During 1983 a home console revolution started in Japan with the release of the Nintendo Famicom. Short for Family Computer, this new console was designed to take video games beyond the giant pixels and beeper [more…]
Released in 1980, the VIC-20 was the world’s first low-cost computer, at a list price of under US$300. Compared to other computers of the time, the VIC-20 had a tiny memory (5 kilobytes) and an [more…]
Marty’s camera in Back to the Future is one cool piece of gear, but his JVC GR-C1 VideoMovie was actually over four years old at this point – an early version of it had been [more…]
Before MS-DOS, Microsoft’s biggest product was arguably BASIC. Variants of Microsoft BASIC shipped in most 1980s home computers, including the Commodore 64, Tandy Color Computer and the Apple II (as Applesoft BASIC). Standing for “Beginners [more…]
The 1990s saw the rise of handheld portable video-gaming, with the three dominant console manufacturers, Nintendo, Sega and Atari all coming out with their own take on gaming-on-the-go. Could Nintendo’s monochromatic Game Boy fend off [more…]
Paleotronic had a chat with archivist and documentary film-maker Jason Scott (Get Lamp) about his efforts to preserve Apple II and other vintage computer software… Firstly, could you give a little background on how the [more…]
Why did you choose to start aggressively de-protecting, archiving and re-distributing Apple II software? It’s tempting to rewrite history and give myself some noble purpose for starting this hobby, but in this case the truth [more…]
First demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1982, the Compact Disc was an evolution of the optical LaserDisc format created by Philips and MCA. Philips partnered with Sony to develop the new disc, initially [more…]
The Saturn was released to disinterested gamers, and Nintendo were making what can only be described as ‘interesting choices’ with their releases. The 1995 CES saw the debut of the Virtual Boy, which promptly flopped. [more…]
Of course, while researching you always come across material you wish you had the issue before! In this case, it’s an article by one of the inventors of Spacewar! J.M. Graetz. It can be found [more…]
©2018 Paleotronic Magazine, a project of Teaching Electronics and Computing History (TECH) Inc., an Australian not-for-profit organisation.
Powered by Wordpress. Hosted by Linode. Made in Australia. Editor: Melody Ayres-Griffiths editor@paleotronic.com