KFest | Open Apple

Open Apple #43 (January 2015) : Happy New Year with Ben Heck!

Posted on Jan 22, 2015Feb 8, 2022 by Quinn Dunki

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:53:55 — 89.1MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Ben Heck, one of our most-requested interviews. We talk about his Apple I replica, his Apple IIgs laptop, and Adam Sandler for some reason. Meanwhile, Mike and Quinn talk about Apple Porsches, Pinball Construction Set, and Western Design Center. In the comedy department, we get back to our roots (making fun of Wizardry).

There’s potato chips, there’s troll pits, there’s 3D printing, and all kinds of other wandering off topic this month, so be sure to stay tuned for none of that.

We’re looking forward to a great new year with the Apple II, so join us as we kick off what is sure to be an awesome 2015!

Wews!

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

Continue reading →

Open Apple #36 (Mar 2014): Evan Koblentz, VCF East, Softalk, and Apple2pi

Posted on Mar 10, 2014Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:26:00 — 49.2MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Evan Koblentz, producer of Vintage Computer Festival East. VCF East 9.1 is happening this spring, and Evan has an inside look at the event’s founding, growth, and lineup. Margot Comstock has been announced as the keynote speaker of KansasFest 2014, prompting us to reflect on the history of Softalk magazine. The Apple2pi card is now shipping, and it reminds us of other small devices that left a big impression, like the Replica-1 and even the Apple Newton PDA — which still has an active user group! Finally, Steve Jobs is appearing in all kinds of icons, from e-waste portraits to unlickable postage stamps. When will Woz get the recognition he deserves?

Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode.

Introduction (0:00 – 10:10)

Continue reading →

Open Apple #30 (Sep 2013): Charles Mangin, Jobs movie, Tetris, and S-Prize

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:49:59 — 61.1MB) | Embed

This month on Open Apple, Mike and Ken chat with Charles Mangin, the mad scientist who puts Mac Minis inside Apple II cases and inventor of the RetroConnector. It’s our first show since KansasFest, and we share our highlights and favorite products and announcements from the show. The Steve Jobs film is now out, and Ashton Kutcher and Steve Wozniak have words while critics publish their own mixed reviews. However, we have nothing but praise for Walter Isaacson’s biography, and Steve Wozniak gets his own moment in the spotlight courtesy interviews with the Verge and Game Informer. We’re super-psyched that Eric Shepherd has established the S-Prize — how big will the pot grow before some enterprising programmer claims it?

Click past the jump for links mentioned in this episode.

Introduction (0:00 – 7:46)

Continue reading →

Video: Speaking with Steve Wozniak at KansasFest 2013

Posted on Aug 11, 2013Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Happy 63rd birthday, Steve Wozniak! And thank you again not only for taking the time to attend KansasFest 2013, but to speak with Open Apple.

If you haven’t already heard our 20-minute interview with Woz, go listen now. But some things are better seen than heard, which is why we’re now offering a ten-minute video excerpt from the interview. In this video, taken from the second half of our interview, Woz talks about how he left Hewlett-Packard to found Apple, how he acquired the chips for his early inventions, and how impressed he is by what KansasFest attendees are doing with the Apple II.

You can watch the video on YouTube, stream it below, or download it. Enjoy!

Speaking with Steve Wozniak at KansasFest 2013

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:41 — 12.0MB) | Embed

While attending KansasFest 2013, Steve Wozniak — inventor of the Apple-1 and Apple II and co-founder of Apple Computer Inc. — takes a moment to speak with the Open Apple podcast about Steve Jobs, Randy Wigginton, and the Apple II.

Be sure to listen to the story of how we got Woz to KansasFest, and watch the video of this interview, too!

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

Posted on Jul 4, 2013Feb 8, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:45:03 — 58.8MB) | Embed

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)

Continue reading →

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)

Continue reading →

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: