Open Apple #49 (July 2015) : Laine Nooney, Technowarp, 4am

This month on Open Apple, we sit down with Laine Nooney, researcher of early computer and software companies. Laine has been digging into the history of such greats as Brøderbund and Sierra On-Line. In particular, they have done awesome research on the infamous Soft Porn Adventure, including behind-the-scenes details on the infamous advertising photo. We talk about broken microfilm projectors, we talk about printer stands, and we talk about revisionist small town historians. Trust us, it will all make sense in the end. Laine is going deep into the role of the microcomputer revolution in transforming domestic life (and the very layout of the houses we live in).

Listen and wonder why Quinn thinks it’s 2010, wonder how loud an ASR-33 really is, and why Mike reads local newspapers of small towns in Utah. Explore the lost art of naming computer user groups, witness the first pure hack of Rastan, and see what Woz thinks about… well, everything and everyone.

More information on everything discussed in this episode after the jump.

* KansasFest – You missed it! But still, it was a thing. Go next year!

* The Atlantic – Laine’s excellent article on SoftPorn, including newly discovered photos.

* Laine Nooney – Fascinating blog posts on Apple II software companies.

* Laine Nooney on Twitter – Keep up to date on Laine’s latest activity.

* Rastan Cracking – A live conversation of cracking Rastan while listening to our show.

* Mister Z – An oldie but a goodie? Fun Apple II things lurk on old websites.

* Ruth Dillon – A profile of a key Apple User Group member in Houston at the time.

* 4am Archived – A sample of the (in)famous modern cracker’s archived writeups.

* FloppyEmu – The Mac interloper Big Mess O’ Wires has added SmartPort support.

* Technowarp ...