Category Archives: Floppy Days

Floppy Days 82 - The Acorn Atom

Feb
28

The Acorn Atom and the Fifth Year of Floppy Days

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

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

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

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

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

thank you everyone.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Upcoming Shows

Feedback

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

Popular Magazines/Newsletters

Books

Software

User Groups

Emulation

Community

Current Web Sites

Source:: Floppy Days 82 - The Acorn Atom

      

Floppy Days 81 - David Needle, technology reporter

Jan
31

David Needle, technology reporter

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

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

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

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

This interview occurred on November 3, 2016

Links:

Source:: Floppy Days 81 - David Needle, technology reporter

      

Floppy Days 80 - Tandy Pocket Computers, Part 2

Dec
30

Tandy Pocket Computers, Part 2

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

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

Web site: http://floppydays.com

email: floppydays@gmail.com

Twitter: @floppydays

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

on iTunes and Stitcher (www.stitcher.com)

part of the Throwback Network (phpstack-1115165-6242317.cloudwaysapps.com )

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

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Upcoming Shows

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

Magazines/Newsletters

Books

Ads

Emulation

Modern Upgrades

Community

Web Sites

Source:: Floppy Days 80 - Tandy Pocket Computers, Part 2

      

Floppy Days 79 - Tandy Pocket Computers, Part 1

Nov
29

Tandy Pocket Computers, Part 1

Web site: http://floppydays.com

email: floppydays@gmail.com

Twitter: @floppydays

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

on iTunes and Stitcher (www.stitcher.com)

part of the Throwback Network (phpstack-1115165-6242317.cloudwaysapps.com )

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

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

Source:: Floppy Days 79 - Tandy Pocket Computers, Part 1

      

Floppy Days 78 - Interview with Stewart Cheifet, Computer Chronicles

Oct
27

Stewart Cheifet, Computer Chronicles

Links:

Source:: Floppy Days 78 - Interview with Stewart Cheifet, Computer Chronicles

      

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

Sep
27

The Commodore Vic-20, Part II

Web site: http://floppydays.com

email: floppydays@gmail.com

Twitter: @floppydays

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

on iTunes and Stitcher (www.stitcher.com)

part of the Throwback Network (phpstack-1115165-6242317.cloudwaysapps.com )

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

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

News

Feedback

Magazines

Books

Software

User Groups and Shows

Modern Upgrades

Connectivity to Modern Computers

Emulation

Community

Web Sites

References

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

      

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

Aug
12

Interview with Ian Mavric, TRS-80 Recycler

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

Links:

Mav can be found on the following internet Tech Forums:

Sites which may interest TRS-80 Purists:

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

      

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

Jul
08

Vintage Computer Festival Southeast 5.0 Post-show

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

Links Mentioned in the Show:

00:00 Theme Song

01:23 Ads

01:52 Intro

03:11 Exhibit Discussion

08:47 Tandy Assembly Ad

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

16:57 Thomas Liebert Interview

28:45 Jon Guidry Interview

49:44 Amiga Bill & Anthony Interview

1:41:54 Conclusion

1:44:52 Out-takes

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

      

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

Jun
11

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

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

This interview took place on April 1st, 2017.

Links:

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