[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Playing the Atari 800

Monday, March 2nd, 2015

Jeremy playing Slime on Atari 800 in his room - personal family photo polaroid - January 14 1983My brother Jeremy playing Slime on the Atari 800 in his room, Jan 14 1983

[ From Personal family Polaroid print – January 14, 1983 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: When you were a kid, did your parents let you have a computer in your bedroom?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] The Mac in Dad’s Office

Monday, September 30th, 2013

A Macintosh SE in my dad's home office - 1988A Macintosh SE sits in the home office of Benj’s father, March 20th, 1988

My father bought the Macintosh SE you see in this photo pretty soon after it came out in 1987. It proved to be a key tool in launching his business the following year. His company’s logo, sales literature, and product manuals were all designed on it. It was an amazing upgrade over a DOS-based PC.

Naturally, my brother and I immediately started to use the SE to play games. We had access to very few titles, though — we played Shadowgate, Dungeon of Doom, Silent Service, and that’s about it. I was always disappointed with the Mac’s lack of color, but the sharpness and resolution of its display were hard to beat at the time. And the sound was amazing too. The evil laugh in the beginning of Shadowgate still rings clear in my memory.

The SE pictured in this photo remains in my collection to this day, and I boot it up from time to tinker with it. Perhaps I should fire it up again today in honor of my dad.

Discussion Topic of the Week: Did you ever use a computer in one of your parents’ offices? Tell us about it.