Open Apple

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Egan Ford, aka the datajerk, the Apple-1 and II programmer extraordinaire responsible for the Apple II Game Server Online! Egan expertly demonstrates which CPU is faster, the 6502 or 8088, running circles around everyone listening. Laurie Spiegel is an Apple II user you may not […]

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Egan Ford, aka the datajerk, the Apple-1 and II programmer extraordinaire responsible for the Apple II Game Server Online! Egan expertly demonstrates which CPU is faster, the 6502 or 8088, running circles around everyone listening. Laurie Spiegel is an Apple II user you may not have heard of, but extraterrestrials have, thanks to her contributions to Voyager’s Golden Record; we have some of her music for you to listen to. Courtesy Facebook and scanners, we save Don Worth’s magazines from the trash and Softalk from extinction, but we can’t save derelict hardware from abandoned buildings. Will Steve Wozniak be as good a commencement speaker as the late Steve Jobs? Having heard Woz at KansasFest, we weigh in. (Please also note a correction to this episode.) Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode. Introduction (0:00 – 5:37) * No Quarter podcast * Small Wonder TV sitcom * Operation Rainfall: How a fan campaign brought Nintendo to its knees * Videogame History Museum * Will Win/Should Win: The NAVGTR Awards Debate, a PAX East 2013 panel moderated by Ken User Login (5:38 – 35:12) * Egan Ford’s the jerkwerks * Aztec C compiler * Codebreaker game for the Apple-1 * c2d (code to disk) utility * Apple II Game Server Online! &

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Jimmy Maher, the historian behind the renowned blog The Digital Antiquarian. A published author, Jimmy provides us with his perspective on the pros and cons of going with a publishing house over the recent trend in retrocomputing toward self-publishing. We gripe about the Steve Jobs […]

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Jimmy Maher, the historian behind the renowned blog The Digital Antiquarian. A published author, Jimmy provides us with his perspective on the pros and cons of going with a publishing house over the recent trend in retrocomputing toward self-publishing. We gripe about the Steve Jobs film sacrificing historical accuracy for mass appeal and recommend some alternative movies that get it right. We’re still loving iOS as a platform for classic gaming ports, from the adventure game Transylvania to the recently released Lode Runner Classic. Speaking of platforms, which is better: the Apple II or the Commodore 64? The answer may not be as obvious as you think! Finally, we offer a cautionary tale to vintage computer collectors whose inventory may be at the mercy of an avaricious landlord. Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode. Introduction (0:00 – 13:45) * Open Apple #1, two years ago this month * No Quarter classic arcade game podcast * The 1Up barcade in Denver * 1Up purchases Twin Galaxies * Funspot‘s American Classic Arcade Museum * Going Cardboard * MIT Medical * PB403: Electronic Publishing at Emerson College * Visual 6502 * Drift demo disk by Daniel Kruszyna, Antoine Vignau, Melissa Barron — and Wade Clarke! User Login (13:46 – 36:23) * Jimmy Maher’s The Digital Antiquarian * The Future Was Here, an Amiga book by Jimmy Maher * Jimmy’s posts about

Having gathered the treasures of 2012 and being tempted by the promises of 2013, the hosts of Open Apple are joined by Andy Molloy of Juiced.GS, Peter Neubauer of KansasFest, Vince Briel of Briel Computers, and Antoine Vignau of Brutal Deluxe to reflect on all that has happened with the Apple II and its community […]

Having gathered the treasures of 2012 and being tempted by the promises of 2013, the hosts of Open Apple are joined by Andy Molloy of Juiced.GS, Peter Neubauer of KansasFest, Vince Briel of Briel Computers, and Antoine Vignau of Brutal Deluxe to reflect on all that has happened with the Apple II and its community in the past year. We pick our favorite products, share memorable events, and make predictions for 2013. Topics include Apple-1 auctions, Kickstarter-funded sequels, progress in emulation, and more. Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode. Introduction (0:00 – 4:58) * Andy Molloy’s homepage * Peter Neubauer’s homepage * Vince Briel’s homepage * Brutal Deluxe’s homepage Hardware (4:59 – 17:43) * Rich Dreher’s CFFA3000 * Mike Willegal’s SUPERPROTO and Apple-1 Mimeo projects * Briel Computers’ A2MP3 card * a2RetroSystems’ Uthernet card * Cedric Peltier’s Smartport Virtual Hard Drive (SPVHD) * Alex Lukacz’s Bluetooth proof of concept Apple-1 (17:44 – 26:02) * Brain Board with Wozanium Pack * Ray Borrill’s VCF 4.0 auction of an Apple-1 Emulation (26:03 – 33:32) * Eric Shepherd’s Sweet16 emulator * AppleWin *

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Kevin Savetz, Internet publisher and author of the memoir Terrible Nerd. We cross enemy lines to review a book about the cultural, scientific, and philosophical implications of Commodore 64 programming, some of it applicable to the Apple II. Paul Terrell’s Polaroid snapshots of the first Apple-1 computers are cool, just like our reception to Jordan Mechner’s new Karateka game. On eBay, we discover the Androbot is not just another neat product from a Nolan Bushnell company, but another reason we prefer the Apple II to other platforms. And Ken’s accidental purchase of some Microzines produces the concept for a new and very expensive podcast! Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode. Introduction (0:00 – 17:33) * No Quarter podcast * Arcade Explorers books * Ken’s review of Max Brooks’ World War Z * Organ Trail for iOS * Ken’s Wii U unboxing * Denver Apple Pi * Colorado Macintosh Users Group User Login (17:34 – 32:18) * Kevin Savetz’s homepage * Terrible Nerd, from Savetz Publishing * AtariArchives.org * Classic Computer Magazine Archive * Douglas Engelbart’s Mother of All Demos * Kevin’s

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Kevin Savetz, Internet publisher and author of the memoir Terrible Nerd. We cross enemy lines to review a book about the cultural, scientific, and philosophical implications of Commodore 64 programming, some of it applicable to the Apple II. Paul Terrell’s Polaroid snapshots of the first […]

This month on Open Apple, Ken takes the month off as Mike chats with Apple IIGS programmer Geoff Weiss, who does double-duty as both guest and co-host. Geoff discusses his work on the Spectrum Internet Suite and debuts some new Classic Desk Accessories for the IIGS, based on his KansasFest 2012 presentation. Mike and Geoff go over some recent Apple II news, such as Brutal Deluxe’s latest software offering, a missing time capsule, a visit to the Russian Apple Museum in Moscow, and Woz’s Ask Me Anything on Slashdot, as well as Apple II-related movie and TV items. eBay items this month include a Franklin ACE-based educational unit and Geoff and Mike pause to puzzle over an Apple II Plus emulator for the Commodore 64. A discussion of recent Apple-1 auctions rounds out the episode this month. Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode. Introduction (0:00 – 08:27) * Geoff Weiss’s homepage * Geoff Weiss’s Spectrum Internet Suite * Ewen Wannop’s homepage * Apple II History * Spectrum Internet Suite at 16Sector Store * Juiced.GS * Geoff Weiss’ Classic Desk Accessories II News (08:27 – 37:22) * Apple II web hosting * MacGUI City * Brutal Deluxe’s I’m fEDD Up! * krue’s fortycolumns gallery * Woz’s AMA on Slashdot * Alex Lee’s visit to a Russian Apple Museum * The Gibson Light Pen

This month on Open Apple, Ken takes the month off as Mike chats with Apple IIGS programmer Geoff Weiss, who does double-duty as both guest and co-host. Geoff discusses his work on the Spectrum Internet Suite and debuts some new Classic Desk Accessories for the IIGS, based on his KansasFest 2012 presentation. Mike and Geoff […]

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Ewen Wannop, British programmer of 16-bit telecommunications programs such as Spectrum, SAM, SNAP, and SAFE. The hosts share feedback galore from the last episode and contemplate how to record a live show. After catching up on some headlines from last month, we plow forward, celebrating the return of an interactive fiction publication and grumbling that even beginner IF can be as obscure as the medium is infamous for. The September 2012 issue of Juiced.GS just shipped, and with it, a look at what features a hypothetical System 7.0 operating system would include. Is it reasonable to consider that a software upgrade warrants a hardware bump, and what the next model of Apple II would look like? Photos of Steve Jobs in his natural habitat show an Apple stronghold as Spartan as ever, but you can decorate yours with Melissa Barron’s screenprints from Etsy. There’s a Disk II floppy drive on eBay that holds within it a working Mac mini — a cool hack, but is it worth a cool grand? We question the value of purchasing free software on eBay and marvel at everything from lighters to thumb drives in the shape of an Apple II. Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode. Introduction (0:00 – 13:08) * Retro Computing Roundtable podcast * ActiveGS * Ken Gagne’s @party presentation via SceneSat * BostonFIG covered at Computerworld * Indie Game: The Movie * Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters * Going Cardboard: A Board Game Documentary * Get Lamp User Login (13:09 – 29:02) * Ewen Wannop’s homepage * Geoff Weiss’s Spectrum Internet Suite II News (29:03 – 1:11:57) * William F.

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Ewen Wannop, British programmer of 16-bit telecommunications programs such as Spectrum, SAM, SNAP, and SAFE. The hosts share feedback galore from the last episode and contemplate how to record a live show. After catching up on some headlines from last month, we plow forward, celebrating […]

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with David Schmidt, the programmer responsible for ADTPro. Beyond his own program, David has also contributed to the development of Davex, GSport, AppleCommander, CiderPress, OpenEmulator, DiscFerret, CFFA3000 — and much, much more. Collectively, the show’s hosts marvel at the deluge of Apple II games that are […]

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with David Schmidt, the programmer responsible for ADTPro. Beyond his own program, David has also contributed to the development of Davex, GSport, AppleCommander, CiderPress, OpenEmulator, DiscFerret, CFFA3000 — and much, much more. Collectively, the show’s hosts marvel at the deluge of Apple II games that are being ported to iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system … though we question the direction Jordan Mechner is taking the classic Karateka. Apple-1 computers continue to fetch exorbitant prices at live auctions, while iPads and IMSAIs fail to sell on eBay — though the latter may soon get a Kickstarter from Vince Briel. Finally, Ken quietly broods while Mike and David enthusiastically sing the praises of their favorite computer, the Apple III. Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode. Introduction (0:00 – 11:20) * Randy Brandt’s "History of AppleWorks" KansasFest session * John Romero speculates on the future of Ouya on Slashdot * Computerworld’s coverage of hacking the Apple II at KansasFest * Denver Apple Pi * Boulder’s Colorado Macintosh User Group (CoMUG) * Meeting Cris Espinosa * Kent Koeninger User Login (11:21 – 24:55) * ADTPro * Franklin ACE user manual scan * University of Texas Video Game Archive’s Quest to Preserve Ultima II * Apple3.org *

This month on Open Apple, Ken Gagne speaks with Wayne Arthurton, who recently attended his first KansasFest since 2004, and Paul Hagstrom and Jeremy Rand, both first-time attendees at the world’s premier annual Apple II convention. In this panel-format discussion, the four veterans discuss their personal highlights from the show, what motivated them to attend, […]