Interview with Neil Harris, Member of the Vic Commando Team

Welcome to the Floppy Days Podcast, where classic computers will always have a home.  My name is Randy Kindig.  This is the final of four consecutive episodes where I talked to gentlemen who were either involved with the development of the historically significant Commodore Vic-20, or who have written books on its history.  In this episode Neil Harris is my guest.  Neil was a key member of the Vic Commando Team within Commodore, the team that was responsible for the introduction of the Vic-20 and helping it to become the first home computer to sell 1 million units.  Neil also later worked for Atari, when the Tramiels left Commodore and purchased Atari from Warner.  Neil helps me walk through the history of the Vic through the eyes of someone on the front line.  I think you’ll find this interesting.

Before we get to that, I have a few housekeeping items to cover and then we’ll get into the meat of the podcast.

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Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

• VTech PreComputer 1000 - http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/324

News

• Upcoming Shows
• • VCF Southeast 5.0 - April 29 & 30, 2017, Roswell, GA - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/otherevents/vintage-computer-festival-southeast/
  • TI Fest West - Saturday April 29th from 9 am to 5 pm,  Oak Tree Restaurant in Woodland, Washington - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260465-fest-west-2017/
  • Pacific Commodore Expo at the Living Computer Museum in Seattle on June 10-11 2017 - https://www.facebook.com/events/1171192169619276/
  • KFest - https://www.kansasfest.org/, Rockhurst University, Kansas City, MO, July 18th-23rd
  • Commodore Vegas Expo v13 - July 29-30, 2017, California Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
  • Vintage Computer Festival West - August 5-6, 2017, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west-xi/
  • VCFMW - September 9-10, Elk Grove Village, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ , https://www.facebook.com/events/805945506224113/
  • Tandy Assembly - October 7-8, 2017 - Chillocothe, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/https://www.facebook.com/events/671911082972172/
  • Chicago TI International World’s Faire - October 15, Evanston, IL - http://www.chicagotiug.com/tiki-index.php?page=Faire
  • World of Commodore - first weekend in December - Toronto - http://www.tpug.ca/

Feedback

• Bally Alley Astrocast Podcast (Adam Trionfo and others) - http://www.ballyalleyastrocast.libsyn.com/

Interview

• Neil Harris interview for the Antic Podcast - http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-188-neil-harris-commodore-atari-genie