ActiveGS | Open Apple

Open Apple #25 (Mar 2013): Egan Ford, 8088, Voyager, and abandonware

Posted on Mar 12, 2013Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:40:53 — 55.3MB) | Embed

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.)

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Introduction (0:00 – 5:37)

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Open Apple #20 (Oct 2012): Ewen Wannop, Spectrum, the next Apple II, and Mac Mini

Posted on Oct 11, 2012Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:37:32 — 55.2MB) | Embed

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.

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Introduction (0:00 – 13:08)

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Open Apple #19 (Sep 2012): David Schmidt, iOS games, Apple III, and IMSAI

Posted on Sep 3, 2012Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:42:22 — 58.3MB) | Embed

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.

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Introduction (0:00 – 11:20)

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Open Apple #17 (July 2012): Rich Dreher, Apple-1, Atari, and Robert Tripp

Posted on Jul 8, 2012Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:18:24 — 100.7MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken speak with Rich Dreher, developer of the CompactFlash For Apple (CFFA) card. The first batch of CFFA3000 cards sold out in 2011, and the second batch is now shipping with similar sales numbers. Rich takes us behind the scenes of the product’s success before dishing on other II hardware developers Vince Briel and Mike Willegal. We look at the astronomical numbers rare Apple-1 computers are fetching on eBay and at Sotheby’s and celebrate HyperCard turning 25 while Atari turns 40, though Mike objects to the latter. David Finnigan’s new book is out, and Robert Tripp is hot on his heels when an updated and digitized version of the classic What’s Where in the Apple — and we have the exclusive interview with Bob! All this content and all these guests make for our longest episode ever, perfect for listening to while you drive to next week’s KansasFest.

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Introduction (0:00 – 19:36)

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Open Apple #15 (May 2012): David Finnigan, new books, CRPGs, and prototypes

Posted on May 7, 2012Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:33:00 — 48.0MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with David Finnigan, proprietor of the Mac GUI Web site and author of the upcoming book, The New Apple II User’s Guide. Our eyes are caught by another new book release, The Best of Creative Computing: Volume 3, as well as the upcoming biopic based on Steve Jobs, in which actors have been cast to play Apple’s two co-founders. Prince of Persia is still big news, with the source code for Jordan Mechner’s classic Apple II game having been salvaged, released, and modified, while classic games like Leisure Suit Larry, Dungeon Master, and even Repton are enjoying literal and spiritual remakes. On eBay, we crack open the case to examine broken Apple III boards and prototype Apple IIGS boards.

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Introduction (0:00 – 8:33)

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Open Apple #11 (Jan 2012): David Greelish, Steve Weyhrich, John Sculley, and Steve Jobs

Posted on Jan 11, 2012Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:38:58 — 50.1MB) | Embed

This month on the Open Apple podcast, Mike and Ken chat with David Greelish, co-host of the Retro Computing Roundtable podcast and recently published author of the book The Complete Historically Brewed. In the news is the Retrochallenge Winter Warm-up, which we each want to enter but just can’t find the time for. Larry Marcus has an office full of dead technology we both admire and question, and we offer a similar reaction to a questionable statue made in tribute to Steve Jobs, whereas Ron Wayne we admire and pity. An Apple-1 didn’t sell on eBay, but the Leather Goddesses of Infocom did, with Mike blogging about this and other Infocom games. But the highlight this month is David discussing with noted Apple II historian Steve Weyhrich the role of former CEO John Sculley at Apple Computer Inc. and in the fate of the Apple II — a topic about which David recently interviewed Sculley himself! We recommend you listen to that episode of the Classic Computing podcast first, though it’s not mandatory.

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Introduction (0:00 – 10:01)

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2011 year-end roundtable

Posted on Dec 31, 2011Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:44:00 — 52.8MB) | Embed

As 2011 fades into memory and 2012 shines bright, the hosts of Open Apple are joined by Tony Diaz of Syndicomm, Sean Fahey of A2Central.com, Andy Molloy of Juiced.GS, and Eric Shepherd of Sheppyware to reflect on all that has happened with the Apple II and its community in the past year. Topics include favorite hardware and software releases, community connectivity, the loss of Steve Jobs, KansasFest 2012, and more.

This show reunites the guests of A2Unplugged‘s annual review and is held in fond memory of Ryan Suenaga.

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Intro (0:00 – 4:02)

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Show #7 (August 2011): David Schmenk, KansasFest 2011, CFFA3000, and buttons

Posted on Aug 10, 2011Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:20 — 46.1MB) | Embed

This month in Open Apple, Mike and Ken keep the KansasFest vibe going with first-time attendee David Schmenk, getting his perspective on the greatest products, sessions, and experiences of last month’s Apple II convention, from the CFFA3000 to Sweet16 and more. Ewen Wannop’s publication of an online magazine archive leads to a brief discussion on the creation and consumption of PDF scans, after which we get Tony Diaz on the line to clarify a hardware matter. On eBay, we like pins, buttons, and games, before getting ready for a special guest at this month’s Denver Apple Pi user group meeting.

Congratulations to Antony Mauget, who named the game as Hard Hat Mack! He won a complete collection of 300 Baud magazine. Next month’s winner of the easiest Name the Game contest ever gets a $20 gift certificate to the Juiced.GS store.

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Introduction (0:00 – 7:57)

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