TTI took three of these and never woke up.
Discussion topic of the week: Pretend it’s 1991 and you’re giving advice to NEC executives on how to save the TurboGrafx-16 in the United States. What do you say?
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Often we yearn to reclaim fond memories from childhood, but those memories remain just out of reach. Sometimes the event or object we’re seeking happened so long ago that our recollections have become foggy or even distorted over time.
Well, in a way, that’s why I’m here. As a historian, I like to help people reconnect with and rediscover the past. I regularly receive emails from people looking for information on games, toys, or computers that they haven’t seen in years. Last week, I found another such email waiting in my inbox that left me stumped. That’s why I’m turning to you, my wonderful readers, for help in solving the mystery.
[ Continue reading [ Fuzzy Memory ] Seeking Childhood Computer Toy » ]
Tom’s congenital lack of eyeballs had never been an obstacle…until now.
Discussion topic of the week: What’s your favorite flight simulator software of all time?
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Brian Parker of RetroZone is at it again, reinventing the NES homebrew scene with innovative new products. This time he’s selling a special edition Glider NES game cartridge on eBay that, aside from being a previously unreleased title, will glow while it’s being played.
[ Continue reading Own a Glowing NES Cartridge: Glider Special Edition » ]
Front cover of Supercomputer by Edward Packard (1984)
While looking through some old boxes a few weeks ago, I stumbled across my brother’s large collection of vintage Choose Your Own Adventure books. These books, as a series, were very popular in the early 1980s. Bantam published over 180 different Adventures from 1979 to 1998.
Each Choose Your Own Adventure book is similar to an adventure computer game. You read a few pages, and then you’re faced with different paths that your character can take:
If you free Danny from the barn even though Uncle Grog might catch you, turn to page 23.
If you give up and throw your SuperTorch in the hay, turn to page 40.
The outcome of the story depends on your choices, and every book contains multiple endings.
One book in my brother’s set stood out from the rest: Supercomputer, by Edward Packard (1984). It’s an interesting artifact of the popular conception of computers at the time, echoing common 1980s fantasy themes involving 500 lb. CRT-display machines achieving sentience, starting a nuclear war, or simply doing all your homework.
[ Continue reading [ Retro Scan of the Week ] Choose Your Own Adventure » ]
Yes, the last two posts on VC&G were April Fools’ gags. The first was a legitimate TRS-80 scan that I manipulated to look freaky. I posted it on the 31st because that was the closest Monday to April 1st (I post a new Retro Scan of the Week every Monday). You’ll notice that the ad reads “Radio Snack,” so that should be the warning sign to future alien computer historians who might think it was authentic. Hopefully you didn’t stake your house / car / life savings on that being the real deal. If you did, then I applaud you on your unflinching loyalty and trust in the site.
I hope I got your hopes up with talk of the Apple IIpc. Sounds like an exciting idea, doesn’t it? With devices like the C-One popping up, you never know what will happen in the future. Steve Wozniak himself said (via email) that he loved the prank, so I guess, based on that criteria alone, it was a success. Sadly, no real Apple IIpc (that I know of) is in the works.
So now it’s time to move on into the greater world of April. After all, more Vintage Computing and Gaming always awaits us on the road ahead.
For the last two years, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has toiled away in secrecy on a brand new computer system, which he announced today in a surprise press release. The machine, sure to stun the computer industry, carries the torch of the classic Apple II computer line and brings with it a massive installed user base. Wozniak calls his creation the Apple IIpc — a fitting name for a modern update of his venerable Apple II design that sports both a 2 GHz processor and full compatibility with all Apple II software and accessories.
In a special email to the vintage computing press, Wozniak laid out the details. “I’m emailing this to you frist [sic] because I know you’re the ones who supported me all these years,” he writes. “After all, I’m counting on you to make this new launch a success.”
Powered by a new 2.0 GHz 6502-compatible chip from WDC, the IIpc will retain full backward-compatibility with both Apple II and Apple IIgs software. In a further nod to the past, the computer will ship with three Apple II slots (in addition to the three PCI-X slots on the board) and will include user ports for Apple II keyboards, mice, paddles, and numeric keypads. The IIpc will support memory up to four gigabytes, although Wozniak plans on shipping the first model with only 1GB of RAM.
Perhaps the biggest bombshell in this announcement deals with the IIpc’s new 64-bit CPU. WDC, suppliers of processors for the Apple IIc and IIgs in the past, developed a special chip specifically for this project called the W65T64 Terbium Pro. Long thought to be vaporware by the computer press since it had no known application, the Terbium Pro has finally materialized, although it’s still in the late prototype stages.
“I’m extremely pleased with WDC on this project,” Wozniak writes. “Unlike modern emulation methods, the W65T64 runs Apple II code natively at 2.0GHz, along with more advanced software.”
The IIpc was initially designed as a drop-in replacement for the Apple IIe motherboard, but Wozniak soon realized that the antique IIe case and power supply would severly limit his design’s capabilities. He has commissioned a completely new all-in-one case from Jerry Manock specifically for the Apple IIpc. Manock, an Apple veteran, previously designed the Apple II, Apple III, and Macintosh cases. “Jerry and I work together like magic,” writes Wozniak, “and he’s got an incredible design for a new case that we’ll be testing soon.”
So what does Apple, Inc. and Steve Jobs think of all this? “Every time I talk to Steve, he tells me they still receive over 5,000 calls a day at Apple asking for an upgrade to the Apple IIe,” Wozniak writes, “So he’s happy that I’ll be getting them off his back.”
In exchange for permission to use Apple’s trademarks for a limited-run, limited distribution project, Wozniak had to sign a contract saying that he would handle any and all support issues that might arise. Apple even issued him his own support number, 1-866-866-8668, which satisfies his love for phone numbers with repeating digits.
Regrading trademarks, Wozniak felt it was important to stick to his roots. “I thought I’d stay with ‘Apple II’ as a basis for the name, because my machine is the next step in this long family of computers,” says Wozniak. And what about the model name’s two-letter addition? Wozniak explains: “The ‘PC’ modifier stands for ‘private computer,’ since it’s designed to be used by one person at a time, in other words, by yourself.” He continues,”I though about calling it the “Apple IIrf” — for ‘really fast’ — but I figured people wouldn’t take it seriously.”
According to Wozniak, The Apple IIpc will be available for sale on his website by “fourth quarter 2008” and will retail for $1666.66. But there might be delays. “Aside from the case we’re working on, the W65T64 is really the bottleneck in terms of getting this thing off the ground,” Wozniak writes. “The chip is going into production in June, so until then, I can’t launch.”
Wozniak and Manock formed a new corporation to distribute the Apple IIpc called Wozniock Computers. According to Manock, Wozniak has been waiting years for the opportunity to design something new that people will enjoy. “This is the project that Woz would have worked on at Apple if he hadn’t left the company in 1985,” says Manock. “I really hope people love using it as much as he did making it.”
[ Happy April Fools’ Day — This is not real. ]
“Gather ’round, kids, and warm up by the TRS-80 Model 4” (1983)
[Edit (04/02/2008) – This was an April Fool’s Day scan. It was edited by me to look weird. Hope you enjoyed it! ]
Discussion topic of the week: Have you ever used a computer with all four members of your nuclear family at the same time?
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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 year Apple released its thinnest and lightest portable computer yet, the MacBook Air, to great fanfare. But it wasn’t the first time for such an event: Twenty-four years ago critics hailed another Apple computer–its first portable ever–as a masterpiece of compact industrial design. The Apple IIc marked an important milestone for Apple’s stalwart Apple II line, squeezing the power of a full-size IIe into a svelte 7.5-pound package.
With that intro in mind, I have a question for my keenly intelligent, historically-minded readership: Which release made more of a splash? The Apple IIc or the MacBook Air?
Exhibit A: Talking Whiz-Kid Program Card #43 (1987)
Nothing captures the childlike zeal and enthusiasm most kids have to murder grown adults like this illustration from 1987. A young boy mercilessly withholds the “answer” from a balding, middle aged man — ruthlessly toying with his life — while the innocent adult faces imminent death at the end of a hangman’s noose.
And for what? I couldn’t tell you. Is the enjoyment of a “game” worth a man’s life? Maybe the answer lies somewhere in the deep, sordid archives of Vtech.
Discussion topic of the week: How many child players of Hangman grew up to be murderers?
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