[ Memory Dump is an irregular series wherein Benj dives into his garage, pulls out a random technological artifact, and describes what he knows about it for your entertainment. ] I own a garage full of history. Literally. It’s dark, dusty, and sometimes damp, but that space houses most of my computer and video game […]
Atari Corporation premiered the first member of its ST series, the Atari 520ST, at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show 25 years ago this January. After the 520ST shipped mid-1985, Atari released an upgraded model in 1986 called the Atari 1040STf — variations of which remained best sellers throughout the ST’s run. In honor of the […]
Thirty years ago this fall, Atari shipped its first entries in the personal computer market, the Atari 800 and 400 computers. I’m particularly fond of the Atari 8-bit series because I grew up with an 800 as my first computer and video game machine — it was especially potent and impressive in the pre-NES days. […]
Twenty years ago, Apple released its first laptop computer, the Macintosh Portable. It was a large and heavy beast, oft maligned (especially now) for its size and high expense. But at the Portable’s heart sits a truly clever design — very nice for 1989 — that incorporated a number of interesting features people often overlook, […]
In honor of the Game Boy’s 20th anniversary this month, I recently dissected an original 1989 model of Nintendo’s famous handheld for PC World. Of course, I took pictures of the process. This is the sixth entry in my “workbench series” of technology tear-downs for PC World. Here are the others: Nintendo Famicom, Apple IIc, […]
Yesterday, PC World published the latest in my “workbench” series of vintage tech autopsies. For its fifth installment, I dissected the immortal Commodore 64 while documenting the process in vivid color. This slideshow features some of my favorite vintage computer photos yet. I hope you enjoy it.
25 years ago, Nintendo entered the home video game system arena with the release of the Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan. You may know the console as the Nintendo Entertainment System, which sold 61.9 million units worldwide in its various forms. In honor of its anniversary, I took apart an original Famicom and its accessories […]
Today, PC World published the latest in my line of workbench tech autopsies. This time I dissected the venerable IBM Model M Keyboard, which some call the greatest keyboard of all time (obviously, I agree with them). While I took all the pictures as usual, the caption bubbles on a couple of the slides are […]
Some of you might remember the Apple IIc teardown I did for PC World back in March. Now it’s June, and my workbench is back in the spotlight again. This time I dissected the venerable TRS-80 Model 100 laptop computer, which happened to turn 25 this year. Below, I’ve posted an excerpt from the slideshow. […]
My trusty workbench has officially gone mainstream, courtesy of PC World. They’ve just published my autopsy of Apple’s first portable computer, the Apple IIc, as a richly illustrated slide show. It’s peppered with factoids and doses of VC&G-style humor, so I think you guys will like it. Here’s an excerpt from the intro: Earlier this […]
