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Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast
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Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast

de Randy Kindig

NovoFloppy Days 168 - Interview with Harry Garland, Cromemco, Part 128 de outubro de 2026 · 1 h 14 min
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172
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28 out 2026
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Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast

Episódios 172

  1. Floppy Days 168 - Interview with Harry Garland, Cromemco, Part 1

    1 h 14 min

    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 …

    Notas do episódio

    Floppy Days 168 - Interview with Harry Garland, Cromemco - Part 1

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    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

    Interview Links

  2. Floppy Days 167 - Interview with Peter Jennings, Microchess and VisiCorp

    1 h 12 min

    Interview with Peter Jennings, Microchess & VisiCorp Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics - https://www.8bitclassics.com/?ref=Floppydays Arcade Shopper …

    Notas do episódio

    Interview with Peter Jennings, Microchess & VisiCorp

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    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

  3. Floppy Days 166 - Interview with David Pogue, Tech Journalist and Author

    1 h 11 min

    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 …

    Notas do episódio

    Interview with David Pogue, Tech Journalist and Author

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    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

    Interview Links

  4. Floppy Days 165 - The Sphere, Part 2, with Ben Zotto

    1 h 31 min

    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 …

    Notas do episódio

    Floppy Days 165 - The Sphere Computer, Part 2 with Ben Zotto

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    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

    Tech Specs

    Using the Machine/Tips

    Popular Magazines/Newsletters

    Books

    Software

    Ads

    Modern Upgrades

    Emulation

    Community

    Current Web Sites and Videos

    References

  5. Floppy Days 164 - The Sphere, Part 1 with Ben Zotto

    1 h 18 min

    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 …

    Notas do episódio

    Floppy Days 164 - The Sphere, Part 1 with Ben Zotto

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    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

    Upcoming Vintage Computer Shows

    Interview Links

  6. Floppy Days 163 - Interview with Charles Pfister, Apple 1 Case Designer

    1 h 51 min

    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 …

    Notas do episódio

    Floppy Days 163 - Interview with Charles Pfister, Apple 1 Case Designer

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    New Acquisitions

    Upcoming Shows (thru AUGUST, 2026)

    Interview Links

  7. Floppy Days 162 - Interview with Steve Wozniak, Apple Legend

    1 h

    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 …

    Notas do episódio

    Floppy Days 162 - Interview with Apple Legend, Steve Wozniak

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    New Acquisitions

    Upcoming Computer Shows (thru July, 2026)

    Interview Links

  8. Floppy Days 161 - Byte Shop Interviews

    1 h 47 min

    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 …

    Notas do episódio

    Floppy Days 161 - Byte Shop Interviews

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    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

    New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To

    Upcoming Shows (thru June, 2026)

    Feedback

  9. Floppy Days 160 - The KayPro, Part 4 with Matthew Jones

    1 h 1 min

    Floppy Days 160 - The KayPro, Part 4, with Matt Jones Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench YouTube Channel …

    Notas do episódio

    Floppy Days 160 - The KayPro, Part 4, with Matt Jones

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    YouTube Channel: https://www.YouTube.com/@floppydayspodcast

    Hello, and welcome to episode 160 of the Floppy Days Podcast for February, 2026. I'm Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, we are at the tail end of a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. I was able to interview David Kay, son of the founder of KayPro, and president of the company for some time, in the first two episodes. Last month, Matthew Jones, an aficionado of the KayPro computers and owner of many of the models, helped me talk about KayPro history, tech specs, and more, through the topic of using the machine. This month Matt and I complete the KayPro series by starting with books and magazines and ending with current Web sites and a lot more content in between.

    I will have a video version of this episode posted to the Floppy Days Podcast channel on YouTube (https://www.YouTube.com/@floppydayspodcast ) that will be available for everyone soon (after the early access period for Patreon supporters has expired). So, please consider becoming a subscriber on YouTube. Doing so helps support the podcast.

    You will hear ads from some great vintage computer stores, themselves vintage computer fans, throughout the early part of this podcast. For all of these storefronts, when you place an order, please mention Floppy Days in the notes or comments of the order. Doing so will help support the podcast. Many thanks!!

    New Acquisitions

    Upcoming Shows

    Popular Magazines/Newsletters

    Books

    Software

    Ads and Appearances

    Modern Upgrades

    Emulation

    Buying One Today

    Community

    Current Web Sites and Videos

    References

  10. Floppy Days 159 - The KayPro, Part 3 with Matt Jones

    1 h 9 min

    FLOPPY DAYS 159 - The KayPro - Part 3 With Matt Jones Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench Hello, and …

    Notas do episódio

    FLOPPY DAYS 159 - The KayPro - Part 3 With Matt Jones

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 159 of the Floppy Days Podcast for January, 2026. I'm Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, we are currently in the middle of a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. I was able to interview David Kay, son of the founder of KayPro, and president of the company for some time, in the previous two episodes. This month we'll delve into history, tech specs, and more, through the topic of using the machine. Next month we'll complete the series by starting with books and magazines and ending with current Web sites and a lot more content in between.

    I will have a video version of this episode posted to the Floppy Days Podcast channel on YouTube.

    You will hear ads from some great vintage computer stores, themselves vintage computer fans, throughout the early part of this podcast. For all of these storefronts, when you place an order, please mention Floppy Days in the notes or comments of the order. Doing so will help support the podcast. Many thanks!!

    I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com. I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast.

    Regarding that, I've created some tiers for paid members and have come up with some ways to reward those who are generous enough to monetarily support the Floppy Days Podcast on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays ), such as early access to videos of interviews like the one being brought to you in audio form in this episode. Visit Patreon to see more details concerning the rewards for supporters .

    I just want to say that it is my intention to always make all content available to everyone at no cost, while at the same time providing some benefits for those generous enough to support the podcast. I hope you agree I've come up with a good compromise

    Please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!!

    New Acquisitions

    News

    Upcoming Vintage Computer Shows

    References

  11. Floppy Days 158 - Interview with David Kay, Kaypro - Part 2

    1 h 2 min

    FLOPPY DAYS 158 - Interview with David Kay, KayPro - Part 2 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench …

    Notas do episódio

    FLOPPY DAYS 158 - Interview with David Kay, KayPro - Part 2

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 158 of the Floppy Days Podcast for December, 2025. I'm Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, this month I'm beginning a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. In researching Kaypro, I discovered that while Andrew Kay, the founder of the computer company, was no longer around, it turns out his son David, who ran the company for some time, was still around. I was able to contact David and he graciously agreed to talk with us for the podcast. Kaypro has a very interesting storyline and I hope you enjoy this. We talked so long that I decided to break the interview into 2 parts, so you'll hear part 2 this month, and part 1 was last month. Following that, we'll delve into episodes covering history, tech specs, etc. on the Kaypro. All the usual topics. It looks as though I'll have 2 episodes covering those topics.

    I will have a video for this posted to the Floppy Days Podcast on YouTube. One note here. This is one of the last videos where I used a videoconferencing tool that just didn't do a great job. It has a tendency to not keep up with video and you may note that the mouth doesn't stay in sync with the audio sometimes during the interview. In addition, audio-wise, you may hear some low clicks throughout the interview. I've since switched to Zoom and it seems to do a better job of audio and video quality, albeit more expensive. In the meantime, friend of the show Brian Cox offered to improve the audio quality using some high-end tools he had, and thanks to him, you benefit from his work. Hopefully, the clicks are gone and the sound from both David Kay and myself is better for the interview section. Thanks, Brian!

    You will hear ads from some great vintage computer stores, themselves vintage computer fans, throughout the early part of this podcast. For all of these storefronts, when you place an order, please mention Floppy Days in the notes or comments of the order. Doing so will help support the podcast. Many thanks!!

    I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com. I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast.

    Regarding that, I've created some tiers for paid members and have come up with some ways to reward those who are generous enough to monetarily support the Floppy Days Podcast on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays ), such as early access to videos of interviews like the being brought to you in audio form in this episode. Visit Patreon to see more details concerning the rewards for supporters .

    I just want to say that it is my intention to always make all content available to everyone at no cost, while at the same time providing some benefits for those generous enough to support the podcast. I hope you agree I've come up with a good compromise

    Please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!!

    What I've Been Up To

    New Acquisitions

    Upcoming Shows

    Interview Links

  12. Floppy Days 157 - Interview with David Kay, Kaypro - Part 1

    1 h 2 min

    FLOPPY DAYS 157 - Interview with David Kay, KayPro - Part 1 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench …

    Notas do episódio

    FLOPPY DAYS 157 - Interview with David Kay, KayPro - Part 1

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 157 of the Floppy Days Podcast for November, 2025. I am Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, this month I'm beginning a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. In researching Kaypro, I discovered that while Andrew Kay, the founder of the computer company, was no longer around, it turns out his son David, who ran the company for some time, was still around. I was able to contact David and he graciously agreed to talk with us for the podcast. Kaypro has a very interesting storyline and I hope you enjoy this. We talked so long that I decided to break the interview into 2 parts, so you'll hear part 1 this month, and part 2 next month. Following that, we'll delve into episodes covering history, tech specs, etc. on the Kaypro. All the usual topics. It looks as though I'll have 2 episodes covering those topics.

    I will have a video for this posted to the Floppy Days Podcast on YouTube. One note here. This is one of the last videos where I used a videoconferencing tool that just didn't do a great job. It has a tendency to not keep up with video and you may note that the mouth doesn't stay in sync with the audio sometimes during the interview. In addition, audio-wise, you may hear some low clicks throughout the interview. I've since switched to Zoom and it seems to do a better job of audio and video quality, albeit more expensive.

    You will hear ads from some great vintage computer stores, themselves vintage computer fans, throughout the early part of this podcast. For all of these storefronts, when you place an order, please mention Floppy Days in the notes or comments of the order. Doing so will help support the podcast. Many thanks!!

    Please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!!

    What I've Been Up To

    New Acquisitions

    Upcoming Shows

    Interview Links

  13. Floppy Days 156 - Interview with Paul Schindler, Computer Chronicles

    1 h 39 min

    Floppy Days 156 - Interview with Paul Schindler, Computer Chronicles Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's …

    Notas do episódio

    Floppy Days 156 - Interview with Paul Schindler, Computer Chronicles

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 156 of the Floppy Days Podcast for October, 2025. I'm Randy Kindig, your host for this "retro"spective covering vintage computers of the late 70's through the 80's and the people who were on the forefront of that incredible revolution.

    This month, I'm bringing you another interview episode with a tech media personality that was involved with the Computer Chronicles TV show (among many other things): Mr. Paul Schindler. Paul has a big personality and has a lot of great stories about Computer Chronicles and about the tech industry in general in those days. I really enjoyed talking with Paul and he made me laugh a lot!

    As you know, if you're a regular listener, I was able to interview Stewart Cheifet some ago about Computer Chronicles. Computer Chronicles was a great way to get information about computers in those early days and I've always wanted to do some follow-up. Thanks to S.M. Oliva, who is mentioned in the resulting interview, and who runs a blog called "Computer Chronicles Revisited", I was able to get in contact with Paul.

    Next up for Floppy Days will be a series of podcasts on the KayPro line of computers, for which I was able to line up an interview with a key figure from that company and was also able to find someone who knows a lot about the computer line to help me discuss the technical topics. Stay tuned for that series.

    As usual, I will begin this podcast going through new acquisitions and what I've been up to, upcoming vintage computer shows and more.

    Video version of the episode at YouTube:

    New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To

    News

    Upcoming Shows

    Interview

  14. Floppy Days 155 - Interview with Karl Hornell, C64 Developer, cartoonist, author

    1 h 15 min

    Floppy Days 155 - Interview with Karl Hornell - C64 Game Developer, Cartoonist, Author Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and …

    Notas do episódio

    Floppy Days 155 - Interview with Karl Hornell - C64 Game Developer, Cartoonist, Author

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 155 of the Floppy Days Podcast for September, 2025! I'm Randy Kindig, your host for this podcast, where we talk about the computers that got many of us started in our careers and which still hold a lot of interest for us today.

    This month, I'm bringing you another interesting interview with someone who at an early age started developing commercial-grade software for the Commodore 64, which started him on an amazing trajectory with his career in software development, cartoonist, and more. His latest efforts include branching out into writing science fiction, which we will also discuss today.

    The person I'm referring to is Karl Hornell (Her-NELL).

    It's also an interesting story around how this interview opportunity came to me. I'm not used to getting contacted by an ad agency. This one indicated that their client, Karl, had just recently published a book and was looking for ways to advertise the book. They suggested that Floppy Days would be a great fit based on Karl's background and could be beneficial for both. I was skeptical at first, as I always am when I receive unsolicited, possibly spam email. However, once I researched Karl's background it became clear that he was an accomplished Swedish developer for the C64 back in the day, with some notariety. I felt his background might indeed be of interest to you, the listeners, and so happily agreed to interviewing Karl for the podcast. I hope you enjoy Karl's story and will consider taking a look at his new book.

    New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To

    News

    Upcoming Vintage Computer Shows

    Interview Links

  15. Floppy Days 154 - Interview with Chuck Mauro Part 2

    1 h 8 min

    Floppy Days 154 - Interview with Chuck Mauro, Part 2 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To TI-55 …

    Notas do episódio

    Floppy Days 154 - Interview with Chuck Mauro, Part 2

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To

    Upcoming Vintage Computer Shows

    Order Chuck's book - https://books.by/Chuck-Mauro

  16. Floppy Days 153 - Interview with Chuck Mauro, Apple Employee 57, Entrepreneur and Author

    1 h 3 min

    Floppy Days 153 - Interview with Chuck Mauro, Part 1 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To KFest …

    Notas do episódio

    Floppy Days 153 - Interview with Chuck Mauro, Part 1

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To

    Upcoming Vintage Computer Shows

    Order Chuck's book - https://books.by/Chuck-Mauro

  17. Floppy Days 152 - The HP97 Programmable Calculator - Part 3 - With Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz

    1 h 8 min

    HP-97/67 Programmable Calculator, Part 3 With Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Videos of this and other episodes …

    Notas do episódio

    HP-97/67 Programmable Calculator, Part 3 With Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Videos of this and other episodes at the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6DQ3cyp8h373H0lXSJ8yqQ

    Hello, and welcome to episode 152 of the Floppy Days Podcast for June, 2025. My name is Randy Kindig and I'm the host for this lovefest for vintage computers and programmable calculators from the late 70's thru the 80's. If you love old computers, you've found the right place!

    This month, I'm completing the ongoing series of episodes about the HP 97/67 programmable calculators. This is the third and final in the series that provides us with a terrific co-host who is able to provide a lot of color about these machines: that being HP calculator historian Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz ("Vwahdek Meer-Yeng SHAY of itch"). No one knows more about HP calculators than Wlodek and all of us are honored to get his insight into these HP calculator gems.

    New Acquisitions

    Upcoming Shows

    Feedback (videos)

    Books

    Software

    Emulators

    Buying One Today

    Modern Upgrades

    Community

    Current Web Sites and Videos

    References

  18. Floppy Days 151 - Interview with James Nagle, Reboot of Computes Gazette

    56 min

    Interview with James Nagle, Reboot of Compute's Gazette Magazine Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 151 of …

    Notas do episódio

    Interview with James Nagle, Reboot of Compute's Gazette Magazine

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 151 of the Floppy Days Podcast for May, 2025. My name is Randy Kindig and I'm the host for this ode to computers that only survive in our memories and our collections.

    This month, I'm continuing to step aside from the ongoing series of episodes about the HP 97/67 programmable calculators to bring you a timely interview that basically constitutes current news. I don't often do this, but this news was so exciting to me that I wanted to bring this to all my listeners as soon as possible. The interviewee is James Nagle and the topic is the sudden and welcome news that James is planning to revive the iconic Compute! magazine under the equally-iconic name Compute's Gazette. I hope you'll stick around to hear about James' plans and are as excited as I am to find out where this goes.

    For upcoming shows, we do have one more episode in the series on the HP97 with HP calculator historian Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz ("Vwahdek Meer-Yeng SHAY of itch"). I will air that episode very soon.

    New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To

    Upcoming Vintage Computer Shows

    Feedback

    Interview Links

  19. Floppy Days 150 - Interview with David Greelish, Apple Lisa Documentary

    1 h 9 min

    Interview with David Greelish, Apple Lisa Documentary Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 150 of the Floppy …

    Notas do episódio

    Interview with David Greelish, Apple Lisa Documentary

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 150 of the Floppy Days Podcast for April, 2025. My name is Randy Kindig and I'm the host for this journey through the annals of home computer history.

    This month, I'm going to step aside from the ongoing series of episodes about the HP 97/67 programmable calculators to bring you a timely interview with a good friend about an interesting topic. That friend is David Greelish, a computer historian, and the topic is his recent publication of a film documentary about the Apple Lisa, called "Before Macintosh: The Apple Lisa". David tells us all about the film, why he produced it, why the Apple Lisa was an important part of home computer history, who he interviewed for the film (he had some amazing guests) and much more. It's a great film and should interest a lot of the listeners, so please consider going out and purchasing the film in order to support David's efforts.

    For upcoming shows, we do have one more episode in the series on the HP97 with HP calculator historian Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz. I will air that episode very soon.

    New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To

    News

    Upcoming Shows

    Documentary and Classic Computing Links

  20. Floppy Days 149 - The HP97 Programmable Calculator - Part 2 - With Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz

    1 h 14 min

    The HP97 Programmable Calculator - Part 2 - With Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Video version of the episode at YouTube …

    Notas do episódio

    The HP97 Programmable Calculator - Part 2 - With Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Video version of the episode at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6DQ3cyp8h373H0lXSJ8yqQ

    Sponsors:

    New Acquisitions

    Upcoming Shows

    User Groups

    • HP Handheld Conference - annual conference in the US:

    Magazines/Newsletters

    References

  21. Floppy Days 148 - HP97 History and Memories with Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz and Everett Kaser

    1 h 16 min

    HP-97 Programmable Calculator History and Memories with Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz and Everett Kaser Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research …

    Notas do episódio

    HP-97 Programmable Calculator History and Memories with Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz and Everett Kaser

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 148 of the Floppy Days Podcast for February, 2025, where computers of the late 70's through the 80's are the Apple of our eye! (If you got that pun, then you're in the right place 🙂)

    First off, I wanted to mention that this month is the 12th anniversary of the publication of the very first episode of Floppy Days way back in 2013. That's right: 12 YEARS! A very small percentage of podcasts ever reach that sort of longevity. I can only think of one other podcast that's in my sphere of listening that has been regularly produced for that long or longer (Retro MacCast). I should be so lucky to produce a podcast as long as the 18 years that James and John have done.

    There are several reasons I keep doing this. I love talking about old computers, I love being able to interview incredible people that were actively part of the microcomputer revolution, I love feedback from listeners, and it keeps me out of trouble now that I'm retired from the daily grind of the workforce.

    This podcast wouldn't still be going if you weren't listening. The listenership actually has been pretty stable for the past several years, and I'm humbled and honored that so many continue to listen and provide feedback. Thanks to you and your support, what do you say let's keep this thing going till you and I both are tired of it?! 🙂

    Okay, now onto details about this particular episode. I've been very focused recently on producing interviews with some amazing guests. Frankly, this will always remain an important part of this podcast, as the individuals who were the main drivers in microcomputers will unfortunately only be around for an increasingly shorter period of time. However, the main focus is, and always will be, covering the vast array of unique machines that existed in the late 70's through the 80's. I will admit that the amount of research and work to publish the microcomputer-specific shows is a lot; considerably more than the interview episodes. However, as I said, covering vintage computers and programmable calculators is the main impetus for this podcast. It has been a full year since we covered a vintage machine, so it's time to remedy that.

    To that end, in this episode we will be covering a vintage machine: the HP-97 and 67 programmable calculator. I speak of them as one, because, as we will cover in great detail, they are internally the same machine, with the main difference being the built-in printer for the HP-97.

    I was very fortunate to get a fantastic co-host for this episode: HP calculator historian Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz ("Vwahdek Meer-Yeng SHAY of itch") . Wlodek has a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience with the HP calculators and I think you'll find his stories and background extremely interesting and helpful as we go through the history of the HP-97/67.

    In this episode, we'll be spending a few minutes to get to know Wlodek, then together we will cover the history of the 97/67.

    As another bonus, I also was able to catch up with another gentleman who has a lot of history with HP: Everett Kaser. Long-time listeners will recall that Everett worked for HP for many years on several of their calculators and desktop computers and helped with co-hosting the Floppy Days series of episodes on the HP Series 80. It turns out that Everett had spent some time at HP repairing the HP97 and he shares his memories of those times.

    Based on the amount of material that was generated about this calculator, it looks as though we're going to have 3 episodes on the 97/67, with the first being this one on history and memories, the second covering tech specs and several other topics, and a third episode to finish off coverage.

    I should mention that the HP97 episodes do veer from the timeline a bit. Whereas I've been covering the machines that were introduced in 1982 (with the last being the Grundy NewBrain), the HP-97/67 were introduced in 1976. By rights, the HP97 should have been covered in a very early episode, just after the MITS Altair 8800 and in the same general time frame as the Apple I. However, I felt it was important to go back and pick up this machine, so I hope you will forgive me for departing from the timeline order for this.

    Intro

    New Acquisitions

    Upcoming Shows

    Interview with Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz

    References

  22. Floppy Days 147 - Lorenzo Hagerty, Dynasty Computers

    1 h 20 min

    Interview with Lorenzo Hagerty, Dynasty Computers Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research New Acquisitions Juiced.GS - https://juiced.gs/ …

    Notas do episódio

    Interview with Lorenzo Hagerty, Dynasty Computers

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    New Acquisitions

    Upcoming Shows

    Meet the Listeners - Carlos

    Interview

  23. Floppy Days 146 - Interview with Dan Bricklin, VisiCalc

    1 h 27 min

    Interview with Dan Bricklin, VisiCalc Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 146 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for …

    Notas do episódio

    Interview with Dan Bricklin, VisiCalc

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 146 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for December, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your host for this podcast.

    This month I'm staying with the recent interview theme, as I continue to get the opportunity for interviews with some amazing icons from the early personal computer days.

    This month, that person is Dan Bricklin, co-developer of the iconic VisiCalc software that helped kickstart the sales of early personal computers like the Apple II and began the important spreadsheet software category that persists until today. I published an interview with Dan's partner in VisiCalc (and in Software Arts), Bob Frankston, back in 2023, and now Dan adds to the story in his own words.

    Please note that I do plan to get back into producing episodes covering specific vintage computers. I've just had an amazing run of interview opportunities in recent months, which has reduced the time I had to do the research on computers for the podcast. Coming up in 2025 will be coverage of machines like the HP97, the Lobo Max-80, the Dragon, and the C64.

    New Acquisitions

    News and Upcoming Computer Shows

    Interview

  24. Floppy Days 145 - Paul Terrell Interview - The Byte Shop Part 4

    1 h 29 min

    Episode 145 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 4 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 145 of …

    Notas do episódio

    Episode 145 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 4

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 145 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for November, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your host for this audio tribute to the amazing variety of home computers that existed in the late 70's thru the 80's, before the influence of Big Blue changed the landscape forever.

    This month I'm continuing the series of interviews I've been doing recently with Paul Terrell. As we have discussed, Paul Terrell is a name well-known in the annals of computer history; probably most famously for his kickstart of Apple Computer through the purchase of one of Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's first batches of Apple I computers for his Byte Shop. The Byte Shop was a very early computer store that was one of the few that existed in the world, at the time.

    In this interview, we continue to focus primarily on The Byte Shop, how it got started, what it was like, and much more. This is part 4 of a 4-part series on just that topic with Paul. If you want to know what it was like to run a computer store in those early days, this is the interview for you! Along the way, you'll learn even more about just what the home and hobby computer scene was like in those days.

    In future episodes, Paul and I will discuss other topics around his long and distinguished career, such as the aforementioned dealings with the fledgling Apple Computer, and other ventures in which Paul was involved after the Byte Shop, including a business that rented software.

    New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To

    Upcoming Shows

    Interview with Paul Terrell

  25. Floppy Days 144 - Interview with Don French and Steve Leininger, Co-Designers of the TRS-80 Model I

    1 h 39 min

    Episode 144 - Interview with Don French and Steve Leininger, Co-Designers of the TRS-80 Model I Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello …

    Notas do episódio

    Episode 144 - Interview with Don French and Steve Leininger, Co-Designers of the TRS-80 Model I

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 144 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for October, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your host for this audio ode to the home computers of the past.

    This month I have a special treat for you. At the recent Tandy Assembly, which I will talk about in more detail later in the podcast, not only were there a lot of great people, exhibits, vendors, and camaraderie, but we were also blessed with having Steve Leininger as one of the guest speakers along with his partner in the development of the TRS-80 Model I, Don French!

    I recently had an interview with Steve Leininger (episode 142: https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-142-interview-with-steve-leininger-designer-of-the-trs-80-model-i ), thanks to his willingness to be interviewed at the recent VCF Southeast in Atlanta. That was a milestone for my podcast, as I had always wanted to talk with Steve. I also had interviewed Don French several years ago, prior to his attending Tandy Assembly in 2017, in episode 53 (https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-53-interview-with-don-french-co-designer-of-the-trs-80-model-i ). This time, however, I was able to get an interview with Don and Steve together in the same interview! That in itself was amazing and I think you'll really enjoy the back-and-forth between the two gentlemen who are obviously and correctly proud of the work they did to bring the TRS-80 to the world and Tandy into the computer business.

    Next month, I will talk about another computer rescue that came my way recently, and which is also tied into Tandy Assembly and Radio Shack computers. I'll not go into any further detail here as I don't want to spoil the story for you next month. But believe me, it will be fun both to tell and to listen to.

    New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To

    Upcoming Shows

  26. Floppy Days 143 - Paul Terrell Interview - The Byte Shop Part 3

    1 h 17 min

    Episode 143 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 3 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper FutureVision Research Hello, and welcome to episode 143 of …

    Notas do episódio

    Episode 143 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 3

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 143 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for September, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your host for this retro ride to the past of home computing.

    This month I'm continuing the series of interviews I've been doing recently with Paul Terrell. As we have discussed, Paul Terrell is a name well-known in the annals of computer history; probably most famously for his kickstart of Apple Computer through the purchase of one of Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's first batches of Apple I computers for his Byte Shop. The Byte Shop was a very early computer store that was one of the few that existed in the world, at the time.

    In this interview, we continue to focus primarily on The Byte Shop, how it got started, what it was like, and much more. This is part 3 of a 4-part series on just that topic with Paul. If you want to know what it was like to run a computer store in those early days, this is the interview for you! Along the way, you'll learn even more about just what the home and hobby computer scene was like in those days.

    In future episodes, Paul and I will discuss other topics around his long and distinguished career, such as the aforementioned dealings with the fledgling Apple Computer, and other ventures in which Paul was involved after the Byte Shop, including a business that rented software.

    New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To

    Upcoming Shows

    Interview with Paul Terrell

  27. Floppy Days 142 - Interview with Steve Leininger, Designer of the TRS-80 Model I

    1 h 22 min

    Interview with Steve Leininger, Designer of the TRS-80- Model I Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper 0 Floppy Days Tune 1 min 13 sec Vintage Computer Ads 1 min 42 …

    Notas do episódio

    Interview with Steve Leininger, Designer of the TRS-80- Model I

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    0 Floppy Days Tune 1 min 13 sec Vintage Computer Ads 1 min 42 sec Intro 9 min 03 sec bumper - Peter Bartlett 9 min 11 sec New Acquisitions 17 min 11 sec bumper - Ian Mavric 17 min 19 sec Upcoming Computer Shows 21 min 53 sec bumper - Myles Wakeham 21 min 58 sec Meet the Listeners 28 min 37 sec Interview with Steve Leininger 1 hr 20 min 29 sec Closing

    This particular episode has a special meaning for me, personally. You see, as I've mentioned on earlier episodes, the TRS-80 Model I from Tandy/Radio Shack was my first home computer (even though my first programmable device was a TI58C calculator). I recall the joy and wonder of playing with the machine (it wasn't called the Model I at that time; just the TRS-80; as it was the first of the line) in the local Radio Shack store in 1977 and 1978 and the incredible rush of owning one in 1979; after my wife purchased a Level I BASIC machine for me as a gift for college graduation. That machine only had 4K of RAM and 4K of ROM (Tiny BASIC), as it was the entry-level machine, but it was a thing of beauty. I felt like I could do anything with that machine, even though my justification to the wife was that we could track our checkbook and recipes on it. I think she knew better, but went along with it anyway. The computer came with everything you needed, including a tape drive and black-and-white monitor, which was good for a poor recent college graduate. I quickly, as finances allowed with my new engineering job, upgraded the computer to 16K of RAM and Level II BASIC (a powerful Microsoft 12K ROM BASIC) and enjoyed the machine immensely, even using it in my job supporting the build-out of a new nuclear power plant back in those days.

    I eventually sold off the Model I, in favor of a computer that had color graphics and sound (the Atari 800), but have always continued to have a huge soft spot for that first computer.

    When I started the Floppy Days Podcast, one of the people that has always been on my bucket list to interview has been Steve Leininger, who, along with Don French while at Radio Shack designed the TRS-80 Model I, among other things. A few years back, I had the opportunity to participate in an interview with Steve for the Trash Talk Podcast, when I was co-hosting that show, but an ill-timed trip to the hospital for my son meant that I was not able to participate. While my son's health is of paramount importance, of course, I always wanted to get another chance to talk with Steve. Not only was Steve the designer of one of my favorite home computers of all time, but he also was a fellow Purdue University Boilermaker, who graduated just a year before I started there. The thought that I could have met Steve on campus if I'd been there just a year earlier was very intriguing to me, and fueled my desire to talk with Steve even more.

    In the last episode (#141 with Paul Terrell) I talked about VCF Southeast in Atlanta in July of 2024. After I had made plans to attend that show, I was flabbergasted to find out that Earl Baugh, one of the show organizers, had somehow managed to contact Steve and get him to come to the show! I have to thank Earl for the work he did to make that happen. Here was my opportunity to certainly meet Steve, and perhaps even talk with him! I prepped some questions, just in case I was able to get an interview.

    While at the show, I met Steve and asked him if he would be willing to do a short interview for Floppy Days while at the show. Amazingly, he was very kind and agreed to do that. We found a quiet room and I was able to talk with Steve for almost an hour. This show contains that interview.

    Another note on this: as you'll hear in the interview, the connection to Steve is even stronger than I realized! He not only went to my alma mater, but also grew up in some of the same towns that myself and my wife did. We personally peripherally know some of his relatives. Things like this really do make you think the world is small!

    One other, final, note: This interview even ties into the recent and continuing interviews I've been publishing with Paul Terrell. As you'll hear in upcoming episodes with Paul, and in this interview with Steve, Steve actually worked at the Byte Shop before getting the first job with Tandy, and in fact his work at the Byte Shop directly led to him getting hired by Tandy to design the Model I.

    Anyway, I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I enjoyed getting it. I am overjoyed I finally got the chance to talk to one of my vintage computer heroes, Steve Leininger!

    New Acquisitions

    Upcoming Shows

    Interview

    Transcript of Interview-Only

    Randy Kindig: All right. I really appreciate your time today, Steve.

    Steve Leininger: Thank you for having me, Randy.

    Randy Kindig: So let's start out maybe just by talking about where You live today, and what you do?

    Steve Leininger: I live in Woodland Park, Colorado, which is 8, 500 feet, right out in front of we got Pike's Peak out our front window.

    Randy Kindig: Oh. Oh, that's nice.

    Steve Leininger: Yeah we get snow up through about June, and then it starts again about September. But it's not as much snow as you would imagine.

    Randy Kindig: I've got property in Montana, and I lived out there for a couple of years,

    Steve Leininger: so there you go.

    Randy Kindig: We probably got more snow up there.

    Steve Leininger: Hey, you asked what I did. I'm involved with Boy Scouts, a maker space with a church based ministry firewood ministry, actually. Some people call it a fire bank. So we provide firewood to people who can't afford that.

    Randy Kindig: Oh.

    Steve Leininger: So it's like a food bank, but with fire, firewood.

    Randy Kindig: I've never heard of that.

    Steve Leininger: We source the firewood. We cut it down and we split it. Lots of volunteers involved; pretty big project.

    Randy Kindig: Yeah. Okay, cool. I also wanted to mention, I'm a fellow Boilermaker.

    Steve Leininger: There you go.

    Randy Kindig: I know you went to Purdue, right?

    Steve Leininger: I did go to Purdue.

    Randy Kindig: Did you ever get back there?

    Steve Leininger: Yeah, and in fact they've got a couple learning spaces named after us.

    Randy Kindig: Oh, okay.

    Steve Leininger: We've been donating to our respective alma maters. My wife went to IU.

    Randy Kindig: Oh, is that right? Oh my.

    Steve Leininger: Yeah, oh my and me. Yeah, the fact that the family who's all IU, their family tolerated me was, quite a remarkable thing.

    Randy Kindig: Okay.

    I find it interesting because I think you graduated in 76, is that right?

    Steve Leininger: 74.

    Randy Kindig: Oh, 74.

    Steve Leininger: Yeah. Yeah. I was there from …

    Randy Kindig: Oh yeah, you actually were gone before I started.

    Steve Leininger: Yeah. So I was there from 70 to 73. 70 to 70 four. When I graduated in four years, I got both my bachelor's and master's degree by going through the summer. I managed to pass out of the first year classes because of some of the high school stuff yeah.

    Randy Kindig: Okay. I started in 75, so I guess we just missed each other.

    Steve Leininger: Yeah. Yeah. You're the new kids coming in.

    Randy Kindig: Yeah. . So I, I found that interesting and I wanted to say that. Do you keep up with their sports program or anything like that?

    Steve Leininger: Yeah, they play a pretty good game of basketball in fact, I ribbed my wife about it because she was from the earlier days, the Bobby Knight days at IU that were phenomenal.

    Randy Kindig: Yeah, exactly. For those of you listening, I'm talking with Steve Leininger, who was the primary developer, if not the developer, of the TRS 80 Model I..

    Steve Leininger: I did all the hardware and software for it. I'll give Don French credit for sticking to it and getting a project started. And for refining, refining our product definition a little bit to where it was better than it would have been if I would have stopped early.

    Randy Kindig: Okay. And I have talked with Don before.

    I've interviewed him on the podcast, and I met him at Tandy Assembly. But I'm just curious, when you were hired into Tandy and you were told what you were going to do; exactly what were you told?

    Steve Leininger: They had a 16 bit microprocessor board that another consultant had developed.

    And they were trying to make a personal computer out of this. It was the Pace microprocessor, which was not a spectacular success for National, but it was one of the first 16 bit processors. But they had basically an initial prototype, might have been even the second level of the thing.

    No real documentation, no software, ran on three different voltages and didn't have input or output. Other than that, it was fine. I was brought in because I was one of the product one of the engineers for the development boards, the development board series for the SCAMP, the S C M P, the National Semiconductor had a very low cost microprocessor that at one point in time, I benchmarked against the 8080 with positive benchmarks and ours was faster on the benchmarks I put together, but as I was later told there's lies, damn lies, and benchmarks.

    But so they said take a look at using that, their low cost microprocessor that you were working with. And it really wasn't the right answer for the job. Let's see, the Altair was already out. Okay. That was the first real personal computer. The Apple, the Apple 1 was out.

    Okay. But it was not a consumer computer. Okay. They, it was just, it was like a cookie sheet of parts, which was very similar to what was used in the Atari games at the commercial games. Okay. pong and that kind of stuff at that time. And I had been working, after Purdue, I went to National Semiconductor.

    There's a long story behind all that. But in the process, some of us engineers would go up to the Homebrew Computer Club that met monthly up at the Stanford Linear Accelerator. We're talking Wilbur and Orville Wright kinds of things going on. Yeah. Everyone who was in the pioneering version of computing had at one time been to that meeting.

    Randy Kindig: It's very famous. Yeah.

    Steve Leininger: Yeah. And Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were basically a couple guys working out of their garage at the time. I was still working at National Semiconductor, but I also had a Moonlight job at Byte Shop number 2. The second computer store in all of California.

    Randy Kindig: And So you worked with Paul Terrell.

    Steve Leininger: I actually worked with one of, yeah, Paul, I actually worked for Paul's I don't know if it was a partner, Todd, I don't even remember the guy's name. But I just, it was.

    Randy Kindig: I was curious because I'm talking to Paul right now and getting interviews.

    Steve Leininger: Yeah. I, I'm sure we met, but it wasn't anything horribly formal. Since it was the number two shop, it still wasn't the number one shop, which Paul worked out of. And so we had an Apple 1 there. I actually got the job because I when I When I went in there, they were trying to troubleshoot something with what looked like an oscilloscope that they pulled out of a tank, and so it had, audio level kind of bandwidth, but could not do a digital circuit. And I said what you really need is a, I told him, a good tectonic scope or something like that. He said do you want a job here? I ended up moonlighting there, which was, as fortune would have it, was a good deal when the folks from Radio Shack came down to visit.

    Because when they came down to visit the sales guy wasn't there. We'll let the engineer talk to them, they almost never let the engineers talk to them.

    Randy Kindig: So you had to talk with them.

    Steve Leininger: Yeah. It was John Roach, Don French, and it was probably Jack Sellers, okay and Don was probably the; he was the most on top of stuff electronically because he was a hobbyist of sorts. The other two guys: Mr. Sellers ran the engineering group. John Roach was the VP of manufacturing. And they were basically on a parts visit. They do it once a year, once, twice a year.

    And they also did it with Motorola and a couple other places. But I told him about this microprocessor and that I was writing a tiny BASIC for it. Okay. Tiny BASIC was a interpreted basic that a guy named Li-Chen Wang actually had the first thing in Dr. Dobbs, Dr. Dobbs magazine. We're talking about, we're talking about things that you don't realize are the shoulders of giants that turned out to be the shoulders of giants. And in fact, we reached out to Mr. Wang as we were working on it. We thought we had the software already taken care of because I'm jumping ahead in the story, but we were going to have Bob Uterich, and you'd have to chase that back.

    We had him signed up to write a BASIC interpreter for us, but because he'd already done one for the 6800, and it was included in Interface Age magazine. on a plastic record. You remember the old plastic records you could put in a magazine?

    Randy Kindig: Yeah, I did see that.

    Steve Leininger: Yeah, so this was called a floppy ROM when they did it.

    Yeah. So if you had the right software and everything you could download the software off of the floppy ROM and run it on 6800. I think he used the Southwest Technical Products thing. And so we'd signed him up to do the BASIC. This was independent of the hardware design I was doing. And he went into radio silence on us; couldn't find him.

    And so we get to, in parallel, I was using the Li-Chen Wang plan to do at least a demo version of BASIC that would run on the original computer. And when the demo went successfully on Groundhog Day in 1977. This is the time frame we're talking about.

    I I started work on July 5th, the year before it. With Tandy? Yeah. Okay. We rolled into town on the 3rd, and of course they're closed for the 4th. And on the 5th I started, and there was the wandering around in the desert at the beginning of that, and Don's probably talked about how I was moved from there to their audio factory and then to the old saddle factory.

    Tandy used to be primarily a leather company before they bought Radio Shack in 1966 or something like that. And anyway, when the software didn't come out, I ended up writing the software, too. So I designed all the hardware and all the software. I didn't do the power supply.

    Chris Klein did the power supply. And, a little bit of the analog video circuitry, but it was very little part of that. Because we were just making a video signal. I did all the digital stuff on that. Yeah.

    Randy Kindig: So the software ended up being what was the level one ROM, right?

    Steve Leininger: Yeah, the level one ROM started out as the Li-Chen Wang BASIC.

    But he had no I. O. in his software, so I was doing the keyboard scanning. I had to do the cassette record and playback. Had to implement data read and data write Peek and poke, which is pretty simple. Put in the graphic statements. Yeah, oh, and floating point. Now, floating point, luckily, Zilog had a library for that, but I had to basically, this was before APIs were a big deal, so I basically had to use their interface, To what I had written and had to allocate storage, correct?

    We're talking about 4K bytes of ROM. I know, yeah. Very tiny, and to put all the I. O. in there, and to make it so that you could be updating the screen, when you're doing the cassette I put two asterisks up there and blinked the second one on and off, you remember that?

    Randy Kindig: Oh yeah.

    Steve Leininger: Sort of as a level set.

    Randy Kindig: Yeah.

    Steve Leininger: And someone said, oh, you should have patented that thing. And actually I have seven or eight patents, U. S. patents, on different parts of the computer a

  28. Floppy Days 141 - Paul Terrell Interview - The Byte Shop Part 2

    1 h 18 min

    Episode 141 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 2 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 141 of the Floppy Days …

    Notas do episódio

    Episode 141 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 2

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 141 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for July, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your host, as always, for this historical perspective on obsolete-but-still fun technology.

    This month I'm bringing you a follow-on interview episode from last month. As we discussed then, Paul Terrell is a name well-known in the annals of computer history; probably most famously for his kickstart of Apple Computer through the purchase of one of Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's first batches of Apple I computers for his Byte Shop. The Byte Shop was a very early computer store that was one of the few that existed in the world, at the time.

    In this interview, we continue to focus primarily on The Byte Shop, how it got started, what it was like, and much more. There will be even more content in future episodes, as Paul and I had a pretty lengthy discussion on just this topic. If you want to know what it was like to run a computer store in those early days, this is the interview for you! Along the way, you'll learn even more about just what the home and hobby computer scene was like in those days.

    New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To

    Upcoming Shows

    Interview with Paul Terrell

    Transcription of Audio-only

    Paul Terrell: Now eventually we did get to the point where we needed some legal assistance and we were once again, being in the heart of Silicon Valley, you would network with people. My salespeople knew a guy by the name of Larry Sonsini, who was a a lawyer in Palo Alto, and he happened to be the lawyer that had taken Intel public and Larry was very interested in what Byte Shop was doing because he was representing legally a lot of the electronics companies that were getting into personal computing. So Larry and I developed a friendship where we got together and I was able to convince him, since we were just a startup to be a little bit lenient with his legal fees and provide us with some legal assistance. And of course, Larry expanded his business right along with us. And he's actually the dominant legal firm in Silicon Valley. He's taken most of the companies public out there. He very much focused in the area of public markets and finance and that kind of thing. He grew his company and now he has a huge complex of buildings, a campus and in Palo Alto, which in the old days, it used to be called Wilson, Mosier and Sonsini and I think Mosier dropped out of the program, Rosati came in and so forth, but those were good, contacts to have you know in the marketplace because once again relationships. I met Bob Noyce from Intel who was the founder, one of the founders, of Intel and through Larry's relationship and friendship. Another person that was really dominant in the success that we had at Byte Shop was Regis McKenna. And Regis was one of the people that had come out of the semiconductor business.

    Paul Terrell: He was over at National. Had watched their success and as those semiconductor companies were going public and Larry was taking them public they were they were also a source for a lot of technical people, good management, technical people being able to cash out of the success that they had with the startup company they were involved with to where they created a venture capital market in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.

    Paul Terrell: And prior to that happening, there was very little funding available and actually the initial seed capital that came in for Apple was from Art Rock and Art Rock was a venture capitalist from New York City. So a lot of early startup money that was available to any kind of business was really New York is the center of finance; nobody's bigger than New York and Chicago does well in the mercantile business, but you know in commodities and so forth, but New York is where the big money was and there was really nothing in San Francisco other than some federal entities that the federal reserve was there and so forth, but and there was standard banking, going on.

    Paul Terrell: Wells Fargo was headquartered there and so forth, but these people weren't seed capital people these people weren't providing funding for new business and of course there was a ton of new business going on. As a result of all of these semiconductor outfits and so forth.

    Paul Terrell: So we were seeing a lot of new growth and one of the one good example of a venture capital startup was Don Valentine. And he was the first seed money into Apple along with Art Rock because Art's problem was he was located in in San in New York but he needed to have somebody out here that was looking after his money.

    Paul Terrell: So a lot of these venture capital people, and actually the big financial institutes from New York would team up with these new technical venture capital people. Coming out of the semiconductor companies and Tom Perkins is a good example. Perkins Kleiner. These were semiconductor guys that got involved with venture capital and Tom was one of the guys that I talked to about when Byte Shop got to the point where we needed additional capital to grow. When I ended up selling the Byte operation I was opening eight stores a month and spending a lot of time on airplanes and our growth factor was just limited by how much time I had available to get out there and get contracts signed and so forth.

    Paul Terrell: Then, as I pointed out earlier there were new industries that were being created as a result of the personal computer and and venture capital was one of them that really flourished to the point today where, when you hear about these company startups like Facebook and Google and all of the internet companies that have come out of it.

    Paul Terrell: A lot of those people were initially funded by all of the people that made their money in personal computing and before we got into Internet and what that was all about. That, and as you pointed out, there's all these other computer stores across the country were coming into existence.

    Paul Terrell: The consumer was becoming very aware of computer products. Video games was the big application that really kicked everything off because the electronic companies could make video game machines, which the kids loved. And they can make them very inexpensive versus the cost of putting a computer into a home or an office environment.

    Paul Terrell: We started to see the marketplace expand with the advent of the. video games and of course that was coming from the coin operated video games and arcades that were out there accessible to the public and so forth. So there were more opportunities to to be 1-on-1 with technology.

    Paul Terrell: Other than going to Paul Terrell's Byte Shops and and participating in the greatest show on earth.

    Randy Kindig: A couple questions for you. Did you actually end up with dealerships in other countries besides the U. S. as well?

    Paul Terrell: Yeah, the first country that we did business with and was Japan, and I actually opened up the Byte Shop SoGo in Japan what, once again, what would happen is people that were traveling to the San Francisco area maybe to a convention or business got exposed to the computer stores and they didn't have them in their countries.

    Paul Terrell: They would take the time to to look around and see what was going on there. And I had a a gentleman from Japan who would come in, and of course our computers weren't very attractive as products for him to sell other than to people that understood English when he went back to his country, but of course, there were a lot of people in Japan professionals that were multilingual and, once again, we were very fortunate in the computer industry that almost the leaders in the business, IBM and the such they were English speaking and so the languages and all of the materials were when they took computers to their country that were from here, they had to do translations and things.

    Paul Terrell: So that would have an effect on the amount of growth you could do there, but I was interested in doing a Byte Shop internationally from the legal trademark viewpoint and so we, within the first year, the first when I was involved in selling and expanding the Byte Shop operation I put the Byte Shop SoGo in play and got the trademarks that we needed in Japan.

    Paul Terrell: Once again, these things were additional expenses for us. So it wasn't something that I was actively pursuing with Byte Shop. But once again, after Byte Shop, I did a number of other businesses in Silicon Valley and once again, expanded a lot of those businesses internationally, but the stage was set, for the early pioneers, in the personal computer market, and then the same thing was happening in their countries where magazines were getting involved in the business. It was more than just retail stores. You could find magazines and of course the Japanese manufacturers, they were the ones that were making all the televisions and radio and electronic products for consumer electronics.

    Paul Terrell: So they were all interested in this category of either video game or personal computer. They had their own local suppliers that they could deal with. And I think they were just looking at our operations over here in terms of, getting a chance to see how it might evolve in their country and what the opportunities would be.

    Paul Terrell: one of the things that I was talking about were the individuals, the Tom Perkins the Regis McKenna. And the reason that I keep coming back to Regis McKenna is because Regis being a advertising and public relations person, and his offices were right down the street from from my Byte Shop. His people would spend a lot of time in the Byte Shop in Mountain View and when anybody came to them that they were companies that they were talking to about products and and being the advertising company.

    Paul Terrell: For that particular product or company, they would bring them into the Byte Shop and show them our operation and what we were doing and what potential market opportunities might be there. And through that association, I ended up hiring Regis to be the advertising and public relations for Byte Shop and, of course, they were.

    Paul Terrell: The advertising and PR for Intel, and Intel, a lot of these companies that were substantial companies with a lot of funding they would do joint advertising programs. And so we were able through our relationships with Regis to be able to create a whole ad program based on an Intel engineer, son, Ricky coming and visiting the Byte Shop.

    Paul Terrell: And then we could show off, we could talk about the Intel processor being the what's inside the computer and you see a lot of that co-op advertising is what they call it today and Intel pays a lot of the computer companies that buy their products and put them into the machine.

    Paul Terrell: They provide a lot of money for these companies. And so if you see Intel inside, that's what that's all about. If the company puts an Intel sticker on their product, they're getting free money, from the supplier, from Intel. And so we were able to leverage a lot of the expense that we would have had with these relationships and probably the most important relationship that Regis ever did for Byte Shop was he introduced me to Jack Wilson, who was the Bureau Chief for Business Week Magazine out of San Francisco and Jack would travel to the Silicon Valley visiting the computer manufacturers like Tandem Corporation, Apple; he would spend a lot of time over there and by the way, Regis I recommended to Regis early on that he get behind Apple once we started carrying the Apple products in the Byte Shop and got Steve Jobs and him together and once again there was a lot of co-op going on between the individuals as we networked out there.

    Paul Terrell: But Jack Wilson was writing an article for Business Week about the technology and the microprocessors and what was going on in Silicon Valley, and they had a technology section of business week, where people that were reading that magazine would go there and see what was going on new in the business. And so when Jack came down to see the Byte Shop he was also looking at the Homebrew Computer Club. He was looking at what was going on with Tandon Corporation, with Commodore, with Apple and so forth.

    Paul Terrell: And Jack was really amazed at the depth of what was happening with technology and the companies that were getting involved and the extent of the products that these products, these microprocessors, we're going to be in everything in your house. They were going to be in your refrigerators.

    Paul Terrell: They were going to be in your microwaves. They were going to be in your entertainment products and so forth. So he put together a a story about Silicon Valley and he interviewed me and our interview took about three hours when he came to the store, I took him over to Johnny Luigi and Johnny Frankie and Luigi's pizza parlor, which was two doors down from me, we spent lunchtime there and three hours talking about all of the things that were going on.

    Paul Terrell: And. And when in July of 76 is when the article came out in BusinessWeek and Jack called me up and said, Paul, he said, I really have to apologize. He said, we spent all that time talking about what you were doing and the computer club and the hobbyists and the computer stores.

    Paul Terrell: And all, but he said, when I sent the content of my article back to New York, he said, they cut out all of the personal computer stuff because it was just too lengthy. He said, I had 12 pages of an article and the technology section in business week is only about one or two pages, and they just wouldn't allow for it.

    Paul Terrell: So he said, unfortunately, your stuff isn't going to be in that magazine and I apologize for it. And so anyway, when the magazine came out, I obviously bought a copy of it read about all of these companies. That I was mentioning before being highlighted in there. And and then I got a call from Jack that following week, and he said, hey, he said, good news.

    Paul Terrell: He said New York has decided to go ahead and run the personal aspect of it. And so I'm going to have your stuff printed. And it'll be in the July 7th edition of business week, you might want to check it out. And when I got that magazine and it hit the street and the news racks, there was in the technology section, you opened it up and there was a picture of me standing behind the cash register in the Byte Shop and underneath the picture, it said Terrell plans franchising in California. That was the title of it. And then it went into all of the things that we were doing with the stores and the obvious, the computer enthusiasts that were out there and, what basically happened is Businessweek had whet the appetites of people with this huge article the previous week about microprocessors and what the future was going to hold, and then all of a sudden, the following week, they come up with a picture of me, and here's how you can make a buck at it.

    Paul Terrell: "Terrell Plans Franchising". Let me tell you, all of a sudden, the mailman was coming to the Byte Shop in Mountain View, and he was literally dumping mailbags full of letters on the floor in my store and he said, you're the only Byte Shop in Mountain View. There's no address 1063 West El Camino here. So I'm assuming that this is all your mail.

    Paul Terrell:When I opened the letters was people like the chairman of the board of Telex Corporation wanted a three state territory. They were down in Texas. They wanted Texas, Oklahoma.

    Randy Kindig: Were these people wanting dealerships?

    Paul Terrell: Yeah, basically they were asking how do they become involved with Byte Shop and what the return on investment was for a Byte Shop store and quite honestly I'd never had any business like that and consequently I went to one of our dire

  29. Floppy Days 140 - Paul Terrell Interview - The Byte Shop Part 1

    1 h 10 min

    Episode 140 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 1 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 140 of the Floppy Days …

    Notas do episódio

    Episode 140 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 1

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 140 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for June, 2024. I am Randy Kindig, your guide to this journey through vintage computer goodness.

    This month I'm bringing you another interview episode. Paul Terrell is a name well-known in the annals of computer history; probably most famously for his kickstart of Apple Computer through the purchase of one of Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's first batches of Apple I computers for his Byte Shop. The Byte Shop was a very early computer store that was one of the few that existed in the world, at the time. I've had an earlier introductory interview with Paul where numerous topics were covered in a more general manner. I also talked with Paul about his time at Exidy working on the sorcerer computer. In this interview, we focus primarily on The Byte Shop, how it got started, what it was like, and much more. Through several conversations with Paul, the interview ran quite long, so this is part I of The Byte Shop discussion. If you want to know what it was like to run a computer store in those early days, this is the interview for you! Along the way, you'll learn even more about just what the home and hobby computer scene was like in those days.

    New Acquisitions/What I've Been Up To

    Upcoming Shows

    Meet The Listeners

    Transcription of Interview-only

    Randy Kindig: All right. Today I'm with Paul Terrell. Paul, today we wanted to talk about the Byte Shop and, exactly what happened with that, how it got started, a lot of things about it. So maybe we could just kick it off by how did the idea of the Byte Shop come about and, how did that kind of get started?

    Paul Terrell: Okay, yeah basically I had a rep company called Repco in Mountain View, California. I started Repco in 1975, the beginning of the year and January sort of frame. Uh, with Repco it's a manufacturer's rep representative sales representative in a geographic territory. And Boyd and I had our partnership company for Northern California, Northern Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

    Paul Terrell: And then there was also another territory, the electronic rep association divides the country up into about 26 different geographical areas and then people, can join the ERA and become members of the ERA. Reps in those territories and with the association they have contractual information and they provide contact information with different manufacturers and such.

    Paul Terrell: With Repco we're selling electronic products, but mainly, different kind of instruments, multimeters from companies that manufactured that, and companies would use reps when they were just getting started out and they couldn't afford to have direct sales people and offices all over the country.

    Paul Terrell: So they would hire a rep and typically pay about, oh, anywhere from 5 to 10 percent commission on sales that happened in that territory. And Boyd and I we're carrying power supply companies and instrument companies. One day I got a phone call from one of my customers at Stanford research facility in Palo Alto, California, and he was saying that he had just read about an Altair computer that used a 8080 Intel processor chip, and he was wondering why the products he was buying from me were costing so much.

    Paul Terrell: And basically the Altair computer was on the cover of Popular Electronics, and so he went ahead and ordered one of these. They were for sale, mail order, and so I told him that I personally didn't believe that it could be sold for $439, I believe was the mail order price for this and it was in kit form rather than an assembled and tested computer.

    Paul Terrell: I told him that I thought that, basically that product was a paper tiger, and it would never really show up and that he should continue to buy the Intel processor cards from the company that we were representing, which was Prolog down in Monterey, California. And about a month later I got another phone call from this guy and he said "Hey, Paul", he said, "if you're free for lunch, come on over because the paper tiger has arrived at Stanford Research and we're taking a look at it."

    Paul Terrell: I went over there and sure enough, there was a computer and it did have a true Intel 8080 microprocessor chip included in there. And quite honestly it had a very professional Optima rack mounted case up that was part of the kit product.And so they were going to have to assemble the unit themselves, but to the computer, it it looked very much like a Data General with panel controls and lights and things and once again, rack mountable. And I got the information out of the documentation that they had received there with the product. And as soon as I got back to the office, I called MITS down in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And talked to Ed Roberts, who was the founder and the CEO of the company.

    Paul Terrell: And told Ed about my company Repco. He was changing his company from mail order four function calculators to these what he was calling a microcomputer and a personal computer. And I told them that, something as complicated as a computer, he's going to have feet on the street for people to explain how this computer works and support the the product because it was a lot more sophisticated and capable than the four function calculator kits he was using, presently selling, and he agreed with me and invited me to come down to Albuquerque and talk to him about how he might be able to set up a sales rep organization nationwide because that was his intention.

    Paul Terrell: And he was getting all kinds of checks in the mail from people all over the country that had read this article and. And literally we're just sending off checks and ordering these kits. And he had a pretty tremendous back order at the time. Boyd and I contacted some of the reps that sold products like the Prologue and Control Instruments that we were representing. And we were attempting to get other territories lined up for MITS so that he would have the kind of support that he wanted in the sales organization.

    Paul Terrell: And that's basically how we got introduced to personal computing and The Altair computer, and of course when we went down to Albuquerque to meet with Ed, Bill Gates and Paul Allen were at the premises. They had a little office on Route 40 going through the center of Albuquerque, and it was just one of those little strip centers that you see with retail stores and offices and we sat down with Ed, signed the contracts, signed up our territory for ourselves. And then, gave contact information that we had to bring more reps across the country on board and gave them some, information that made feel that these people could do a good job for him and he saw the products we were carrying and how they fit with the personal computer and Altair.

    Paul Terrell: We got the contract signed. We started to represent MITS and the Altair and what we did in the initial stages of it there was a group in Palo Alto that was meeting at Stanford's linear accelerator called Homebrew Computer Club. And this was a group of guys that, worked in the industry and that we were selling to. We were interested in joining the Homebrew Club and going to the meetings, and once again, basically representing MITS to the audience there and answering questions.

    Randy Kindig: Paul, did the Byte Shop actually exist yet? Was that an entity yet?

    Paul Terrell: No, no. The Byte Shop didn't exist at that time. It was just the rep company Repco. Uh, we had an office in mountain view, California. We were calling on all of the, aerospace companies and universities in the Northern California Bay Area as well as Oregon and Washington and Idaho. We would take trips up there to University of Oregon, University of Washington and then once again, anywhere where our manufacturing people had done some advertising, and people would fill out cards and information to get more product.

    Paul Terrell: And Boyd and I would show up on their doorstep and show them a demonstration of the product and sell it to them and get our commission. So that's how all of that kind of stuff worked at the time. And the computer stores there was no such thing. At the time nobody had thought about doing computer retail because, of course, there, there was no retail consumer pricing available.

    Paul Terrell: There were no computers. There were very few products that were even showing up in magazines or like the popular electronics. And so forth. And these the computers that were out there Intel was just introducing their 8080 microprocessor chip. The first eight bit computer chip that they manufactured was the 8008.

    Paul Terrell: And the 4004 was a 4 bit computer chip, and then they went to the 4040 and the 8080, and that was a more advanced instruction set. And with one of our manufacturers, Prolog, we were actually teaching engineers and actually anybody that was interested in coming to our seminars.

    Paul Terrell: Prolog would have seminars on designing with a programmed logic design versus the traditional electronic chip designs that were going on by people making products with the semiconductor devices that were out there from companies like Texas Instrument and National Semiconductor and so forth. So the microprocessor was the heart of this thing.

    Paul Terrell: And it was really changing the way people were designing products so they had to learn about programmed logic design and how to do it and, of course, have the components available from the various manufacturers. And, once Intel had introduced everybody else started to get into the business Fairchild Instruments came out with the F8 microprocessor, Chip National Semiconductor came out with the SC/MP microprocessor.

    Paul Terrell: And so forth. So the industry was transforming at the component level. And of course with the heart of the product becoming a computer. Everybody else had to adapt to this new philosophy of electronic design and all the way up through aerospace companies.

    Paul Terrell: And then, of course, universities were always interested in and teaching new technologies to the students and so forth.

    Randy Kindig: You mentioned Boyd Wilson, right? He was your partner in a lot of this stuff at the time, right?And I know you're just getting ready to get into exactly how the Byte shop came about.

    Randy Kindig: So I'll just let you go there.

    Paul Terrell: Okay. Yeah, Boyd and I, basically, it was the two of us with a secretary bookkeeper that would answer the phones and take messages and so forth. And we would just travel around our territories.I had the peninsula of San Francisco and Boyd had the East Bay and so we split up our areas and we'll call on customers that way and what happened with the advent of computer retailing was that MIT has had a convention that they were holding in Albuquerque and they were bringing the reps and they invited the public to to come to Albuquerque to a private convention that they were holding at their facilities, and they had just moved from that little strip center on Route 40 out to an industrial park by the airport, and so they were showing off their new facilities.

    Paul Terrell: To everybody and anybody that was interested and of course, one of the things they were doing at this conference was to invite the people that had done some things with the Altair computer to bring the products and show off what it was capable of doing. Everybody, uh, showed up in Albuquerque at the I think they called it the WAC, the World Altair Computer Convention, WACC, and, once again the the people at MITS, when they were putting these kits together and they started to actually offer assembled computers as well.

    Paul Terrell: So part of this facility was dedicated to manufacturing Altair computers. But the majority of their sales were in the kits because all they had to do is bag parts and provide documentation to the technicians that were buying these things and the hobbyists and putting them together, and which was a very inexpensive process for them and provided them a lot of profit margin in the kit product.

    Paul Terrell: Whereas when they got into the assembly of the computers, that was much more complicated. They had to hire a technical staff that could fix these products. And as they came down the production lines, and of course, it took a lot longer to take that check from the customer and. And provide a product for him.

    Paul Terrell: When we went to the world convention at MITS we were introduced to other startup companies that were making products that would plug into the Altair computer and provide other capabilities. A good example of this is a company called Cromemco, which had a color a video card that would plug into an Altair computer, and it was called the Dazzler, and you could actually program them.

    Paul Terrell: Color graphics for an application. You might have with a Dazzler card and Heuristic Systems had a voice recognition card that they had provided. So you could see that these hobbyists and people out there were starting companies. To create other products to to go with this personal computer.

    Paul Terrell: And uh, the marketplace was starting to mature with more than one manufacturer. The people at Cromemco actually focused in on the more professional side of computing and built a ruggedized version of the Altair computer that Boyd and I were selling to the state of California, and the engineers at in Sacramento were using those computers for the ramp controllers on the interstate highways and also on the canal system that they had built had controlled the water flow from all of the dams in California. So there were some serious applications that were happening and companies that were being formed to address those kinds of markets.

    Paul Terrell: Processor Technology was another company that originally started making cards. They had a serial board that you could plug into if you wanted to attach your Altair to a modem and communicate over the phone lines with other computers and they eventually created the processor technology SOL computer; so I could see that the industry was growing to the point where you could have more than one manufacturer You could have a number of manufacturers and of course at Repco, we approach these companies to represent their products as well.

    Paul Terrell: And but what happened at the Altair meeting that we had in Albuquerque was Ed Roberts had told us that one of the customers in the Los Angeles area was starting a computer store. It was Dick Heiser and his wife, who worked for RAND Corporation, down by the L. A. airport had opened up a Arrowhead computer store on Sepulveda Boulevard, and he was selling the kits to the public in this computer store, and so it told us that when we got back to our territories after the convention that we should try and identify customers of that sort, rather than the types of people that were presently buying the products. And so I asked that at the meeting what could we offer a retailer for for getting into that business? And he said he was giving Dick a 25% discount on his computers. And that was his purchase price. And the Sales reps, we were all getting 5 percent for all of the MITS products that shipped into our territory. And so on the way to the airport, I asked Boyd what was going to be the name of the computer store, because 5% plus 25% was 30%, and I much prefer the

  30. Floppy Days 139 - Vic Tolomei (Exidy) Interview

    1 h 28 min

    Episode 139 - Interview with Vic Tolomei, VP Software Development, Exidy Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper Hello, and welcome to episode 139 of the Floppy Days …

    Notas do episódio

    Episode 139 - Interview with Vic Tolomei, VP Software Development, Exidy

    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

    Sponsors:

    Hello, and welcome to episode 139 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for May, 2024.

    This month I'm bringing you another interview episode; in the ongoing effort to document the story of Exidy and its Sorcerer computer. I've already talked, in previous episodes, with Howell Ivy and Paul Terrell, both principals at Exidy and in the creation of the Sorcerer computer. Those were quite popular episodes! In this episode, I also tracked down Vic Tolomei, VP of Software Development at Exidy during that same time, and got his story. If you want to know what it was like to lead a software development effort at that time, this is the interview for you!

    Upcoming on the podcast, I have more interviews to share, as well as more hardware to cover. I'm actually a few months ahead with developing content, which I guess is an advantage of being retired!

    I've created some tiers for paid members and have come up with some ways to reward those who are generous enough to monetarily support the Floppy Days Podcast on Patreon.

    First of all, all tiers ($2/month and up) will receive early access to companion videos for any interviews that are published. The audio will be published to Floppy Days immediately, as usual, while any video will be made available exclusively to all paid members for a period of time (at least 30 days) before the general public. The videos will be published for you on Patreon.com, and then moved to the Floppy Days YouTube channel after the exclusivity period is over.

    Other benefits have been added for the tiers above the minimum $2 tiers, such as Floppy Days merchandise, an audio introduction for supporters, and even the option to co-host an episode!

    It is my intention to always make all content available to everyone at no cost, while at the same time providing some benefits for those generous enough to support the podcast. I hope this is a good compromise.

    Please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!!

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