Egan Ford | Open Apple

Open Apple #64 (October 2016) : John Brooks, Tiger Learning Computer, Softalk

Posted on Oct 29, 2016Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:37 — 67.3MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, we share an excerpt of an interview with John Brooks, courtesy of Juiced.GS. John talks about how and why he updated ProDOS, and his experiences getting back into the community.

Tune in to hear Quinn lose 20 years of time perception around the Tiger Learning Computer, then pretend to know stuff about power supplies. Meanwhile, Mike waxes nostalgic about high school computer labs and tries to unload his excess Apple IIs on unsuspecting community members.

We try out a new segment this month, and we hope you like it! No spoilers- you’ll just have to listen and see what we’re up to.

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

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Open Apple #26 (Apr 2013): Earl Evans, Z80, Zephyr, and LucasArts

Posted on Apr 15, 2013Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:32:47 — 51.6MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Earl Evans, Retrobits podcast host and Commodore 64 enthusiast — but we don’t hold that against him. Registration for KansasFest 2013 is open, and we all want to go, but Earl has another destination in mind. Tech history is being unearthed before our eyes, with schematics for operating systems and circuit boards appearing in museums (where the price is right) and art galleries (where it’s not). Brutal Deluxe is on a tear, releasing retroprogramming utilities for Windows and commercial games for the Apple II; we’re big fans! But not all news is happy news: the Steve Jobs film has been delayed, and LucasArts has closed its doors — will we ever get another Maniac Mansion game for the Apple II? Maybe not, but Richard Garriott’s successful Kickstarter gave fans a chance to pick up an original copy of Akalabeth. Better late than never!

Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode.

Introduction (0:00 – 9:20)

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Correction to episode #25

Posted on Mar 14, 2013Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Open Apple is not a live show, giving its hosts the opportunity to edit the audio extensively prior to publication. We remove “ums” and “ers”, correct factual mistakes, and reorder sound bites to improve the flow of conversation. We’ve never made a secret of this fact, having conducted behind-the-scenes presentations that reveal our workflow.

But just as mistakes can happen in a live recording, so can they occur in editing. In the March 2013 episode, guest Egan Ford spoke at length on which CPU was faster, the 6502 or the 8088. During post-production, we were informed that he had reversed the comparison at one point. Due to a miscommunication, the editors thought this reversal had occurred consistently throughout the original audio. The result: we swapped Egan’s audio throughout the show to state that he had proven the 6502 to be faster, which is not the case.

Mr. Ford never stated, argued, or proved such a thing; on the contrary, his extensive research into the subject (the results of which are pending publication) demonstrates the higher speed of the 8088 compared to the 6502. Though these edits were made in good faith, we did not intend to modify the intention of Mr. Ford’s words. We therefore humbly apologize for misrepresenting this esteemed member of the Apple II community.

This correction will be restated in the April 2013 episode of Open Apple, which we hope this error will not deter our listeners from staying tuned for.

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.)

Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode.

Introduction (0:00 – 5:37)

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