Ron Luks, Founder and manager of the Atari Forums on CompuServe

Welcome to this interview-only episode of Antic, The Atari 8-bit computer podcast. My name is Randy Kindig. In this show, I’ll be talking with Mr. Ron Luks, a name that you’re probably familiar with if you used your Atari to access the Compuserve Information Service. Ron was founder and manager of the Atari Forums on CompuServe (SIG*Atari, 8-bit Forum, 16-bit Forum (ST), Atari Developers, Atari Vendors, and others.) He also wrote articles for some of the Atari magazines (like ANTIC). I hope you enjoy this interesting glimpse into the online world of Atari back in the 80’s.

I also want to mention that Ron was kind enough to donate an Atari 130XE and a set of cartridges to the show.

This interview was conducted November 18, 2015

Teaser Quotes:

• “And the owner of the store steered me over to the Atari 800 and it was running Star Raiders, ok, and that was all it took”
• “So that’s when I decided I’m going to give Compuserve a try and see what it’s like. I was instantly hooked with the whole online service idea.”
• “At one time the Atari 8-bit forum was the biggest money-making forum on CompuServe.”

Links:

• “ANTIC Online”, ANTIC VOL. 4, NO. 9 / JANUARY 1986 - http://www.atarimagazines.com/v4n9/anticonline.html
• “THE #1 SYSOP“, ANTIC VOL. 4, NO. 2 / JUNE 1985 - http://www.atarimagazines.com/v4n2/SYSOP.html