Episode 143 - Interview with Paul Terrell, The Byte Shop - Part 3

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Sponsors:

• 8-Bit Classics 

• Arcade Shopper  

• FutureVision Research 

Hello, and welcome to episode 143 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for September, 2024.  I am Randy Kindig, your host for this retro ride to the past of home computing.

This month I’m continuing the series of interviews I’ve been doing recently with Paul Terrell.  As we have discussed, Paul Terrell is a name well-known in the annals of computer history; probably most famously for his kickstart of Apple Computer through the purchase of one of Steve Jobs’ and Steve Wozniak’s first batches of Apple I computers for his Byte Shop.  The Byte Shop was a very early computer store that was one of the few that existed in the world, at the time. 

In this interview, we continue to focus primarily on The Byte Shop, how it got started, what it was like, and much more.  This is part 3 of a 4-part series on just that topic with Paul.  If you want to know what it was like to run a computer store in those early days, this is the interview for you!  Along the way, you’ll learn even more about just what the home and hobby computer scene was like in those days.

In future episodes, Paul and I will discuss other topics around his long and distinguished career, such as the aforementioned dealings with the fledgling Apple Computer, and other ventures in which Paul was involved after the Byte Shop, including a business that rented software.

New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To

• VCF Midwest - https://vcfmw.org/ 

• Indus GT disk drive - https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Indus%20GT 

• Coco FujiNet - https://fujinet.online/ 

• 10502PC - https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=398 

• VTech PreComputer 2000 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VTech_PreComputer_2000 

Upcoming Shows

• Show list I maintain for the remainder of the current year - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/current-year-vintage-computer-show-schedule) 

• Portland Retro Gaming Expo - September 27-29 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ 

• Tandy Assembly - September 27-29 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ 

• AmiWest - October 25-27 - Sacramento, CA - https://amiwest.net/ 

• Chicago TI International World Faire - October 26 - Evanston Public Library (Falcon Room, 303), Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/ 

• Retro Computer Festival 2024 - November 9-10 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72253/Retro-Computer-Festival-2024-Saturday-9th-November/ 

• Silly Venture WE (Winter Edition) - Dec. 5-8 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-we 

Interview with Paul Terrell

• (3) Apple-1 Prototype Polaroid Photographs Given to Paul Terrell of the Byte Shop in 1976 - https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/348985606984001-steve-jobs-3-apple-1-prototype-polaroid-photographs-given-to-paul-terrell-of-the-byte-shop-in-1976/?cat=3 

• Ray Borrill’s Data Domain blog - https://www.landsnail.com/thedatadomain/remember.htm