Category Archives: Apple II

Firing Up the Apple //c for “Not x86 Week”

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Blake Patterson

As I write this, it is the last day of “Not x86 Week” over at Reddit’s r/Retrobattlestations. As one might guess, this week’s competition is to display a vintage system based on any CPU other than an Intel 8086 or … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple II, r/Retrobattlestations | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Bit of History Regarding “Tunnels of Armageddon” for the Apple IIgs

Posted on September 6, 2019 by Blake Patterson

In 1989 I wrote a letter (envelope, stamp, and all) to game publisher California Dreams asking a technical question about the game Tunnels of Armageddon for the Apple IIgs. But, they never wrote back. I was thinking back on this … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple II, Gaming | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

A Look at the Short-Lived 3-Inch Compact Floppy Disk

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Blake Patterson

I was recently listening to the latest episode of Retro Computing Roundtable podcast during which there was mention of a 3-inch floppy disk. No, not 3.5-inch, but 3-inch. These disks are known as Compact Floppy Disks (also “CF2”) and were … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple II, Atari, DOS / Win PC, Multi-Platform, Tandy / TRS-80 | 5 Comments

‘Twas No Post, But Poetry! (At 300 Baud)

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Blake Patterson

It is not every day that BBSing moves a man to poetry…. But, there are occasions where it does, as reddit user u/droid_mike proved this past weekend as r/Retrobattlestations‘ BBS Week IV competition drew to a close. The competition rules required … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple II, BBS, r/Retrobattlestations, Tandy / TRS-80 | 2 Comments

As God Is My Witness, I Thought Turkeys Could Fly

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Blake Patterson

When it comes to the holidays, I get rather sentimental as well as nostalgic, these days. Holidays as a kid are some of the best memories any of us have, really. And having been an avid computer geek during the … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple II, Atari, Holidays, TI-99 | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Brief Encounters of the Home Computing Kind

Posted on June 19, 2018 by Blake Patterson

Back in the “home computer” days, I was something of a serial platform jumper; the list of systems I’ve owned is long. I would have a certain system and be happily using it and then become intrigued by a different … Continue reading →

Posted in Amiga, Apple II, Atari, Commodore 64/128, Multi-Platform | 3 Comments

Highlighting My Bedside Apple //c for “Wedge Week” at r/RetroBattlestations

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Blake Patterson

This week was “Wedge Week” at r/RetroBattlestations and I chose to focus on my Apple //c which I recently moved to a bedside configuration for leisurely retrocomputing BBS and IRC usage. This //c has lived in two D.C. offices and … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple II, r/Retrobattlestations | Leave a comment

To Upgrade, or Not to Upgrade, That Is the Question

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Blake Patterson

The other day I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, the Retro Computing Roundtable, when the host topic really struck a chord in me. In this episode, no. 148, Paul Hagstrom was hosting and his topic for discussion … Continue reading →

Posted in Amiga, Apple II, Just Rambling | 4 Comments

Remembering the Apple IIgs Sales Demo

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Blake Patterson

It was a Saturday morning in September when we saw the Apple IIgs for the first time. By “we,” I mean those of us who headed to local authorized Apple dealers across the country (which for me was Chaney Computer … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple II, Down Memory Lane | Leave a comment

Getting Spooky with the Apple IIe for October

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Blake Patterson

October was Spooky Month over at r/Retrobattlestations. The contest required submitting a photo of a vintage machine playing a Halloween or “spooky” video game. As you can see, I fired up Polarware’s text/graphic adventure Transylvania — one of my favorites … Continue reading →

Posted in Apple II, r/Retrobattlestations | 1 Comment