Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast

Interview with Bill Kemper, HP Employee and HP Series 80 Software Engineer Hello, again, and welcome to episode 68 of the Floppy Days Podcast.  This will be a fairly short, interview-only show.  As a final piece of the recent series of podcasts on the HP Series 80 family of machines, I was able to sit down and talk with Mr. William Kemper.  Bill worked directly on software for the HP Series 80 and...

The HP Series 80 (HP83/85/86/87) This episode is the third and final in a series about the Hewlett Packard HP-85 computer, or more accurately, the entire line of similar computers known as the HP Series 80.  Once again, I have the tremendously knowledgeable duo of Everett Kaser and Vassilis Prevelakis helping me impart information to you about that venerable line of historically significant deskto...

Welcome to Episode 66 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where we try to relive our youth by talking about computers nearly as old as we are.  Vintage Computer Festival Midwest #11 recently happened on Sep. 10 and 11, 2016 in Elk Grove Village, IL and I managed to find my way there again this year.  Once again, I had an incredible time at the event and thought I'd share some of it with you.  I managed to...

Welcome to Episode 65 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where a summer computer camp for middle-aged geeks is the highlight of our year.  My name is Randy Kindig.  This is a very special edition of Floppy Days produced and contributed by my good friend Mike Whalen and it includes sound bites from many of the attendees of this year's annual week-long KansasFest Apple II event that always happens in Kansa...

The HP-85B Microcomputer, Part 2 Hello, and welcome to episode 64 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where old computers come to live.  I'm Randy Kindig and I'm happy to bring you this episode this month.  This episode is Part 2 about the HP Series 80 line of microcomputers.  Last month I interviewed 2 well-known members of the HP Series 80 community, Everett Kaser former HP engineer who worked on the Se...

Vintage Computer Festival Midwest 11, Sep 10-11, 2016, Elk Grove Village, IL This a special interview show to help get the word out about an upcoming event: Vintage Computer Festival Midwest.  This will be the eleventh iteration of this event and I talk with Jason Timmons, one of the main organizers of the event.  He tells us all about the event, including guest speakers that will be there, exhibi...

Welcome to episode 62 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where a little smoke once in a while is a hazard of the hobby.  In the vintage computer timeline, we are still in the 1979 to 1980 timeframe.  This month we are covering the HP-85 desktop computer, or actually the entire series of which the HP-85 was a part known as the HP Series 80. I struck gold when I found the two gentlemen who are co-hosting t...

VCF West Official Site - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west-xi/

Welcome to episode 60 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where vintage in the term vintage computers simply means "cool".  My name is Randy Kindig.  I am happy to bring you this month the follow-up or second of two episodes on the HP41C programmable calculator.  Once again, I have two stellar members of the HP41 community, Richard J. Nelson and Gene Wright, with me to bring you all the information you ca...

Hello, all, and welcome to the next installment of the podcast that says "vintage electronics: I WANT IT".  I'm Randy Kindig and I'm your host.  This episode is the first of a 2-parter on the Hewlett Packard HP-41 line of programmable calculators.  The HP-41 is a seminal example of programmable calculators from the late 70's and into the 80's and is still very desirable and sought after today.  I...

Ralph Rees, Editor, VAST TI-99 Newsletter Hi, everyone and welcome to episode 58 of the Floppy Days Podcast.  I’m Randy Kindig.  To sort of finish off the TI-99 series of episodes I’ve been running, I have an interview-only show for you this month.  This interview is with Ralph Rees, president and newsletter editor of the VAlley of the Sun TI-99ers (VAST) back in the 1990’s.  He produced his high...

Welcome to this special episode of Floppy Days, live from Vintage Computer Festival Southeast 4.0!  A group of podcasters at the show got together and did this fun little podcast.  Learn more about the show and about your favorite podcasters.  

Welcome to episode 56 of the Floppy Days Podcast where old computers come to life again.  I’m Randy Kindig.  I want to thank Ian Baronofsky and Rick Reynolds for providing their thoughts and memories of the TI-99 computer.  This is the fifth and final installment in a series of episodes on the TI-99/4A home computer.  This episode will cover TI-99 ads, user groups and shows, emulation, buying one...

Hello, welcome to Floppy Days Podcast #55.  This a special interview show to help get the word out about an upcoming event: Vintage Computer Festival Southeast version 4.  My special guest is Earl Baugh of the Atlanta Historical Computing Society.  He tells us all about the event, including special guest speakers that will be there, exhibits, gaming areas, a workshop where you can learn to solder...

Hello and welcome to a special episode (#54) of the Floppy Days Podcast.  For this episode, I am announcing involvement in a new podcast that I’m very excited about.  Peter Cetinski, a well-known figure in the TRS-80 community as a result of some great software that he’s written for the platform, contacted me and others about doing a podcast about the TRS-80 line.  This is a major line of historic...

This is a special interview-only episode.  I’m very happy to announce that my special guest for this show is Don French, co-designer of the TRS-80 Model I computer and long-time Tandy employee.  Don has a long and storied history with Tandy.  The TRS-80 Model I, the machine that saved Tandy and spawned a long line of historically significant computers, was his brainchild.  He worked closely with S...

Welcome to episode 52 of the Floppy Days Podcast where we talk about our beloved old computers like some guys talk about their old cars.  I’m Randy Kindig.  I want to thank Michael Glaser for providing his thoughts and memories of the TI-99 computer.  No, this hasn’t suddenly turned into a TI-99 podcast.  However, this IS the fourth in a series of what now will be 5 episodes on the TI-99/4A home c...

The TI-99/4A - Tech Specs, Peripherals, Modern Upgrades with Tursi This show is a continuation of the on-going series about the TI-99/4A computer.  In the last couple of episodes, I had TI-99 fans Jim Fetzner and Mark Wills on the show and interviewed them about their experiences with the TI-99 and then we covered the history of the machine.  In this show, I have a new co-host, Mike Brent, better...

The TI-99/4A - History, with Jim Fetzner and Mark Wills This is the second in a multi-part series on the TI-99/4A computer.  For this history segment, I was lucky enough to find a couple of people who have an incredible history with the TI-99, Jim Fetzner and Mark Wills.  Jim has an extensive, multilingual library of all things TI and possesses some very interesting hardware items related to the T...

The TI-99/4A - History, Interview with Jim Fetzner and Mark Wills In the home computer timeline, I’m currently covering computers released in the era from 1979 to 1980.  Next up is the TI-99/4A.  When I went to research the TI-99 I found an incredible amount of information about the machine and an involved, vibrant community surrounding it.  As a result, I pulled in as many experts as I could find...

Welcome to a special interview-only episode of the Floppy Days Podcast.  For this show, we have an interview conducted by Kevin Savetz, interviewer-extraordinaire from the Antic Podcast.  Kevin conducted this interview 2 years ago.  Since the interviewee and topic are not Atari-related, but are very much vintage computer related, Kevin and I thought perhaps Floppy Days would be a good medium for p...

This episode is part 3 of a 3-part series on the Tandy Color Computer, also known as the CoCo.  I have special guest hosts to help me again this month: John Linville and Neil Blanchard of the “CoCo Crew Podcast”.  Join us as we discuss Coco magazines, books, software, modern upgrades, emulation, Web sites and much more.   I also go over my new acquisitions, tell you about upcoming vintage computer...

This episode is part 2 of a 3-part series on the Tandy Color Computer, also known as the CoCo.  I have special guest hosts to help me this month: John Linville and Neil Blanchard of the “CoCo Crew Podcast”.  Join us as we discuss Coco tech specs, peripherals and pulling it out of the box.   I also go over my new acquisitions, a short overview of VCF Midwest 10 that occurred on August 29 & 30, tell...

Hello, welcome to a bonus interview-only edition of the Floppy Days Podcast, the podcast about the obsolete computers of the late 70’s through the 80’s, but which we love anyway.  I’m Randy Kindig, the person who brings you this nostalgia on a monthly basis.  I’ve had many vintage computer authors on Floppy Days in the past and I like to discuss new books when they come out, one: because books on...

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Floppy Days, the show about home computers of the late 70’s through the 80’s.  The next machine up to cover on the timeline is the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer, affectionately known as the CoCo.  Since there’s SOO much information to cover about this interesting machine, it will be a multi-parter, with the first episode covering the history of the...