-spectrum-games-594151  1. Elite – Firebird Games 2. R-Type – Electric Dreams Software 3. Chuckie Egg - A'n'F Software 4. Manic Miner - Bug-Byte Software Ltd 5. Knight Lore - Ultimate Play The Game 6. Back to Skool - Microsphere 7. Football Manager - Addictive Games Ltd 8. Lunar Jetman - Ultimate Play The Game 9. Horace Goes Skiing – Beam Software 10. Boulder Dash – Front Runner Productivity and Education Software from Sinclair Catalog (all cassette) - https://archive.org/details/sinclair-research/ZX%20Spectrum%20Software%20Catalog/mode/2up  Ads and Appearances Starring the Computer - http://www.starringthecomputer.com/  Ad - http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/Sinclair/ZXSpectrum  Modern Upgrades ZX-AY external stereo audio interface for all ZX Spectrum models - https://www.bytedelight.com/?product=zx-ay-external-stereo-audio-interface-for-all-zx-spectrum-models  ZX-HD HDMI Interface - https://www.bytedelight.com/?product=zx-hd-hdmi-interface-with-ulaplus  DIVMMC - https://www.thefuturewas8bit.com/shop/sinclair/divmmcfuture.html SpectraNet - https://www.bytedelight.com/?product=spectranet-internet-interface-with-closed-case  Emulation Emulator list at World of Spectrum - https://worldofspectrum.net/emulators/  Spectaculator (paid) https://www.spectaculator.com/  Fuse: Windows - https://sourceforge.net/projects/fuse-emulator/files/fuse-utils/1.4.3/fuse-utils-1.4.3-win32.zip/download  macOS - https://fuse-for-macosx.sourceforge.io/ Linux - http://fuse-emulator.sourceforge.net/  Speccy - https://fms.komkon.org/Speccy/  Eighty One - https://www.aptanet.org/eightyone/  Retro Virtual Machine (RVM) - https://www.retrovirtualmachine.org/  ZEsarUX - https://github.com/chernandezba/zesarux/  ZX Spectrum 4 Android - https://www.zxspectrum4.net/android/  QAOP (browser-based) - http://torinak.com/qaop JSSpeccy (browser-based) - https://jsspeccy.zxdemo.org/  Community Facebook Spectrum Forever - https://www.facebook.com/groups/491247224287188  Spectrum for Everyone - https://www.facebook.com/groups/400461880300289  World of Spectrum - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1571053279836005  ZX Spectrum - https://www.facebook.com/groups/164156683632183  Twitter ZX Spectrum Code Club - https://twitter.com/zxspectrum_club  Mastodon Sinclair ZX Spectrum Bot - https://oldbytes.space/@zxspectrumbot@mastodon.cloud  Spectrum User - https://oldbytes.space/@spectrumuser@toot.wales  Forums AtariAge - https://www.atariage.com  https://worldofspectrum.org/forums/  https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/forums/index.php  https://www.sinclairzxworld.com/viewforum.php  Podcasts Our Sinclair: A ZX Spectrum Podcast by Amigos Retro Gaming - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/our-sinclair-a-zx-spectrum-podcast/id1454120857  Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/zxspectrum/  Web Sites Byte Delight shop - https://www.bytedelight.com  The Future Was 8bit shop - https://www.thefuturewas8bit.com/  Power supplies for Spectrum machines at Retro Games Supply - https://en.retrogamesupply.com/collections/other  Dr. Steve Vickers at YouTube - https://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~sjv/  “The first ZX Spectrum prototype laid bare” article about John Grant - https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/05/the_first_zx_spectrum_prototype_laid_bare/  The official world archive for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum - https://worldofspectrum.org/  The Spectrum Show by Paul Jenkinson - https://m.youtube.com/user/BuckingTheTrend2008  The MagPi - https://magpi.raspberrypi.com/issues/67 Interview with Steve Vickers & Richard Altwasser - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLnuY3EKnWE  References Retro 8-bit Computers - http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/  Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum  Old-Computers.com museum - https://www.old-computers.com/museum/default.asp https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/

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 - amiga.parceiro@outlook.com  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://www.worldofcommodore.ca/  Feedback Claus, webmaster at www.mtxworld.dk  Using the Machine http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/Sinclair/ZXSpectrum  Popular Magazines/Newsletters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:ZX_Spectrum_magazines  https://www.old-computers.com/museum/default.asp   Crash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_(magazine)  Modern Crash - https://fusionretrobooks.com/collections/crash-magazine  articles for Crash written by Paul Evans - https://www.google.com/search?domains=www.crashonline.org.uk&sitesearch=www.crashonline.org.uk&q=paul%20evans  Your Sinclair  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Sinclair  Current blog - https://www.ys3.org/  Sinclair User https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_User  https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine?&sort=-week&page=2  Spectrofon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrofon  Sinclair Programs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Programs  https://archive.org/search?query=Sinclair+Programs∧%5B%5D=mediatype%3A%22texts%22  ZX Magazin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Magaz%C3%ADn  References Retro 8-bit Computers - http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/  Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum  Old-Computers.com museum - https://www.old-computers.com/museum/default.asp  https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/

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/  amiga.parceiro@outlook.com 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-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  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, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/  http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html  10th Anniversary Special Content OldComputers.net timeline - http://oldcomputers.net

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 jKansasFest, 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 YousifNEC 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-6001_2016-02-25  Ads and Appearances https://oldcomputers.net/nec-pc-6001.html video ad - (Japanese with English subtitles)  https://archive.org/details/necpapikonpc6001acomputercommercial1981subsvtcdvplemfm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTCdVPlemFM  Emulators https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/12241/how-do-i-use-nec-pc-6001-p6-or-cas-files PC6001V - http://papicom.net/p6v/ PC6001VW - http://p6ers.net/bernie/develop/pc6001vw3.html iP6 and iP6 PlusWindy’s Room - http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~windy/index.html iP6 home page - http://www.retropc.net/isio/ip6/  VNECTREK - October 27, 2009 in the Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20091027114600/http://www.geocities.com/emucompboy/ MAME/MESS - https://www.mamedev.org/  Buying One Today freight forwarding companies buyee zenmarket  Jauce  Community Facebook - Japanese Vintage Computer Users - https://www.facebook.com/groups/japanesevintagecomputers ForumsAtariAge - https://forums.atariage.com/forum/116-classic-computing-discussion/ VC Federation - https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?forums/other/ PC-6000,6600 information bulletin board at pc-6001.net - http://www.pc-6001.net/cgi/p6bbs/imgbbs.cgi  Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/pc6001/  Current Web Sites Purchasing today at The Beep Shop - https://www.beep-shop.com/list/pc60_c.html Write-up of the PC-6001 at the 1982 Consumer Electronics Show in the May, 1982 Byte Magazine (archive.org)Write-up of the PC-6001 in the March, 1983 Byte Magazine (archive.org) https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-03-rescan/page/n503/mode/2up?view=theater&q=6000 NEC PC-6001 search at archive.org - https://archive.org/search.php?query=nec+pc-6001&sin= Obscure Systems Showcase: 10 Games For The NEC PC6001 by Sharopolis (YouTube) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREmdyXXLhE The PC-6001: NEC's home challenger by Re:Enthused  (YouTube) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYfC3YwvGLA PC-6001 series portal site - http://p6ers.net/ some PC-6001 software (WAV for real machine and .P6 for emulator) - http://inufuto.web.fc2.com/8bit/ iP6 information and links at retropc.net - http://www.retropc.net/isio/2ndindex.html PC-6001 World - http://www.pc-6001.net/p6/index.html http://vector.co.jp  - download site  References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-6000_series NEC Retro - https://necretro.org/  https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=177&st=1 GiantBomb.com - https://www.giantbomb.com/nec-pc-6001/3045-115/ OldComputers.net - https://oldcomputers.net/nec-pc-6001.html https://www.wikiwand.com/en/PC-6000_series  https://forums.atariage.com/topic/233915-i-now-own-and-am-baffled-by-a-japanese-nec-pc-6001/  Co-host The Color Computer Store - https://twitter.com/trs80cocostore, @TRS80CocoStore, https://www.ebay.com/usr/colorcomputerstore

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

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

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

“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

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

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

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/

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/

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

https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going! The IBM PC 5150 Part 5 with Jim Leonard Welcome to Floppy Days episode 112 for March, 2022.  I am Randy Kindig, your host.  As a reminder, we are currently finishing up talking about computers released in 1981.  This is the 5th of 5 shows covering the release of the IBM PC 5150, the grand-daddy of most modern personal computers.  I know 5 shows about one computer seems like a lot, but it IS one of the few computer lines that actually became a standard and many of the computers we use today are based on this original architecture.  Besides, it just turned out there was a lot to cover about this machine. As on the earlier IBM PC episodes, I’m extremely happy to have Jim Leonard as co-host for this final episode on the 5150.  Jim is a fount of knowledge on all topics IBM PC, so I’m honored he was able to help us take a walk through the various aspects of the machine and all of its associated information. In this episode we will cover emulation, buying one today, Community, and Web sites. Before we get into the main part of the show, I will be talking a bit about new acquisitions in the vintage computer hobby. New Acquisitions Coleco Adam video cable - https://www.8bitclassics.com/product/coleco-adam-composite-av-cable/ Coleco Adam power supply - https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/store/#!/Adam-replacement-power-supply/p/363366783/category=17839014 Coleco Adam ADE Virtual Disk - https://github.com/Kalidomra/AdamNet-Drive-Emulator FujiNet for multiple machines - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/331791-low-cost-fujinet-v16-includes-usb-and-coleco-adam-hardware-components/  Upcoming Shows VCF East 2022  =   Apr 22, 23, 24, Infoage Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/ 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/  Emulation  86box - (https://github.com/86Box/86Box) IBM PC emulator for browsers - https://www.pcjs.org/ dosbox - (www.dosbox.com) hardware emulator - https://hackaday.com/2021/07/28/emulating-the-ibm-pc-on-an-esp32/  Community Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintagePCEnthusiasts/ classic computing mailing lists -  http://www.classiccmp.org/lists.html Discord -  https://discord.gg/CwhYHY2 Vintage Computer Federation Forums - https://forum.vcfed.org/ Upper Memory Block Podcast - (http://umbcast.com/ DOS Game Club Podcast - https://www.dosgameclub.com/ Adrian’s Digital Basement - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE5dIscvDxrb7CD5uiJJOiw The Oldskool PC - https://www.youtube.com/c/TheOldskoolPC  Web Sites over 1000 games - https://www.dosgamesarchive.com/games/ Winworld pc - (https://winworldpc.com/home resource for troubleshooting IBM PCs, XTs and ATs -  www.minuszerodegrees.net magazines, books, software, emulation - http://www.archive.org

Patreon link for supporting the show: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays  Welcome to Floppy Days episode 111 for February, 2022.  I am Randy Kindig, your host.  As a reminder, we are currently finishing up talking about computers released in 1981.  This is the 4th of 5 shows covering the release of the IBM PC 5150, the grand-daddy of most modern personal computers. As on the earlier IBM PC episodes, I’m extremely happy to have Jim Leonard as co-host for these remaining episodes on the 5150.  When Jim and I went to record what was to be the final episode on the IBM PC, it ran so long that I decided to break it into 2 episodes.  That means there will be one more episode next month, for 5 total on this historic machine. In this episode we will cover ads appearances and modern upgrades.  Next month, in the final episode, we will focus on emulation, buying one today, Community, and Web sites. Before we get into the main part of the show, I will be talking a bit about new acquisitions in the vintage computer hobby. One other thing I wanted to mention to the listeners is that this month coincides with the 9th anniversary of Floppy Days!  That certainly makes Floppy Days one of the grand-daddys of vintage computer podcasts and makes me wonder where the last 9 years went.  It’s been a fun ride and it’s a long way from over.  The interest remains high from listeners, with over 300,000 downloads since it started.  More importantly, my love of the topic and interest in keeping this going remains high!  We have a lot more machines to talk about!  1982 & 1983 were extremely rich years for the introduction of new home computers and I want to bring all of them to you. Finally, while I usually decline talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you 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 SIO2MIDI - https://thebrewingacademy.com/products/midi-for-your-atari-8-bit-400-800-xl-xe-xel-xld ABBUC membership - http://www.abbuc.de  Upcoming Shows VCF East 2022  =   Apr 22, 23, 24, Infoage Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/ 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/  Ads and Appearances Movies and TV: “Starring The Computer” - https://www.starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=58  Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)  Halt and Catch Fire - Season 1, Episode 1, "I/O" (2014)  Halt and Catch Fire - Season 1, Episode 4, "Close to the Metal" (2014)  Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)  IBM Ads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPLGvI03Vrk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQT_YCBb9ao  Modern Upgrades Lo-Tech 1MB memory board (Jim’s favorite version is https://texelec.com/product/lo-tech-1mb-ram/) XT-IDE - https://www.tindie.com/products/glitchwrks/glitch-works-xt-ide-rev-4a/ Serge Kise’s “monster-fdc project” - https://github.com/skiselev/monster-fdc YouTube video for using a gotek - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTAWjtQPYF4 RGBtoHDMI - https://github.com/hoglet67/RGBtoHDMI  References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer  https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_birth.html  https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_reference.html http://oldcomputers.net/ibm5150.html

contribute to the show via Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays  The IBM PC 5150 Part 3 With Jim Leonard Welcome to Floppy Days episode 110 for January, 2022.  I am Randy Kindig, your host.  As a reminder, we are currently finishing up talking about computers released in 1981.  This is the third of four shows covering the release of the IBM PC 5150, the grand-daddy of most modern personal computers. As announced last show, I’m extremely happy to have a co-host for these remaining episodes on the 5150.  And that co-host is Jim Leonard, one of the people responsible for putting together VCF Midwest each year and a huge early PC enthusiast.  Jim has an amazing amount of detailed knowledge about these machines and really enhances the podcast! In this episode we will cover peripherals, using the machine, software, magazines, and books.  Next month, in the final episode covering this venerable machine we will focus on ads, emulation, modern upgrades, Community, and Web sites. Before we get into the main part of the show, I will be talking a bit about new acquisitions in the vintage computer hobby and what I’ve been up to.   Finally, while I usually decline talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you 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  Apple IIc VGA - http://www.a2heaven.com/webshop/index.php?rt=product/product&product_id=135 Apple IIc monitor - https://madeapple.com/apple-monitor-iic/ Apple IIGS RGB-to-SCART cable - https://cocoman.onlineweb.shop/Apple_IIgs_SCART_Cable/p7004829_21371801.aspx VTech Precomputer 1000 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VTech_PreComputer_1000 HP-85 EBTKS - Philip Freidin - http://www.fliptronics.com/EBTKS/index.html  Upcoming Shows in 2022  VCF East - Apr 22-24, Infoage Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/ CocoFest - May 14-15, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest-2022/ VCF Southeast - July 15-17  Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/ KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/ VCF West - Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/  Magazines/Newsletters  Magazine LIst -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_magazines Byte - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_(magazine) Creative Computing - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Computing_(magazine) Compute’s PC Magazine - https://archive.org/details/compute-magazine Personal Computer World magazine - http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/sec/573/Personal-Computer-World/  Books  Compute!'s Mapping the IBM PC and PCJR Paperback by Russ Davies - https://www.amazon.com/Compute-Mapping-IBM-PC-PCJR/dp/0942386922/  References IBM Archives - https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_fact.html Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer Old-Computers.com - https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=274&st=1 Vintage Computer Federation forums - https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php IBM 51xx PC Family Computers - http://www.minuszerodegrees.net