Open Apple #29 (July 2013): Mike Willegal, Apple-1, cons, and films

Mike Willegal

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Mike Willegal, Apple-1 and Apple II reproduction expert extraordinaire. His topic is hot this month: five Apple-1 computers were simultaneously on display at the History San Jose museum; one is being auctioned online; Willegal was interviewed for a Kickstarter-funded book about the Apple-1; and his clones are appearing in a feature-length film about Steve Jobs — what a guy! He even went to Vintage Computer Festival Southeast this spring, though he’ll be absent from VCF Southwest, KansasFest, and Oz KFest, all occurring this summer. We watch the trailer for the Jobs movie and find we all have different reasons to see (or skip) Ashton Kutcher in the title role. We may or may not have dressed up to see the recent Star Trek and Man of Steel films; maybe we’ll fit the part by wearing some Apple t-shirts from 1986 to see Jobs.

Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode.

Introduction (0:20 – 7:10)

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

Jimmy Maher

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 #16 (Jun 2012): Martin Haye, demoparty, Leisure Suit Larry, and clones

Introduction (0:00 – 15:29)

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