RCR Episode 281: The IBM PC and its sticks of ennui

About this episode

The episode discusses the introduction of the IBM PC and various retro computing topics from 1981.

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Quinn Dunki, and Blake Patterson Topic: 1981 In 1981, we started communicating with AT commands and Kermit. Timex/Sinclair released the 1000/ZX-81. We got the BBC Micro and the ABC 800. IBM introduced the PC, for business, no fun allowed. And MS-DOS. And more. Topic/Feedback links: Sony 3.5 drive Quick, hide in this closet! (folklore.org) IBM PC “Atari” design MS-DOS Osborne 1 Xerox Star IPv4 Kermit kermitproject.org C-Kermit 10.0 beta 11 released in early August Hayes Smartmodem 300 Hayes AT command set Sinclair ZX81 Timex/Sinclair 1000 BBC Micro ABC 800 Donkey Kong E-mu Emulator Retro Computing News: Thomas Kurtz obituary (Legacy.com) Dartmouth BASIC at 50 CHM in memoriam Thomas Kurtz San Francisco Muni will stop using floppy disks Any Day Now Atari ST Notebook (it was real) The Pentium as a Navajo weaving (Nat Gallery of Art) Ward Christensen passed away CBBS for winter contact in the Chicago computer hobbyists’ group. Feb 1978, written up in Byte Nov 1978 Ward Christensen obituary (NYT) Vintage Computer(-related) commercials: Magnavox TV with built-in Odyssey Super Pong HayesStack Retro Computing Gift Idea: Floppy disk cookie cutters…

People in this episode

Host: Paul Hagstrom

Guests: Quinn Dunki, Blake Patterson

Topics covered

• IBM PC
• 1981 technology
• retro computing
• vintage computers
• AT commands
• Kermit
• floppy disks

Keywords

• IBM PC
• MS-DOS
• Kermit
• vintage computers
• retro computing
• AT commands
• Timex/Sinclair
• BBC Micro
• floppy disks
• Donkey Kong

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sony, folklore.org, kermitproject.org, Legacy.com, Nat Gallery of Art

Products: Timex/Sinclair 1000, ZX-81, BBC Micro, ABC 800, IBM PC, MS-DOS, Osborne 1, Xerox Star, Hayes Smartmodem 300, C-Kermit 10.0 beta 11

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