Kris Meier, CompuTalk BBS sysop Kris Meier was sysop of CompuTalk BBS, a popular six-line BBS based in Texas that ran off off six Atari 800 computers. In this interview, I read from the article "CompuTalk: Texas-Sized BBS" by Gregg Pearlman, which ran in the August 1987 issue of Antic magazine. This interview took place on October 6, 2016. In it, we discuss Tom Hudson, whom I previously interviewed. "What? An Atari computer did this? Yeah. An Atari computer did this." CompuTalk: Texas-Sized BBS ...
Oct 29, 2016•1 hr 11 min
Brian Lee, Synapse and Broderbund Brian Lee started at clothing retailer The Gap, where he used Atari computers for expense control and store operations. He was Vice President of Product Development at Synapse Software from 1982 through 1985, where he managed the Syn line of business software, and programmed SynTrend. Next he was Director of Acquisition at Br0derbund from 1984 to 1985. This interview took place on September 30, 2016. In it, we discuss Mike Silva, whom I previously interviewed. "...
Oct 26, 2016•29 min
Harry McCracken, Technology Journalist Harry McCracken is a technology journalist — he's technology editor at Fast Company magazine. He cut his teeth on the TRS-80 and Atari 400 computers, including writing for Creative Computing magazine, and creating a game that he wanted to publish with Atari Program Exchange, but didn't finish. This interview took place on September 27, 2016. Harry on Twitter: https://twitter.com/harrymccracken "...fact about the Atari 400 was that it had maybe the worst key...
Oct 24, 2016•27 min
Bruce Campbell, APX Character Fun Bruce Campbell is the author of Character Fun, an educational game which was published by Atari Program Exchange. It appeared in the winter 1983 APX catalog — the final APX catalog. This interview took place on September 22, 2016. Shortly after we did this interview, Bruce sent me scans of the source code printout for Character Fun, it's now online at archive.org . Character Fun source code: https://archive.org/details/AtariCharacterFunSourceCode Character Fun t...
Oct 22, 2016•26 min
Ed Stewart and Ray Lyons, APX Letterman Ed Stewart and Ray Lyons co-wrote Letterman, an educational word game that was first available in the winter 1982-1983 Atari Program Exchange catalog. Ed also wrote two articles for Antic magazine: "Hokey Pokey Interrupts" - on using POKEY timers in assembly language - and "Talk Is Cheap", a 1-bit audio digitizer. Ed also had two articles in Compute!'s Second Book of Atari: Memory Test and Back Up Your Machine Language Programs With BASIC. This interview t...
Oct 20, 2016•31 min
Russ Walter, Secret Guide to Computers Russ Walter is the author of Secret Guide to Computers & Tricky Living, a book that he has been publishing and updating since 1972. It is currently in its 32nd edition; he's working on the 33rd now. The book has evolved with technology and time — the current versions cover modern machines like Windows, Android, and iOS. The early editions covered then-modern machines like the Atari 800, TRS-80, Commodore 64, and Apple //. In addition to the book, Russ p...
Oct 18, 2016•37 min
In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast, we visit vintage computer festivals and upgrade our systems. We fail to spend thousands of dollars on rare new hardware. Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd" New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS What we've been up to Paul Westphal at Eight Bit Fix - http://www.eightbitfix.com VCFMW 11- ...
Oct 16, 2016•1 hr 33 min
Monty Webb, APX Seven Card Stud Monty Webb published one program through Atari Program Exchange: Seven Card Stud. The program first appeared in the summer 1982 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the entertainment category. He also self-published the program as Real Poker I, his publishing company was called Real Software. This interview took place on September 14, 2016. Teaser quotes: "And then I could call up a certain sector on a track...and then WHAM, I'd knock a hole in the disk." "Th...
Oct 13, 2016•26 min
Elizabeth MacRae, APX Mankala Elizabeth MacRae published one program for the Atari 8-bit computers: Mankala, which was published by Atari Program Exchange. It first appeared in the fall 1982 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the entertainment category. This interview took place on September 13, 2016. After the interview, Elizabeth sent me a scan of the Mankala manual, which is now available at the Internet Archive. "They didn't think personal computers on everyone's desk was the way to g...
Oct 10, 2016•19 min
Douglas Crockford: Galahad And The Holy Grail, Burgers! Douglas Crockford worked in Atari's Game Research Group under Chris Crawford. There he created a variety of demos -- including Ballsong and Crockford's Trench -- and games. He created Galahad And The Holy Grail, which was published by Atari Program Exchange in summer 1982; and Burgers!, which was published by APX in winter 1983. After Atari, he worked at LucasFilm where he worked on Atari games including Rescue on Fractalus! and Koronis Rif...
Oct 06, 2016•31 min
Dewitt Robbeloth, AKA Robert Dewitt, Editor of Antic magazine Dewitt Robbeloth, who went by the pen name Robert Dewitt, was editor of Antic magazine, STart magazine, and the short-lived II Computing magazine. He also freelanced for InfoWorld and other computer magazines. He was the editor the book "The Best of Antic Volume 1," published by Antic Publishing. This interview took place on July 14 and 15, 2016. In it, we discuss Jim Capparell, whom I previously interviewed. Teaser quotes: "The bathr...
Oct 04, 2016•45 min
Bob Smith: Video Pinball; Imagic co-founder; Sleazy Adventure Bob Smith worked at Atari, where he created Video Pinball for the Atari 2600. He also wrote two programs for the Atari 8-bit which were sold by Atari Program Exchange: Sound Editor and Sleazy Adventure, which both appeared in the inaugural APX catalog, fall 1981. He left Atari to co-found the game developer Imagic, where he programmed Riddle of the Sphinx, Dragonfire, Moonsweeper, and other games. Then he went on to work on games at B...
Oct 02, 2016•42 min
Bob Graves, Gridiron Glory Bob Graves co-wrote Gridiron Glory, a football game which was published by Atari Program Exchange. The game first appeared in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. His co-author was Mike Drury, who was unavailable for an interview. Bob and Mike created two other Atari computer programs: Asteroid Artist and Ramblin Gamblin, which were published by their own company, MicroMate Software. This interview took place on June 14, 2016. "We'd go to the state library and look up his...
Sep 30, 2016•19 min
Dan Rohr, Three R Math software Dan Rohr was the author of three educational programs which were published by Atari Program Exchange. Three R Math System first appeared in the summer 1982 APX catalog, where it won second prize in the education category. The Three R Math Classroom Kit was available in the spring 1983 APX catalog, where it won third prize in the education category. Finally, the Three R Math Home System was first available in the summer 1983 APX catalog. This interview took place o...
Sep 28, 2016•18 min
Marlin Bates, R-Time 8 Replacement Cartridge In 1986, ICD released the R-Time 8, a real-time clock cartridge for the Atari 8-bit computers. One reason this is an interesting cartridge is that it has a pass-through port: you can plug another cartridge into it, then plug the R-Time 8 into the Atari. In 2016, Marlin Bates created the R-Time 8 Replacement Cartridge, a workalike cart. On June 7, 2016, we talked about that project. Marlin is better known to people on the AtariAge forums as MacRorie. D...
Sep 26, 2016•43 min
Steve Robinson: Diggerbonk and Bean Machine Steve Robinson is the author of two games that were published by Atari Program Exchange: Diggerbonk and Bean Machine. Diggerbonk was first available in the spring 1983 APX catalog. Bean Machine first appeared in the summer 1983 APX catalog, where it won third prize in the Entertainment category. This interview took place on June 13, 2016. A video version of this interview is available, check the show notes at AtariPodcast.com for the link. In it, we ta...
Sep 22, 2016•27 min
Alison Woods, Atari Graphic Designer Alison Woods was a graphic designer at Atari from 1982 to 1984. She designed the packaging for the computer versions of Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, Pole Position, Robotron, Food Fight, and other products. Later, she was Vice President and Creative Director at Kidsoft, a CD-ROM based software magazine for kids. This interview took place on May 26, 2016. Teaser quotes: "I wanted to have an exploding robot on the front of the package, and that was deemed to...
Sep 20, 2016•31 min
Mitchell Waite, computer book author and publisher Mitchell Waite is a prolific computer book author and publisher. His first book "Projects in Sight, Sound and Sensation" was published in 1974. He founded the Waite Group in 1977, which published more than 80 titles in the computer programming field. He co-authored Computer Animation Primer (with David Fox) and Your Own Computer (with Michael Pardee), the 8086/8088 Microprocessor Primer with Christopher Morgan, CP/M Bible, and wrote, co-wrote, o...
Sep 18, 2016•1 hr 42 min
David Duberman, Antic magazine editor David Duberman was an editor at Antic magazine (one of the two major Atari magazines in the United States). Later he was in customer support at Synapse software, then user group coordinator at Atari during the Tramiel era. This interview took place on June 17, 2016. In it, we discuss Jim Capparell, whom I previously interviewed. Teaser quotes: "We were now in the computer age, so we had to print these weird [ATASCII] characters that were probably never print...
Sep 16, 2016•41 min
Michael Boucher, MECC Michael Boucher was a programmer at MECC — Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium — from September 1980 through August 1984, where he worked on educational software for the Apple // and Atari 8-bit computers. His projects included Oregon Trail and Odell Lake. This interview took place on June 14, 2016. Video of this interview: https://youtu.be/heuR8_eFFJI Teaser quotes: "I had the honor of working with the finest group of dropouts I have ever had the pleasure of associa...
Sep 14, 2016•31 min
Hung Pham, APX Game Show Hung Pham wrote one program for Atari Program Exchange: Game Show, a game based on the Family Feud TV program (although the catalog never says that explicitly.) Game Show was first available in the Winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. This interview took place on June 10, 2016. "The reviewer was playing, and pretty soon he turned around -- a crowd of people was standing behind him, looking over his shoulder, trying to play. So, hey! This might have some potential." Game Show in...
Sep 12, 2016•28 min
Steve Stone, POKEY and ANTIC layout design Steve Stone worked at Atari from 1977 through 1980, where he was a chip layout designer and engineer. He worked on the layout design for the POKEY and ANTIC chips. After Atari, he founded Macro Dienamics, Inc., a chip design firm that worked on custom chips for the Amiga computer. This interview took place on August 29, 2016. Video of this interview: https://youtu.be/JhGPasK_RmE "The concept of someone flying in from Manhattan for the week, wearing thou...
Sep 12, 2016•43 min
Gary Furr, AtariWriter Product Manager, Printer Drivers Gary Furr was Product Manager for productivity software for the Atari home computer division, where his claim to fame was being the manager for the AtariWriter word processor. He also published a set of AtariWriter printer drivers, which were first published through Atari Program Exchange — the product first appeared in the fall 1983 APX catalog, with support for 10 printers — then was sold directly by Gary, and eventually grew to support a...
Sep 08, 2016•48 min
Bob Frankston, co-developer of Visicalc Bob Frankston was co-developer of Visicalc, with Dan Bricklin, and co-founder of Software Arts, the company that first published Visicalc. Bob was also involved with the Atari 800 port of the program. If you're like to see our talking heads, a video version of this interview is available at the Internet Archive and YouTube, at the links below. This interview took place on August 22, 2016. "So we were really lucky there. But the important thing is to apprec...
Sep 05, 2016•23 min
Brian Johnston: Manager, Atari Home Computer System Software Group Brian Johnston was Manager of Atari's Home Computer System Software Group, where he worked on projects including DOS 3. He worked at Atari from 1978 through 1982, then moved to Fox Video Games where he programmed Atari 2600 games. This interview took place on August 4, 2016. Teaser quote: "But Atari was poisoned by money, And in death throes was free-falling up, Lining pockets of sycophant beggars Whose main talent, the art of th...
Sep 03, 2016•46 min
Bard Ermentrout, RAMbrandt Bard Ermentrout was the creator of the popular Atari graphics program RAMbrandt. Subtitled "The Atari Design Studio," RAMbrandt was released in 1985 by Antic software. Written in ValForth, it supported joystick, keyboard, Koala Pad, and Atari Touch Tablet for input. He also created an add-on Solid Object Module which allowed users to combine mode 9 geometric primitives to make what appeared to be 3D-shaded objects. The predecessor to RAMbrandt was a drawing program cal...
Sep 01, 2016•46 min
In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast, we reminisce about Atari Party and KansasFest, we bemoan the fate of the Atari 1200XL, and talk about Nir Dary's one-man traveling Atari show. Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd" New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS What we've been up to Suburban Chicago Atarians (SCAT) - http://www.sc...
Aug 30, 2016•1 hr 57 min
Gigi Bisson, Antic Magazine Gigi Bisson was an editor at Antic Magazine, one of the two major U.S. magazines devoted to Atari 8-bit computers. She was also editor of Antic Online, the magazine's forum on the CompuServe Information Service. This interview took place on August 4, 2016. Teaser quotes: "This indecipherable stuff written by these techie guys would come in and then I would have to massage the copy and make it seem like a story." "They used to force me to play games. Again, I wasn't re...
Aug 28, 2016•1 hr
Richard Watts, Macrotronics Richard Watts was a programmer at Macrotronics, a company that was primarily focused on the RM-1000 radio modem, hardware that connected amateur radio receivers to personal computers. The company also created Morse Code Tutor, programmed by Richard, which was published by Atari Program Exchange and first appeared in winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. Morse Code Tutor cost $22.95 and was APX catalog number 20092. Macrotronics did contract work for APX as well, including fix...
Aug 26, 2016•26 min
Gregg Pearlman, ANTIC and STart Magazine Gregg Pearlman was an editor at Antic Magazine and STart Magazine from 1986 through 1989. Antic magazine was devoted primarily to 8-bit Atari computers, with some emphasis on Atari ST computers. It was published from 1982 to 1990. STart magazine was dedicated primarily to Atari ST computers, with some emphasis on Atari 8-bit computers in later issues. It was published from 1986 to 1991. This interview took place on July 12, 2016. It in, we discuss Jim Cap...
Aug 24, 2016•57 min
