Atari | Open Apple

Open Apple #77 (March 2018) – Kay Savetz & Carrington Vanston, Eaten By A Grue

Posted on Jul 17, 2018Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:47:31 — 86.0MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Kay Savetz and Carrington Vanston of the Eaten By A Grue podcast. Eaten By A Grue is a game-by-game style of podcast where the intrepid hosts are playing every Infocom game. They both play the game, then discuss it in detail, with and without spoilers. They discuss the amount of cheating required, how mapping was done, the quality of writing and puzzles, and so on. The show has a very nice structure wherein they discuss the show with no spoilers to the halfway point, so that you can stop and go play it yourself if you are so inclined. If not, you can keep listening and hear gory details of all the puzzles.

Kevin talks about getting beasts into bed, and other reasons not to play these games on real hardware. Meanwhile Carrington gets his feelies on and brags about how he has so many original copies of Infocom games that he sits on them for fun.

Meanwhile Mike and Quinn debate dubious silicon valley histories, wedge computers, and competing with other 8-bits in BASIC. Tune in to hear us malign our guests, misremember important names, and get super pedantic about connector nomenclature for no conceivable reason. You won’t want to miss a moment of the drama.

More information on everything discussed in this episode, after the jump.

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Open Apple #69 (March 2017) – Craig Peterson, KansasFest, Computer Show!

Posted on Apr 4, 2017Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:47 — 72.7MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Craig Peterson, who got involved with hardware and software development very early in the life of the Apple II. Craig integrated Apple II computers with a numerical control manufacturing system, producing G-code for the cutting machines in a factory. He was a pioneer in using the Apple II for what computers are actually good at- moving data around in an automated fashion and abstracting away sources of human error in a complex process.

Craig wrote technical articles for all the major Apple magazines, which led to him getting involved with Chinook. Craig wrote diagnostic and utility software for Chinook drives in the then exciting burgeoning new field of SCSI devices. Necessity is the mother of invention, and the need to precisely time SCSI drive interleavings prompted Craig to create a universal driver for the No Slot Clock.

KansasFest Early Registration is now open! Sign up now, because attendance is limited to 100 this year.

Meanwhile, listen as Quinn confirms that French people are from France, Mike spots the only Apple III in a hundred mile radius, and another boring Apple I auction happens. There’s double-hires, there’s outgoing preservationists, and there are lots of Australians. So many Australians.

A new episode of Computer Show! A new episode of Computer Show! A new episode of Computer Show! A new episode of Computer Show! A new episode of Computer Show! A new episode of Computer Show!

More information on everything discussed in this episode, after the jump.

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Open ANTIChertz at KansasFest 2013

Posted on Aug 2, 2013Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:08 — 26.7MB) | Embed

Mike Maginnis and Ken Gagne, the hosts of Open Apple, join forces with Carrington Vanston of 1 MHz and Kay Savetz of ANTIC, for one massive retro computing roundtable at KansasFest 2013. We chat about the convention’s two surprise guests — Steve Wozniak and a working Apple-1 — and how both came to be there, as well as our favorite sessions and games of the week, including Michael Sternberg’s tournament of Martin Haye’s Structris.

It wasn’t long before Mike and Ken ditched the two other guys for the most amazing guest ever. Be sure to listen to our interview with Steve Wozniak!

Open Apple #24 (Feb 2013): Jimmy Maher, book publishing, jOBS, and C64

Posted on Feb 7, 2013Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:42:01 — 55.0MB) | Embed

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)

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Open Apple #22 (Dec 2012): Kay Savetz, 10 PRINT, Polaroids, and Microzine

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:04 — 44.3MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Kay 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)

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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.

Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode.

Introduction (0:00 – 19:36)

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