ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

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...

Dale Lemke, Compu-Cable Systems Dale Lemke is founder of Compu-Cable Systems, a company that created the SpectraView and SpectraView II Graphic Generator Cartridge, information display systems for use by television stations and cable companies, which ran on Atari 8-bit computers.  The company is still in business: today it is called Display Systems International, it specializes in character genera...

Paul Berker: Adventure in Time and Birth of the Phoenix Paul Berker was a programmer for Phoenix Software, where he coded Birth of the Phoenix and Adventure In Time, which were both released for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers; and Queen of Phobos, which was released on the Apple II only.  This interview took place on September 30, 2016. After the interview, Paul sent me several floppy disk...

Charles Clinton Charles Clinton was a contractor who worked on AtariLab, which was developed at Swarthmore College.  This interview took place on August 14, 2016 at Vintage Computer Festival West XI. In it, we discuss Priscilla Laws, whom I previously interviewed. Priscilla Laws interview

Paula Polley, Copywriter Paula Polley started at Atari in 1982, where she worked as a copywriter. She wrote marketing for product boxes and wrote for Atari Connection magazine. This interview took place on August 14, 2016 at Vintage Computer Festival West XI.

Carl Moser and JR Hall, Eastern House Software Carl Moser and JR Hall were founders of Eastern House Software, the company that created several products for Atari 8-bit users, including Monkey Wrench and Monkey Wrench II, and the KISS word processor. They also created the MAE assembler/software development system, which was available for Commodore PET, Apple //, Atari 8-bit, and other computers. T...

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 40 Great Flight Simulator Adventures - https://www.flightsimbooks.com/40gfsa/ Atari PILOT Source Code Nir Dary's "Modern Atari 8bit Computer"...

Rodnay Zaks, Founder of Sybex Books Rodnay Zaks was the founder of computer book publisher Sybex Books, and is author of many classic computer programming books, including 6502 Applications (1979), Programming the 6502, Advanced 6502 Programming, and 6502 Games. He also wrote or co-wrote Programming the Z80, Programming the 6809, Your First Apple II Program, Programming the Apple II in Assembly La...

Thom Graziano, CompuClub  Thom Graziano was founder of CompuClub, an Atari mail-order company and retail store based in Massachusetts. The company began in 1983 and closed in 1986. CompuClub ran full-page advertisements in the Atari magazines with the headline "The Greatest Atari of All Time." For a $5 annual membership, you could become a CompuClub member, which got you a subscription to their ne...

Kris Meier, CompuTalk BBS sysop Kris Meier was sysop of CompuTalk BBS, a popular six-line BBS based in Texas that ran off off six Atari 800 computers.  In this interview, I read from the article "CompuTalk: Texas-Sized BBS" by Gregg Pearlman, which ran in the August 1987 issue of Antic magazine.  This interview took place on October 6, 2016. In it, we discuss Tom Hudson, whom I previously intervie...

Brian Lee, Synapse and Broderbund Brian Lee started at clothing retailer The Gap, where he used Atari computers for expense control and store operations. He was Vice President of Product Development at Synapse Software from 1982 through 1985, where he managed the Syn line of business software, and programmed SynTrend. Next he was Director of Acquisition at Br0derbund from 1984 to 1985. This interv...

Harry McCracken, Technology Journalist Harry McCracken is a technology journalist — he's technology editor at Fast Company magazine. He cut his teeth on the TRS-80 and Atari 400 computers, including writing for Creative Computing magazine, and creating a game that he wanted to publish with Atari Program Exchange, but didn't finish.  This interview took place on September 27, 2016. Harry on Twitter...

Bruce Campbell, APX Character Fun Bruce Campbell is the author of Character Fun, an educational game which was published by Atari Program Exchange. It appeared in the winter 1983 APX catalog — the final APX catalog. This interview took place on September 22, 2016. Shortly after we did this interview, Bruce sent me scans of the source code printout for Character Fun, it's now online at archive.org...

Ed Stewart and Ray Lyons, APX Letterman Ed Stewart and Ray Lyons co-wrote Letterman, an educational word game that was first available in the winter 1982-1983 Atari Program Exchange catalog. Ed also wrote two articles for Antic magazine: "Hokey Pokey Interrupts" - on using POKEY timers in assembly language - and "Talk Is Cheap", a 1-bit audio digitizer. Ed also had two articles in Compute!'s Secon...

Russ Walter, Secret Guide to Computers Russ Walter is the author of Secret Guide to Computers & Tricky Living, a book that he has been publishing and updating since 1972. It is currently in its 32nd edition; he's working on the 33rd now. The book has evolved with technology and time — the current versions cover modern machines like Windows, Android, and iOS. The early editions covered then-modern...

In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast, we visit vintage computer festivals and upgrade our systems. We fail to spend thousands of dollars on rare new hardware. 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 Pa...