Somebody call the fire marshal.
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There’s nothing quite like the warm glow of a green screen terminal. I’ve never used a SWTPC terminal like those featured here, but I had a few DEC VT-125s with similar displays that I tinkered around with as a teenager. Now my terminal collection is larger, but there’s just something about that green phosphor CRT — maybe it’s a sentimental favorite of mine because I first learned to program BASIC on an Apple II+ with a green monochrome monitor. After that, amber- and white phosphor displays always seemed cold and impersonal by comparison.

Discussion topic of the week: Terminal Time! What’s the best terminal you’ve ever used? For those of you who never had to use dedicated terminals, tell us your favorite terminal emulation software.

If you use this image on your site, please support “Retro Scan of the Week” by giving us obvious credit for the original scan and entry. Thanks.

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The promise of the Game Boy could never have been made more clear than in this 1993 ad by Hudson. Confined to your room? No problem; play your Game Boy. The portable nature of Nintendo’s first handheld console opened up incredible new possibilities for how and where you could play video games.

Those possibilities felt very real when I finally convinced my dad to buy me a used Game Boy around 1990. (Sure, it had just come out in 1989, but it felt like forever because I was begging my parents for one all along the way.) With the Game Boy, I could play video games in the car, in school (although I never did), in bed at night, and I even remember wandering through the local art museum — black Game Boy earbuds in place — glued to Tetris instead of paying attention to the paintings. Oh, that glorious stereo sound. Those were amazing days indeed.

Discussion topic of the week: What was the first handheld electronic game you ever played? Also, feel free to share your first Game Boy experience.

If you use this image on your site, please support “Retro Scan of the Week” by giving us obvious credit for the original scan and entry. Thanks.

[ Update: 02/11/2010 - Rick Conte donated this Apple I to the Maine Personal Computer Museum in 2009 ]

It’s not every day that an original Apple I goes up for sale. In fact, it’s not every year that an Apple I goes up for sale. In case you didn’t know, the Apple I is an exceedingly rare machine.

How rare? Well, various sources on the net say that about 200 units of Apple’s first computer were produced, and perhaps 30-50 survive to this day. To find out the truth behind these numbers, I checked with the designer of the Apple I himself, Steve Wozniak. But first, it’s time for a little history.

Apple co-founders Wozniak and Steve Jobs originally sold the Apple I for $666.66 (US) in 1976. With the help of friends, the duo built each and every Apple I by hand, although admittedly, there’s wasn’t much to the primitive machine. It shipped without an enclosure, keyboard, power supply, or display; the buyer was expected to furnish those parts. (Many people built them into briefcases, like the one seen here.)

[ Continue reading Apple I For Sale » ]

The Man with the Golden Gun

I spent more hours on CompuServe in the early 1990s than I probably should have — considering it cost something like $4.80 (US) an hour. But of all the commercial online services at the time, CompuServe’s combination of history (it had been running since 1969), depth, and variety blew the others out of the water. I scanned this particular ad from CompuServe Magazine, which — believe it or not — was one of my favorite magazines back then. Ah, the good ‘ole days.

I’m guessing that CompuServe actually found a member named “James Bond” and got him to pose for this advertisement. He may look harmless, but that gun is filled with instant death acid; it’s one of Q’s new toys.

Discussion topic of the week: Did you ever use a commercial online service such as CompuServe, Prodigy, AOL, Delphi, or Q-Link? Share your memories and your favorites below.

If you use this image on your site, please support “Retro Scan of the Week” by giving us obvious credit for the original scan and entry. Thanks.

“The ice cube cometh.”

Yep, Mr. Cool is little more than Q*bert on ice — but this one requires a touch of SuperCool to win. Somehow, Mr. Cool himself looks like he was plucked from an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

I remember playing this for the Atari 800 and not being too impressed. But oh well; clones will be clones. (Psst — remember Donkey King?)

Discussion topic of the week: Share your memories of video game clones. Any favorites? Any ridiculous examples?

If you use this image on your site, please support “Retro Scan of the Week” by giving us obvious credit for the original scan and entry. Thanks.