ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Chris Byrne, Intern at Atari Ireland   Chris Byrne was an intern at Atari Ireland in 1982, where he programmed a quality lot tracking system on the Atari 800, and on the IBM System/38.   This interview took place on March 20, 2017.

Atawi Fowever!!! In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast: Nir Dary talks about the Atari Invasion Show, Tom Raida brings back the programming language segment to talk about Kyan Pascal, we tell you about all the Atari shows going on this year around the world, and in order to head off lawsuits we tell you about all the possible side effects of listening to Antic. READY! Recurring Links Fl...

Peter Shankman, Help A Reporter Out Peter Shankman is a well-known American entrepreneur and author. He was creator of Help A Reporter Out, and author of several business books. He got his start in technology with an Atari 2600 and an Apple ][. This interview took place on March 20, 2017. Teaser quote: "What would you change, if you could go back and talk to your 10-year-old self? I wouldn't chang...

Nadav Caine, Mathematic-Tac-Toe Nadav Caine published one program for the Atari computer: Mathematic-Tac-Toe. This educational program first appeared in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. This interview took place on March 17, 2017. Teaser quotes: "Look, my game's lousy. I'm embarrassed even to have a conversation about it." "All education is self-education. I don't think teachers put knowledge in...

Bob Woolley, Atari 1200XL hardware hacker Bob Woolley has been upgrading and modifying Atari 8-bit computers — primarily the 1200XL — since it was released. His hardware products include video output improvements, keyboard repairs, built-in CompactFlash cards, a dual-ANTIC computer, and a parallel bus interface for the 1200XL. Bob was editor of Atari Classics magazine from approximately 1994-1997....

Joe Grande, Monkey Up A Tree Joe Grande published one program for the Atari computers: Monkey Up A Tree was published by Atari Program Exchange, and first appeared in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog.  This interview took place on March 14, 2017. Monkey Up A Tree in the winter 1982 APX catalog

David Lubar, Game Developer (PastFinder) Welcome to another interview episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit computer podcast. David Lubar was a prolific games software developer who worked for Sirius Software, Activision and Absolute and freelanced for several other companies, including Broderbund, Origin Systems, and Imagineering.  He developed games for many different systems, including game consoles...

In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast: Bill Kendrick returns with a segment on the Lantronix and BBSing on your Atari, we cover lots of new hardware upgrades, Nir Dary talks about the RAM-Cart 1M, and we have our usual segments on what's new at Archive.org and what's happening in the Atari 8-bit world. READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin...

Ed Kelly, Edladdin Hello, welcome to a special interview-only episode of Antic, the Atari 8-bit podcast.  My name is Randy Kindig.  This interview is with Ed Kelly of Edladdin.  Edladdin produces a fantastic family of controllers for the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Flashback, and classic 8-bit computers.  I met Ed at VCF Southeast in 2016 and was so impressed by his controllers that I later boug...

Mark Odendahl, Rush Hour Mark Odendahl was the creator of Rush Hour, a Frogger-like game that appeared in the winter 1983 Atari Program Exchange catalog, the final APX catalog. He also wrote one program for A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazine: Number Editor appeared in the January 1989 issue. This interview took place on January 24, 2017. "So I sold one copy of the program, but not through Atari. I so...

In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast: Nir Dary talks about all the available memory upgrade options (You need more memory!), we discuss what we've been up to in the Atari world, give you all the Atari 8-bit news that's fit to print, and tell you about our "of-the-month" finds. READY Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd" Ne...

Steve Gerber, VP of International New Product Development Steve Gerber was head of the Atari Software Acquisition Program. In October 1981, Atari opened its first Regional Software Acquisition Center, managed by Steve, in a 4,000 square-foot location that also housed the Atari Program Exchange (APX). Later Steve was Atari's VP of International New Product Development, in charge of software develop...

Mark Pelczarski, Penguin Software Mark Pelczarski was the founder of Penguin Software — later renamed to Polarware. Penguin published many graphics programs and games for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and other platforms. The company's programs included Magic Paintbrush, Graphics Magician, Pie Man, Spy's Demise, The Spy Strikes Back, and Transylvania. Mark was editor of Softside Magazine for a time, and...

Sheldon Leemon: Instedit, Circuit Lab, Mapping the Commodore 64 Sheldon Leemon was the creator of Instedit, a character set editor; and Circuit Lab, an electronics learning program that he co-created with with Mark Davids. Both programs were published by Atari Program Exchange. He wrote for several computer magazines, including Softside — where he wrote many reviews, and a game called Outer Space...

Ronald Borta, Roklan Software Ronald Borta was co-founder of JACC, which made educational software under contract for Atari, where he programmed Atari States and Capitals and Atlas of Canada, and other software for the the Atari 400 and 800 computers. He moved to Roklan Software, the company that programmed hundreds of titles for the Atari computers and many other platforms of the time.  Roklan pu...

Paul Cubbage, Atari Program Exchange Paul Cubbage was Director of Atari Program Exchange. There, he was head of reviewing software submissions and publishing the APX catalog. He worked at Atari from April 1981 through January 1984. This interview took place on October 3, 2016. Teaser quotes: "First catalog, we went around and found every last utility or piece of software that we could put out ther...

Bill Stealey, co-founder of MicroProse Software Bill Stealey was co-founder of MicroProse Software, with Sid Meier. They started the company in 1982, and Stealey ran the company until it was sold to Spectrum Holobyte in 1993. MicroProse specialized in flight simulation and war games — the company's games for the Atari 8-bit computers include F-15 Strike Eagle, Hellcat Ace, Kennedy Approach, Silent...

Dan Corona, Atari Engineering Manager Dan Corona was Atari employee #9 — staring in 1972, where he remained until the Tramiel takeover in 1984. Dan was Engineering Manager, and worked in many divisions: coin-op, pinball, handheld games, and consumer.  This interview took place on November 29, 2016. Teaser quote: "It pretty much killed the company. You know, you can't continue building the same thi...

Steve Ahlstrom: SynFile+ and PaperClip Steve Ahlstrom was half of The 4th Works, with Dan Moore. Together they programmed SynFile+, which was published by Synapse; and PaperClip, published by Batteries Included. The team also created BackTalk, a telecommunications program; and Sherlock, a disk sector editor utility. This interview took place on October 4, 2016. Teaser quote: "What's weird is, ever...

Ben Smith, Atari sales and service This interview is part of the set of interviews we've done where we talk to many of the people still out there providing hardware, software, and/or support for our favorite computer.  This interview is with Ben Smith, of Bravo Sierra Computers.  As you will hear during the interview, Ben has been in the business of selling, servicing and supporting Atari items fo...

Wynn Smith, Mosaic Electronics Wynn Smith was co-founder of Mosaic Electronics, a company that produced memory upgrade cards for the Atari 400 and 800 computers, as well as the Commodore 64 and VIC-20. He started at Tektronix, where be wrote code for the OEM graphics division at the age of 17. After Mosaic, he worked on memory upgrades for Intel. This interview took place on December 27, 2016. "It...

In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast... Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd" New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS What we've been up to Bard Ermentrout's disks Virtuoso Play Mode Sampler - Virtuoso Play Mode Sampler on Atari...

Bruce Frumker: APX Memory Match, Cleveland Museum of Natural History Bruce Frumker is author of Memory Match, a memory game that was published by Atari Program Exchange. It was first available in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. As part of his job at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Bruce created interactive, laser-disc based exhibits that used Atari 8-bit computers. He wrote an article a...

Steve Panak, Game Reviewer Steve Panak was a prolific writer of Atari computer game reviews. He wrote the Panak Strikes! column in A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazine, and also wrote reviews for Antic magazine and ST-Log magazine. This interview took place on November 28, 2016. "Companies were just sending me games to review there at the end, so I was just getting buried in games."

Bev and Bryan Wilkinson, Optimized Systems Software Bev and Bryan Wilkinson were part of Optimized Systems Software, the company that brought DOS XL, Mac/65, Action!, BASIC XL, BASIC XE, and other products to Atari computer users.  Bill Wilkinson was founder of OSS. Bev was his wife, and Bryan his son. I interviewed Bill in December, 2014, and he died in November 2015. As a small family-owned busi...