The History of Personal Computing

Commodore 64 Ad

For the new year, David and Jeff have decided to look back on the earlier times of computer retail by relating their experiences in getting their first computers.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• SCSI2SD – SD to SCSI adapter for retro computing
• Human Computers: The Women of NASA
• Today in Apple history: Apple II gets its ‘killer app’

Jeff’s first computer:

• Commodore VIC-20
  • Bought at Computers Unlimited, York, PA in October 1981 for $325.
  • Tandy Color Computer and Atari 400 were considered

David’s first computer:

• Commodore 64 for his birthday in 1986
  • Google search for “commodore 64 toys r us” Images for commodore 64 toys r us
  • http://www.commodore.ca/gallery/adverts_other/c64_toysrus_1990.jpg
  • http://www.battlegrip.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/toysrus.png

Jeff’s second computer:

• Commodore 64
  • Bought at Fort Hood, TX AAFES store in Spring 1985 for $150-$200.
  • Got a Commodore Datasette and put a 1541 disk drive on lay-a-way.

David’s second computer:

• Apple Lisa (Mac XL) from Sun Remarketing in December, 1989
  • Bob Cook from Sun Remarketing interview

Jeff’s third computer:

• Commodore 128
  • Bought with 1571 disk drive at the Incirlik Air Force base in Incirlik, Turkey for about $500 for the pair.
  • Set it up immediately in the motel room during my stay at the base.
  • Had to sell my Commodore 64 because who needed TWO computers!

David’s third computer:

• Commodore 64C
  • Purchased at the U.S. Army AAFES electronics store in Darmstadt, Germany in the summer of 1991.
  • Google search for “commodore test pilot” Images for commodore test pilot

Jeff’s fourth computer:

• Commodore Amiga
  • Used my tax return to buy it
  • Had to wait for EB to ship it to me
• Was blown away at the graphics and sound.
• Google search for “Electronics Boutique” Images for Electronics Boutique
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB_Games
  • Bought from Electronics Boutique in early 1989 for around $600
  • Did not have an Analog RGB monitor. To my surprise, it came with an A520 color composite adapter, so I used an NTSC monitor.

David’s fourth computer:

• Mac Classic, early 1992
• Macintosh Performa 400, fall, 1992
  • Purchased from Sears in Jacksonville, FL.
    • http://www.ceskymac.cz/1992-macintosh-performa-400/

On today’s show, we begin our look at the temporarily (at the time) humbled third tier of personal computing, the organizer. We’re covering the Sharp Wizard, Palm Pilot and other notables. This is the podcast where we take an informal look at personal computing history through the lens of eBay auctions. It’s sort of like Antiques Roadshow, but all about antique personal computers.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• The Third Tier of Personal Computing
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_Wizard
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_(PDA)

Auctions:

• Jeff’s auction: SHARP Electronic Organizer Wizard OZ-7000
• David’s auction: VINTAGE SHARP ZAURUS ZR-5000 PDA ORGANIZER
• Jeff’s auction: New SHARP Wizard OZ-730PC
• David’s auction: Palm Pilot Professional w/ Sync Dock Stylus 2 Cases Manual Box CD 3 Com
• Jeff’s auction: Palm Pilot 3Com PDA Organizer with Stylus & Docking Station
• David’s auction: Sharp Zaurus ZR-3000 K-PDA -w Box, Manuals, & Software
• Jeff’s random auction: Fossil Abacus AU5005 Wrist PDA with Palm OS
• David’s random auction: “palm pilot new” in PDAs

Send feedback to feedback@HistoryOfPersonalComputing.com because we really would love to receive your email or audio comment.

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/HistoryofPC

Vintage Computer Forum: http://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum.php

IBM 5150 PC

What… didn’t we already talk about the IBM 5150 in an eBay episode? Yes we did. But we left it off of the timeline during the original show format after the transition to the eBay only format. Since then, there was some behind the scenes work, Westworld style, to get a couple of “hosts” together to continue the original show format. From this, Todd George came to fruition and is now co-hosting the original format with Jeff Salzman. This is Episode 53, even though it is the first new, old format episode. All future episodes of The History of Personal Computing, regardless of format, will be numbered in a single sequence. Still stumbling through the post-editing process (David had edited the other format), the audio sounds as best as can be from Jeff’s poor quality sources. Todd did a wonderful job at cleaning up the sound. So here it is in all its gory… err, glory. Todd and Jeff promise to get their act together LONG before MS-DOS 9.0 comes to market!

Enjoy the show!

Link(s) mentioned in the show:

• 8088 MPH IBM CGA Demo

Creative Computing from December 1980

On today’s show we’re taking a special holiday detour by covering retrocomputing gift ideas. Perhaps something to give to a loved one, or just something you can gift yourself!

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Creative Computing Magazine (December 1980) Volume 06 Number 12
• folklore.org (the stories from the book, Revolution in the Valley)

Gifts:

• Jeff: HDMI graphics card for the Amiga 2000/3000/4000
• David: Atari Flashback 7 Classic Game Console with 2 Controllers
• Jeff: 64NIC+
• David: Floppy Emu
• Jeff: ZXpand
• David: Altair 8880 Clone
• Jeff: CocoFlash
• David: Books!
  • When Computing Got Personal: A history of the desktop computer
  • Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
  • Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made

Send feedback to feedback@HistoryOfPersonalComputing.com because we really would love to receive your email or audio comment.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HistoryofPersonalComputing/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HistoryofPC

Vintage Computer Forum: http://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum.php

Today we’ll be further covering the personal digital assistant or PDA, with the Apple Newton clones or “killers,” the Casio Zoomer and Amstrad PenPad. This is the podcast where we take an informal look at personal computing history through the lens of eBay auctions. It’s sort of like Antiques Roadshow, but all about antique personal computers.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Replacement C-64 Motherboards
• http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/09/science/personal-computers-zoomers-newtons-real-life-so-far-promise-exceeds-usefulness.html
• ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/tvdog/tandy1000/faxback/02502.txt
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PenPad

Auctions:

• Jeff’s auction: Vintage Radio Shack Tandy Z-PDA Model 25-3100 PALM Personal Digital Assistant
• David’s auction: CASIO ZOOMER
• Jeff’s auction: DATAROVER 840 WITH CASE BY GENERAL MAGIC
• David’s auction: Tandy ZPDA Zoomer Personal Digital Assistant
• Jeff’s auction: Texas Instruments Day Runner PS-2100 Data Bank Calculator
• David’s auction: Motorola Marco Vintage PDA Wireless Communicator
• Jeff’s random auction: ULTRA RARE VINTAGE PORSCHE COMMODORE PET 8096 SK COMPUTER (VGC)
• David’s random auction: Vintage Heathkit H8 Computer

Send feedback to feedback@HistoryOfPersonalComputing.com because we really would love to receive your email or audio comment.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HistoryofPersonalComputing/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HistoryofPC

Vintage Computer Forum: http://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum.php