If someone wrote a book on the history of personal computer art, chapter one could only bear the name of one man: Robert Tinney. As cover artist for over eighty issues of BYTE magazine — microcomputing’s first and finest major publication — and as one of the first men to illustrate topics related to the fledgling field of personal computers, he near single-handedly shaped the popular visual idiom of what computers were, could be, and would be for the for a whole generation of microcomputer enthusiasts.

That proud generation has long since grown up and moved on to a myriad of different fields and disciplines, spreading its knowledge, love, and expertise of all things technological around the world. Collectively, they have arguably become the world’s most influential, yet sometimes underrated, segment of the modern populace. So imagine if you could go back in time and visit that same generation in 1978. What would you see? A lot more pimples, no doubt, and a lot more hair. And most likely, you’d find a copy of BYTE in their hands — with a Robert Tinney illustration on the cover.

Tinney’s BYTE artwork is amazing. It displays unparallelled creativity in the use of visual metaphors to convey typically intangible, abstract, and sometimes abstruse technical concepts. His illustrations penetrate all pretense and cut straight to the heart of the main idea of the topic at hand, laying it out in an appropriately minimalistic fashion that, while sometimes visually spartan, richly sparks the imagination and places the viewer firmly in the scene. His work communicates, and it does so in ways that words never could. For most commercial artists, the idea of illustrating for a completely new field without artistic precedent would probably be daunting, if not completely nervewracking — and who’s to say it wasn’t for Tinney — but despite that immense challenge, he pulled off the assignment not only handily, but with the kind of proficency and mastery that made the genre, in this writer’s humble opinion, firmly his own.

It was with all these superlatives in mind (and a stack of 1987 BYTEs as my bedside reading material) that I recently requested an email interview with Robert Tinney. I am delighted to say that he accepted the offer, and you can read the result below.

[ Continue reading VC&G Interview: Robert Tinney, BYTE Cover Artist and Microcomputer Illustration Pioneer » ]

Ah…it’s Friday again; time to have some fun. In our inaugural match of the recently formed (some 5-10 minutes ago) VC&G Wrestling League (or VWL, if you will), we’re pitting two of personal computing’s most auspicious luminaries against each other in a no-holds-barred “battle of the grizzled.” Who will come out on top? Let’s take a look at our contenders:

In this corner, we have Dan Bricklin (”Brick”), co-inventor of the world’s first spreadsheet program for personal computers (VisiCalc), general all-round software nerd, and part-time lumberjack. Skinny, yet nimble and dexterous, Brick possesses the perfect counterpoints to Woz’s brute strength.

In the other corner, we have Steve Wozniak (”Woz”), co-founder of Apple Computer, prankster par excellence, and essentially the living embodiment of hardware hackerdom. He’s a pretty hefty fellow who could probably toss around a few cows if he really wanted to. But don’t confuse his bulk with being overweight — it’s all muscle, baby, and he’ll likely use it to pound Brick into previously unknown subterranean depths.

So it’s a classic battle between hardware and software gurus in our first fight! Best of all, both of these men are perennially known as being really nice guys, so how will that affect the match? Will they just shake hands and call it off, or will they ruthlessly nice each other into submission? Will Brick trick Woz with a stick to the ribs, or will Woz smack Brick with a Mac to grab the upper hand?

Who will win this epic battle? I have no idea, you tell us!

No, I’m not starting a lame VC&G merchandising blitz. I designed this mousepad as the prize for the winner of our first ever RSoTW caption contest that took place a few weeks ago. The winner received her mousepad yesterday and was extremely happy with it. Instead of taking it offline, never to be seen again, I asked her if she’d mind if I shared it with others. She responded, “I would not mind at all if you sell the mousepad design. You should be proud of it and show it off all you can.” And so, because of that, and since I’m fond of CafePress’s quality (I have a number of their mousepads in use at the moment), here it is.

The photo on the mousepad is pun-tastically entitled “Apple Free.” As you can see, it’s of the ill-executed Apple III computer system sitting in “in the rough” — a picture I took myself in July or so, when it was so ridiculously hot and humid that I nearly slipped down a low-grade hill and drowned in a river of my own sweat.

I was really reluctant to post an entry about this, since it might seem like an attempt at merchandising — not to mention that everybody and his brother can sell mousepads on CafePress. But it should be known that the price for the mousepad is set at CafePress’s “base price,” which means that I will not make any money on it. None, nada, zilch. I just wanted to share it with you guys in case someone out there was interested in buying one before I took it down. I might change the mousepad design every once and a while, so get it while it lasts — if you dare!