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A podcast about home computers of the late 70's through the 80's. NEW SPONSORSHIPS! 8-Bit Classics is a great place to get video cables, power supplies and more for a wide variety of vintage computer platforms. Arcade Shopper has a wide variety of hard-to-find items for a large number of platforms.

Mar 1, 2018

The Acorn Atom and the Fifth Year of Floppy Days

1980 was a very prolific year for the development of personal computers around the globe and we continue to cover machines made in that year.  This month’s topic is a machine that was never made available in the United States.  It was popular in parts of Europe and particularly in the Netherlands.  The machine: The Acorn Atom.  This is the first non-US machine I’ve covered and I have plans to cover other machines that were made outside of North America.

I want to start out by thanking Walter Miraglia and Andy Collins for providing their thoughts and memories of the Acorn Atom.  I have zero personal experience with the Atom, never having seen one or even heard of it prior to doing some recent research on non-US personal computers and deciding to cover it.  So, it was great to have a couple of people who do have some experience with the machine volunteer to share their memories.

To help me cover this machine, I found one of the foremost Atom experts on the forums, Mr. Roland Leurs, out of the Netherlands.  He was kind enough to agree to provide his insight and expertise for this show.  As you will hear, he knows this computer very well and really helps us understand its nuances.  I think you will enjoy the knowledge he shares with us.

As usual, I’ll also talk about new acquisitions and what I’ve been up to, a bit of news, and a modicum of feedback before we get into the main topic.

Before moving into new acquisitions, I wanted to stop for a moment and reflect on the 5th year anniverary of the show this month.  It’s really hard to believe that it’s been 5 years and 82 shows since I first pulled out a microphone and took my first halting steps into podcasting.  It’s been a fun ride.  The thing that I enjoy the most of anything about doing the podcast is the feedback, comments, emails, and more that I get.  Every time someone says hi at a vintage computer show and tells me that they listen to the podcast, it gives me a thrill.  When I see an episode get downloaded over 3,000 times, it amazes me.  The friends that I’ve gained as a result of this hobby have been incredible.  Every person who has come onto the show to help me cover a computer, talk with me for an interview, or provide thoughts and memories has become part of my circle of friends.  I consider this a collaborative show.  This is not Randy Kindig talking for an hour about a computer.  Just about every show has had involvement from others in the community.  I want you all to know how much all of those things are appreciated.  I can definitively tell you I don’t have any plans to end the podcast any time soon.  If it ever quits being fun, then maybe, but you’re stuck with me for a while yet.

thank you everyone.

 

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