Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchVisi On, the PC GUI
Episode 85
More Visi-fun ahead! Today we are looking at Visi On, a visionary user interface developed for home computers. Along the way we will discuss smallta…
4 years, 2 months ago
VisiCalc, the Killer App
Episode 84
Today we are looking at VisiCalc, the original killer app. Hitting the market in 1979, VisiCalc was the first computer spreadsheet program. Through …
4 years, 2 months ago
SEAC
Episode 83
The Standards Eastern Automatic Computer was built by the National Bureau of Standards in 1948. It started crunching numbers in 1950 and stayed in c…
4 years, 3 months ago
Aaron Reed Interview, 50 Years of Text Games
In this episode I talk with Aaron Reed, author of 50 Years of Text Games. We discuss the history of computer games, interactive fiction, business "ga…
4 years, 3 months ago
Juggling Jobs with OS-9
Episode 82
Multitasking: we all do it. For a feature of modern computing multitasking has surprisingly old roots. It started out as timesharing on vacuum tube …
4 years, 3 months ago
A Ballad in 2600 Hertz
Episode 81
There's power in music, but not all tones are created equal. During the reign of Bell Telephone there was one tone in particular that opened up a wo…
4 years, 4 months ago
The Analytical Engine
Episode 80
When people talk about early computers Babbage's Analytical Engine is bound to come up. Designed back in the 1830's it's definitely older than any o…
4 years, 4 months ago
ZOG: Military Strength Hypertext
Episode 79
We're getting back to my hypertext series with a big of an obscure tale. ZOG is a hypertext system what was first developed in 1972 at Carnegie-Melo…
4 years, 5 months ago
INTERCAL and Esoterica
Episode 78
Programming doesn't have to be a very serious discipline. In fact, sometimes it's better if it's a little silly. Today we are talking about INTERCAL…
4 years, 5 months ago
Magnetic Memories
Episode 77
It's no secret, I'm a big fan of memory. Not only is memory crucial for the functioning of a computer, it's also plain weird. This episode we are lo…
4 years, 6 months ago