The Apple II Age

The Apple II Age

From Future Knowledge by Internet Archive & Authors Alliance

April 1, 2026 · 59 min · Episode 25

About this episode

Historian Laine Nooney discusses the cultural and historical significance of the Apple II computer.

In The Apple II Age , historian Laine Nooney tells the story of the computer that helped launch Apple, and reshape personal computing. Introduced in 1977, the Apple II became a cultural phenomenon not just because of its hardware, but because of the vibrant software ecosystem that grew around it, from classroom staples like The Print Shop to early games and creative tools that defined a generation’s first encounters with computers. Historian Finn Brunton speaks with Nooney about how the Apple II helped create the culture of personal computing and the broader historical impact of this influential machine. Grab your copy of The Apple II Age : https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo195231688.html This conversation was recorded on 7/13/2023. Watch the full video recording at: https://archive.org/details/the-apple-ii-age Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge

People in this episode

Host: Finn Brunton

Guest: Laine Nooney

Topics covered

  • personal computing
  • Apple II
  • software ecosystem
  • cultural phenomenon
  • historical impact
  • computer history

Keywords

  • Apple II
  • personal computing
  • Laine Nooney
  • Finn Brunton
  • software ecosystem
  • computer history
  • The Print Shop

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Apple, Internet Archive, Authors Alliance

Products: Apple II

Books & works: The Print Shop, The Apple II Age

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