RetroReads

What do you do when a lot of people ask you for the history of a project?

You give them one!

But what happens when that project is changing rapidly?

You give them a history…. and then something of a revised one later.

Either way, you try!

Here’s part one of three on the history of Fidonet, as it was written during it’s more explosive growth eras.

http://www.olografix.org/gubi/estate/archivio/fido/fido.htm

Last time, we heard stories of radio pre-1930. Let’s continue the journey. It’s the final part of Memories of Radio.

https://archive.org/details/Radio_Fun_Issue_30_Jan_1994/page/n3

An early radio engineer’s stories from radio’s days gone-by

https://archive.org/details/Radio_Fun_Issue_29_Dec_1993/page/n3

After Nolan Bushnell left Atari, he went for one wild ride. This is that story.

https://www.inc.com/magazine/19841001/136.html

[NOTE: I became alerted to the possiblity that this episode did not show up in all podcast feeds and I think I know why. To resolve that possibility, I decided to republish. This is not a new episode. Sorry for the inconvenience.]

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If you’re a long-time Apple user, you certainly remember MacOS (not macOS). By the 90s, Apple admitted that the OS was getting a bit stale and started making plans to upgrade to something a bit more in-line with then-modern OS conveniences and features.

The most promising? Copland and the promised follow-up Gershwin.

The problem: Apple was in serious dysfunction at the time. Apple had just allowed hardware clones and it seemed like CEOs kept coming and going. Copland, and Gershwin by extension, kept falling further and further behind. Eventually it was canceled when it was determined that Copland could never ship. Apple purchased NeXT and while that would prove a good idea in the years to come, uncertainty prevailed in this moment. It certainly stoked at least some fear among the Apple faithful. Would the company survive? Or should they shut it down?

Meanwhile, Jean-Louis Gassée’s Be starting tempting user’s with their new OS, one designed to lure Apple users. Would it work?

No, it wouldn’t and it didn’t. But some of us were tempted, weren’t we?

From the Australian MacUser February 1997 user comes “Plan Be.”

The legal tangle between Motorola and MOS is over, so says this newsletter opening. Off the product lists? The 6501. But the 6502? Ah, that stays and, what’s more, practically fueled the entire microcomputer revolution!

I come across fascinating things to read all the time. For instance, I spied this article whilst looking at an old ad for a single board computer in Carrollton, Texas. This article is a review of the Kaypro 16, one of the most significant systems in the Kaypro line. It cemented Kaypro’s direction toward the x86 architecture.

Jamie Lendino graciously allowed me to read some from his recent book, Faster Than Light — The Atari ST and The 16-bit Revolution. It’s an amazing book. (I just finished it this week.) If you’ve any interest in platform, I’m hopeful the excerpt will provide all the motivation you need to buy it now!

I’m excited to bring you an excerpt from Cult of The Dead Cow: How The Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save The World. This book, by Joseph Menn, is a must if you are at all interested in tech culture. The sprawling book takes you through takes you to the very origins of the people who started cDc, how they started it, what they became, and just how they continue to look after the online world.