Platform Independent

Art ruminates on the 35 years he's spent in the computer industry, and the changes he's witnessed along the way.

Recorded at Vintage Computer Festival East 2.0 by Joe Crobak.

SIMH is the Computer History Simulation Project, an Internet-based collective aimed at preserving computing's heritage by simulating systems of historic interest. Started in 1993, the project now encompasses more than 20 systems, including the DEC PDP-1, PDP-4/7/9/15, PDP-8, PDP-11, and VAX; the Data General Nova and Eclipse; the HP 2100 series; the Interdata 16b and 32b series; the IBM 1401, 1620, 1130, and System/3; and many others. SIMH has provided a vehicle for running the earliest versions of Unix (including the first 32b port), for reconstructing lost software systems such as XVM/DOS, and extending the development life of "nearly current" systems like 2.11BSD for the PDP-11. SIMH is constantly being expanded to include new systems, additional capabilities for existing simulators, and greater interactivity with "real world" peripherals such as networks and graphics.

Curt Vendel and Steve Golson take a look back at an incredible game console. The Atari 7800 was slated for original release in June of 1984 despite the lackluster videogaming market. But due to a change in management at Atari, the console was delayed by two years and wasn't introduced to market until 1986. This restrospective looks back at the development and evolution of this game console that, for 1984, was far ahead of its time.