ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Tay Vaughan, Atari Connection and Antic magazines   Tay Vaughan used Atari computers in his school for maritime skills and as a marine surveyor. He was featured in that capacity in a 1983 Atari catalog "Atari Home Computers — The Next Generation." Next, he was hired by Atari and was an editor of The Atari Connection magazine, where he wrote the Bits & Pieces column. Later, Tay was senior editor at...

Linda Schreiber: T.H.E.S.I.S. Software and author   Linda Watson-Call is better known to Atari users as Linda Schreiber, which was her name at that time. Linda was the founder of T.H.E.S.I.S. Software, an educational software publisher for the Atari 8-bit and Apple II computers. The company was best known for her game, Big Math Attack. She wrote several books about the Atari 8-bit computers: Atari...

Richard Taylor, Digital Devices Corporation   Richard Taylor was an employee of Digital Devices Corporation. DDC built a number of adapters for the Atari 8-bit computers — it's most well-known product was probably APE-FACE, an inexpensive ($90) device that connected the Atari's SIO port to standard parallel printers. The company's other products included UPRINT, a printing buffer; and the Ape-Link...

Dave Comstock, part 2   A couple of days after our interview, Dave Comstock (who worked at Atari on E.T. Phone Home, Superman III, and Clock & Dagger) e-mailed me saying he had remembered more stories from his Atari days. So we set up a second interview.    This interview took place on November 14, 2017.   "The project team was actually treated to a meal with Ray Kassar and some other executives i...

Dave Comstock: E.T. Phone Home!, Superman III, Cloak & Dagger   Dave Comstock worked at Atari from 1980 through 1984, first as a software and hardware tester, then as a programmer. Dave worked on three games for the Atari 8-bit computers: E.T. Phone Home!, Superman III, and Cloak and Dagger.   A video version of this interview is also available .   This interview took place on November 8, 2017.  ...

Sarah Haskell, Computerized Weaving   There's a column in the November 1983 issue of Family Computing magazine, by Jon Zonderman: "Home Business — Compute, Control, and Create. A weaver combines the traditional skills of her craft with a computer and reaps more than one reward."    The article is about Sarah Haskell, a weaver who used an Atari computer to design patterns for weaving, and also to c...

Randall Lockwood, Choose-A-Pooch   There's an article in the August 1984 issue of Family Computing magazine, by Bill Camarda — Behind The Screens: Family Dog . It's about Choose-A-Pooch, an Atari computer program created by Dr. Randall Lockwood, to help match people with the breed of dog that will work best in their living situation.   I interviewed Dr. Lockwood on November 10, 2017.   "Trying to...

Frank Schwartz and Richard Lewis, Virtusonics   Last last year, I received a batch of Atari disks. One of the disks was labeled Virtuoso Play Mode Sampler — a music demonstration disk from Virtusonics, a company I had never heard of.   Thanks to some old articles in Antic magazine, I learned a bit about the product and the company. In 1985, Nat Friedland first wrote about the Virtuoso software : "...

Paul Wehner, APX Saratoga   Paul Wehner created one program for the Atari 8-bit computer, Saratoga, which was published by Atari Program Exchange. The American revolutionary war game first appeared in the fall 1983 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the Entertainment category.   This interview took place on October 24, 2017.   Paul's game list at AtariMania   Saratoga in the fall 1983 APX c...

Alan Reeve, Reeve Software   Alan Reeve is the founder of Reeve Software, a company that stated in 1984, creating software for the Atari 8-bit computers. Reeve Software published a variety of applications including Diamond GOS, News Station and News Station Companion, Publishing Pro, The Business Manager, and Diamond Write. The company's games included Battle Tank, Bomber, Castle Attack, Space Hun...

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast:  The artificial intelligence that acts as the hosts of the show laments the lack of Atari goodness this month.  Nir Dary avails us of his world travels, this time to the ABBUC meeting.  Plus all the Atari news we could find. READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd" New Ata...

Guy Ferrante, S&S Wholesalers and Star BBS   Guy Ferrante worked for S&S Wholesalers, a Miami Florida-based computer mail order company, where he was in charge of creating magazine advertisements and managing the warehouse. He also ran Star BBS, a bulletin board system based in South Florida, for 11 years.   This interview took place on August 25, 2017.   "There's merchandise all over the place. I...

Ben Heck - Internet Celebrity and Console Modder Benjamin J. Heckendorn (aka Ben Heck) is an American console modder and Internet celebrity. He is the star of element14's The Ben Heck Show, a popular online TV program.  It also turns out that he grew up with the Atari 8-bit line of computers and has built a couple of mods involving the Atari line. This interview took place on April 13, 2017. Book:...

Jim Schuyler, Founder of DesignWare   Jim Schuyler was Founder of DesignWare. Founded in 1980, Designware created educational software that was published by other companies — including SRA, Xerox, and Spinnaker — as well as software that it published under its own label. Designware's titles included Creature Creator, Grammar Examiner, Mission: Algebra, Spellicopter, and Trap-a-Zoid, among others....

Dan Pinal: Alternate Reality - The Dungeon, Atari Graphics and Arcade Game Design   Dan Pinal contributed to the book Atari Graphics and Arcade Game Design, with Jeff Stanton, a book published by Arrays in 1984. He was one of the programmers of Alternate Reality - The Dungeon, which was published by Datasoft in 1987. He also created the game Stargate Courier, published by COSMI; and worked on the...

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast:  Victor Marland of the Ten Pence Arcade Podcast joins us over Kevin's pancake breakfast, Bill Kendrick reviews Tempest Elite, and we discuss Tinkle Pit and Uncle Poo.  Plus all the Atari news we could find. READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd" New Atari books scans at...

Dan Reinhart, Yahtman   Dan Reinhart published one program for the Atari 8-bit computers: Yahtman, a Yahtzee-style game that was published by Atari Program Exchange. Yahtman first appeared in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog.   This interview took place on August 28, 2017. In it, we discuss Paul Cubbage, whom I previously interviewed.   "Paul [Cubbage] had said, 'You know, you have good potential...

David Seuss, co-founder of Spinnaker Software   This interview is with David Seuss, co-founder of Spinnaker Software. Spinnaker was one of the first companies to focus exclusively on educational software. Spinnaker's software line-up included Snooper Troops, Delta Drawing, FaceMaker, Adventure Creator, In Search of the Most Amazing Thing, KinderComp, and many other titles.   This interview took pl...

Hal Glicksman, Datamost   Hal Glicksman was head of the book division at Datamost.   In two years from 1982 to 1984, Datamost was one of largest publishers of computer books. In 1983 alone, Datamost published over 40 titles and shipped 100,000 books per month. Their Atari books included Atari Roots, Kids and the Atari, ABCs of Atari Computers, and The Elementary Atari. Hal himself wrote The Musica...

Lee Konowe, American Software Club   Lee Konowe was founder of American Software Club, a mail-order software company. American Software Club sold software for CP/M, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80, Apple II, IBM PC, Commodore 64, and other platforms. It started out with a sort of Columbia House "software of the month" model, where you automatically received a "choice of the month" software package each month...

Patricia Mitchell, Thorn EMI   Patricia Mitchell started at Thorn EMI in 1981.  She worked in the home computer software division, evaluating software that had been submitted by programmers.    Thorn EMI published many games for the Atari 8-bit computers, including River Rescue, Carnival Massacre, Orc Attack, Kickback, Submarine Commander, Computer War, and Jumbo Jet Pilot.   Later she worked at V...

James Burton, APX Drawit   James Burton published one program for the Atari 8-bit computers: Drawit, a graphics utility that was published by Atari Program Exchange. It first appeared in the summer 1983 APX catalog, where it was awarded first prize in the personal development category.     This interview took place on August 24, 2017.   "Many hours. Many, many hours. Late at night, don;t want to g...

Lance Leventhal, Author of Assembly Language Books   Lance Leventhal wrote 25 computer books, spanning 1978 through 1992. His books include  6502 Assembly Language Programming, 6502 Assembly Language Subroutines, Z80 Assembly Language Programming, Z80 Assembly Language Subroutines, 6800 Assembly Language Programming, 6809 Assembly Language Programming, and Why Do You Need a Personal Computer?   Th...

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast: Mike Maginnis of the Open Apple and Drop III Inches podcasts joins the Antic crew and starts a computer war, Nir Dary tells us about disk drive upgrades, we catch up with Curt Vendel about his projects including the 2nd Atari history book, and more Atari news than you can possibly imagine! READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariAr...

John Skruch, Atarisoft   John Skruch worked at Atari from 1982, under Warner Communications, all through the Tramiel era, until 1998 when the company was owned by JTS.   During that time, he was operations manager for Atarisoft, the arm of Atari that produced software for competing computer systems; software product manager for the 8-bit computer line; and director of licensing. He was involved wt...