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Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Randy Kindig
Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast
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- 1 weeks ago1h 14m
Floppy Days 168 - Interview with Harry Garland, Cromemco, Part 1
Floppy Days 168 - Interview with Harry Garland, Cromemco - Part 1 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics - https://www.8bitclassics.com/?ref=Floppydays Arcade Shopper - https://www.arcadeshopper.com/ FutureVision Research - https://www.fvresearch.com/ Tuc's Workbench - https://shop.tucs-workbench.com/ Hello, and welcome to episode 168 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for October, 2026. My name is Randy Kindig and I'm the host of this homage to the home computer stars of yesteryear. This month is an interview-only show, coming to you with a gentleman who, through the company he cofounded, helped define personal computers in the mid-70's and beyond, when they were just becoming a thing and the Altair 8800 was at its heyday. That gentleman is computer pioneer Harry Garland and the company was Cromemco. Cromemco was a pioneer American microcomputer company founded in 1974 by Stanford University graduate students Harry Garland and Roger Melen. Cromemco pioneered many incredible technological advances: Cyclops: Released in 1975, it was the first commercially marketed all-digital microcomputer camera. Dazzler: Released in 1976, it was the first color graphics interface card for the S-100 bus. S-100 Computers: Known for rock-solid industrial build quality, systems included the Z-1, Z-2 series (certified for use aboard U.S. Navy ships and submarines), and the multi-user System 3. Software: Developed CDOS (a CP/M-compatible operating system) and CROMIX, a multi-user, Unix-like operating system. Harry will bring you stories about all these things; and a lot more! Cromemco has been mentioned by some, along with Apple Inc., as the two main Silicon Valley companies that created the personal computer industry. Because Harry did have so many stories, the interview went on for a fairly long period of time - long enough that I decided to break it into 2 parts. So, you'll get to hear the first part this month and part 2 next month. Upcoming Shows VCF Montreal - November 7-8, 2026 - Champlain College Saint-Lambert, Saint-Lambert, QC - https://cvcfed.org/vcf-montreal-2-0/ Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 20-21, 2027 - OC Fair & Events Center, Costa Mesa, CA - vcfsocal.com Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - March 20-21, 2027 - Wyndham Indianapolis Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ VCF East - April 2-4, 2027 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/ Midwest Gaming Classic - April 23-25, 2027 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF Southwest - June 25-27, 2027 - Westin Dallas Ft. Worth Airport - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 16-18, 2027 - Atlanta - https://gameatl.com/
- Sep 28, 20261h 12m
Floppy Days 167 - Interview with Peter Jennings, Microchess and VisiCorp
Interview with Peter Jennings, Microchess & VisiCorp Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics - https://www.8bitclassics.com/?ref=Floppydays Arcade Shopper - https://www.arcadeshopper.com/ FutureVision Research - https://www.fvresearch.com/ Tuc's Workbench - https://shop.tucs-workbench.com/ Hello, and welcome to episode #167 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where you can learn about obsolete, but still very fun, technology of the past! In this episode we talk with someone that was right there in the early days of computers and who created some amazing software for the very early, very primitive KIM-1 computer. In fact, he is credited with producing the very first microcomputer game to be sold commercially. I'm speaking of Peter Jennings, the creator of MicroChess for the KIM-1 and later ported to many other early home computers, such as the TRS-80 Model I/III, Commodore PET, Apple II, Tandy CoCo, and Atari 8-bit. Peter co-founded Personal Software, which later became VisiCorp. Proceeds from MicroChess sales helped finance the development of VisiCalc, the first-ever spreadsheet program, which I'm sure you've heard of. Peter also developed the first model of the ChessMate while working for Commodore. I think you'll find his story pretty interesting. He's done a lot throughout his career and he's met a lot of the early computer icons. Interview Links Peter's Website - https://benlo.com VisiCorp at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VisiCorp Peter at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_R._Jennings Microchess at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchess Brad Templeton - https://www.templetons.com/brad/ The Commodore ChessMate - https://commodore.international/2022/03/26/the-history-of-the-commodore-chessmate/ The Pocket Guide to World History - https://pockethistory.com/
- Aug 29, 20261h 10m
Floppy Days 166 - Interview with David Pogue, Tech Journalist and Author
Interview with David Pogue, Tech Journalist and Author Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics - https://www.8bitclassics.com/?ref=Floppydays Arcade Shopper - https://www.arcadeshopper.com/ FutureVision Research - https://www.fvresearch.com/ Tuc's Workbench - https://shop.tucs-workbench.com/ Hello and welcome to Floppy Days #166 for August, 2026. My name is Randy Kindig and I'm your host for this glimpse of what life was like in the 70's and 80's with home computers. This episode is an interview-only show with a guest that I'm betting most of you have heard of and have admired his contributions to mainstream technology learning. David Pogue is a seven-time Emmy-winning correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning. He's also a New York Times bestselling author; he has written or co-written more than 120 books. He's also a five-time TED speaker and host of 20 NOVA science specials on PBS. He was The New York Times weekly tech columnist. He recently released his latest book that is getting rave reviews: "Apple: The First 50 Years." I must admit some early trepidation in speaking with David for the podcast. Not because of any qualms about David himself; David is actually a terrific guy and that was obvious from his mountainous and amazing set of work. It was more of some intimidation based on his many appearances on TV and the large number of interviews HE personally has done over the years. However, as the interview progressed, David made me feel completely at ease and I'm honored to have been able to talk with him 1-on-1. I think you'll enjoy hearing about his career, his many stories, his musical parodies, and details about his latest book about the first 50 years of Apple. This interview took place June 25, 2026. Upcoming Shows ABBUC Summer Camp - August 26-30 - Winterberg-Elkeringhausen, Germany - https://abbuc.de/summercamp Vintage Computer Festival GB 2026 - September 11-13 - Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, United Kingdom - https://www.facebook.com/events/25457837877216829/ Vintage Computer Festival Midwest - September 12-13 - Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - https://vcfmw.org/ Tandy Assembly 2026 - October 2-4, 2026 - Cincinnati, Ohio - https://www.tandyassembly.com/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 9-11 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ Chicago TI International World Faire - October 24 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - https://www.chicagotiug.org/home VCF Montreal - November 7-8 - Champlain College Saint-Lambert, Saint-Lambert, QC - https://cvcfed.org/vcf-montreal-2-0/ Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub Interview Links <p dir="ltr" role="
- Jul 31, 20261h 30m
Floppy Days 165 - The Sphere, Part 2, with Ben Zotto
Floppy Days 165 - The Sphere Computer, Part 2 with Ben Zotto Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics - https://www.8bitclassics.com/?ref=Floppydays Arcade Shopper - https://www.arcadeshopper.com and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research - https://www.fvresearch.com/ Tuc's Workbench - https://shop.tucs-workbench.com Hello and welcome to episode 165 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for July, 2026. My name is Randy Kindig and I'm your host for this audio and video tribute to vintage computers and computer history. For those of you listening to these podcasts in order, this month's episode is the second part of the 2-part series on the Sphere, which was introduced in 1975; the same year as the Altair and even before the Apple 1. Once again, I want to reiterate what the Sphere was and why do we care? The Sphere was the first "personal computer," defined as such by Byte Magazine due to its consumer focus and built-in keyboard and monitor. Many computers can claim the moniker of first "personal computer", and rightly so, but this one has the endorsement of an early, well-respected, long-running computer magazine and they have good reason for feeling this way about the Sphere. Once you hear the details, you'll see just how ground-breaking this machine was at a very early period of computer history. Not only that, some of the personal stories behind the machine are simply downright fascinating. Ben Zotto is the undisputed expert on the Sphere in these times, after finding an abandoned machine sitting on the sidewalk and deciding to adopt it and learn more about it. He recently wrote a comprehensive book on the Sphere called "Go Computer Now!" that Ben and I spent a lot of time talking about in the last episode -- which again was the first episode on the Sphere. This episode series actually serves two purposes: first as an interview with Ben to learn more about him and his book, and secondly as an overview of a computer I didn't cover back when I started this podcast back in 2013 with the Altair 8800 and the Apple 1. So, as I said earlier, this will be the second part of a 2-part journey on the Sphere. Last month we talked in great detail with Ben Zotto about how he ended up going down the Sphere rabbit hole and all the great things he's done to promote an important machine that was forgotten in the annals of history. This month, Ben and I go through all the usual topics about the Sphere: history, tech specs, using the machine, current Web sites and a great deal more. I really hope you enjoy hearing more about the Sphere and all the things that Ben has done to fill in the gap in history that used to be occupied by the Sphere! Vintage Computer Shows Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - July 30-Aug. 2 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2026-se Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 31-Aug 2, 2026 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ VCF West - August 1-2 - Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/ Long Island Retro Gaming Expo - August 7-9, 2026 - Cradle of Aviation, Garden City, NY - https://liretro.com/ ABBUC Summer Camp - August 26-30 - Winterberg-Elkeringhausen, Germany - https://abbuc.de/summercamp <li di
- Jun 29, 20261h 17m
Floppy Days 164 - The Sphere, Part 1 with Ben Zotto
Floppy Days 164 - The Sphere, Part 1 with Ben Zotto Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench Hello!!! and welcome to episode 164 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for June, 2026. My name is Randy Kindig and I'm your host for this joy ride through the rewarding hobby of vintage computers and computer history. I have to start off by apologizing, as I'll actually be stepping back in the computer timeline for this episode. Sometimes it happens. My goal from the beginning of this podcast was to go through computers in the approximate order they were released (at least by year). And, I've largely done that with this podcast. However, sometimes a machine comes up that I didn't know about or didn't recognize its importance at the time I put together the list of computers to cover. This month that computer is the Sphere, which was introduced in 1975. That's right, I said 1975. That was the same year as the Altair and even before the Apple 1. What was the Sphere and why do we care? The Sphere was the first "personal computer," defined as such by Byte Magazine due to its consumer focus and built-in keyboard and monitor. Now, I know that many computers can claim the moniker of first "personal computer", and rightly so, but this one has the endorsement of an early, well-respected, long-running computer magazine and they have good reason for feeling this way about the Sphere. Once you hear the details, you'll see just how ground-breaking this machine was at a very early period of computer history. Not only that, some of the personal stories behind the machine are simply downright fascinating. Ben Zotto is the undisputed expert on the Sphere in these times, after finding an abandoned machine sitting on the sidewalk and deciding to adopt it and learn more about it. He recently wrote a comprehensive book on the Sphere called "Go Computer Now!" that I mentioned the last episode I had acquired. Well, I ended up reading that book cover-to-cover and really enjoying it. So much so that I decided to contact Ben and see if he would be willing to come onto the podcast to talk about his book and the Sphere Computer. Thankfully, he was. This podcast actually serves two purposes: first as an interview with Ben to learn more about him and his book, and secondly as an overview of a computer I didn't cover back when I started this podcast back in 2013 with the Altair 8800 and the Apple 1. So, this will be a 2-part journey on the Sphere. This month we talk in great detail with Ben Zotto about how he ended up going down the Sphere rabbit hole and all the great things he's done to promote an important machine that was forgotten in the annals of history. Next month, Ben and I go through all the usual topics about the Sphere: history, tech specs, using the machine, current Web sites and a great deal more. I really hope you enjoy hearing about the Sphere and meeting Ben Zotto! New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To/News VCFSW - https://www.vcfsw.org REU Grande - https://www.go4retro.com National Videogame Museum (NVM) - https://nvmusa.org/) article/cover for May, 2026 Call-A.P.P.L.E. Magazine with Floppy Days Woz interview - https://www.callapple.org/ passing of Howell Ivy: audio interview f
- May 26, 20261h 51m
Floppy Days 163 - Interview with Charles Pfister, Apple 1 Case Designer
Floppy Days 163 - Interview with Charles Pfister, Apple 1 Case Designer Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench New Acquisitions Chalkboard PowerPad - https://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v9n10/52_The_legend_of_the_pad_of_.php "Go Computer Now!!!" by Ben Zotto - https://shop.gocomputernow.com/products/go-computer-now "Apple The First 50 Years" by David Pogue - https://amzn.to/4f6XJjU (sponsored link) FujiNet RS-232 - https://www.fvresearch.com/product/fujinet-rs232/ Upcoming Shows (thru AUGUST, 2026) VCF Southwest - May 29-31, 2026 - Westin Dallas Ft. Worth Airport - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Retrofest 2026 - May 30-31 - Steam Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon, UK - https://retrofest.uk/ CORGSCON - Columbus Ohio Retro Gaming Society - June 6-7 - Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, OH - https://www.corgscon.com/ INIT HELLO (Apple II) - June 19-21 - System Source Computer Museum, Hunt Valley, MD - https://init-hello.org/ Chilliwack & Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 20 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html Pacific Commodore Expo NW 2026 - June 20-21 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - http://www.portcommodore.com/pacommex KansasFest 2026 - July 14-19 - University of Illinois Springfield (in person) - July 31-Aug. 1 (virtual) - https://www.kansasfest.org/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - July 30-Aug. 2 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2026-se Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 31-Aug 2, 2026 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Long Island Retro Gaming Expo - August 7-9, 2026 - Cradle of Aviation, Garden City, NY - https://liretro.com/ Fujiama - August 26-30 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://ata
- Apr 29, 20261h 0m
Floppy Days 162 - Interview with Steve Wozniak, Apple Legend
Floppy Days 162 - Interview with Apple Legend, Steve Wozniak Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench New Acquisitions The WOZPAK Special Edition: Steve Wozniak's Apple-1 & Apple II Computers - https://www.callapple.org/documentation/books/a-p-p-l-e-announces-the-wozpak-special-edition/ Assembly Lines: The Complete Book by Roger Wagner (Author), Chris Torrence (Editor) - https://amzn.to/4eU23ma (sponsored link) What's Where in the Apple – Enhanced Edition: A Complete Guide to the Apple II Computer - https://www.callapple.org/call-apple/callapple-production/whats-where-in-the-apple-enhanced-edition-released-by-a-p-p-l-e/ Upcoming Computer Shows (thru July, 2026) VCF Europe - May 1-3 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ Vintage Computer Festival Pacific Northwest 2026 - May 2-3 - Tukwila Community Center, South Tukwila, WA - https://vcfpnw.org VCF Southwest - May 29-31, 2026 - Westin Dallas Ft. Worth Airport - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Retrofest 2026 - May 30-31 - Steam Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon, UK - https://retrofest.uk/ CORGSCON - Columbus Ohio Retro Gaming Society - June 6-7 - Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, OH - https://www.corgscon.com/ INIT HELLO (Apple II) - June 19-21 - System Source Computer Museum, Hunt Valley, MD - https://init-hello.org/ Vintage Computer Festival GB 2026 - June 19-21 - Leigh, Wigan, United Kingdom - https://www.facebook.com/events/25457837877216829/ Chilliwack & Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 20 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html Pacific Commodore Expo NW 2026 - June 20-21 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - http://www.portcommodore.com/pacommex KansasFest 2026 - July 14-19 - University of Illinois Springfield - https://www.kansasfest.org/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - July 30-Aug. 2 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2026-se Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 31-Aug 2, 2026 - Atlanta, GA - <a href= "https://gameatl
- Mar 26, 20261h 46m
Floppy Days 161 - Byte Shop Interviews
Floppy Days 161 - Byte Shop Interviews Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench Hello, and welcome to episode 161 of the Floppy Days Podcast for March, 2026. I am Randy Kindig, your host for this wild ride through vintage computing. This month I have a special episode prepared. For the 50th Anniversary event of the opening of the Byte Shop that occurred in California in December, 2025, I interviewed 11 different people with some sort of ties to Paul Terrell and the Byte Shop. Prior to the event itself, I published an approximately 30-minute-long video with just sound bites from those interviews to help get the word out (https://youtu.be/ANR1fYicwxI). This month, I've taken the complete interviews (except for one) and created a longer episode out of it so you can hear the entirety of the interviews. To be clear, each of the interviews has as its main topic the Byte Shop and Paul Terrell. However, at the same time, we're able to learn a bit about each of the people who have ties to the Byte Shop and Paul. For this month's show, the 9 total interviews include the following people: Rick Kahn, who worked at the Byte Shop of Placentia Michael Tomczyk, Vic-20 Czar at Commodore Rob Terrell, Paul's nephew and frequent visitor to the Byte Shop Chuck Mauro, worked at Apple and Byte Shop #2 Lee Felsenstein, developer of the SOL and Osborne computers Scott Shekels, frequent visitor to the Byte Shop Teryl & Gloria Burt, Northstar distributor to the Byte Shop Howell Ivy, developer of the Exidy Sorcerer and worked with Paul Terrell at Exidy Paul Freiberger, computer historian Intro 30-minute video of sound bites for Byte Shop 50th Anniversary Event - https://youtu.be/ANR1fYicwxI New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To Indy Vintage Computer Club - https://www.indyvcc.org Midwest Computer Museum - https://www.midwestcomputermuseum.com Power of Vintage - https://www.youtube.com/@powerofvintage9442 Tech Dungeon - https://www.techdungeon.xyz 8bitdevices - https://www.8bitdevices.com/ lightboxes: https://www.etsy.com/listing/4306784729/lightbox-for-retro-computer-video-games h
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