Twenty-five years ago this spring, Apple released the LaserWriter, its first laser printer. Few today remember that Apple’s hefty printing machine had as much of an impact on the way the world uses computers as the Macintosh itself. In conjunction with Apple’s famous PC, the LaserWriter pushed the personal computer into the worlds of graphic design and publishing.

So begins my latest piece over at Macworld.com, which examines four reasons why we should care about the historical legacy of Apple’s first laser printer. It also touches on the early Apple-Adobe relationship, which began with the LaserWriter. That relationship has come under closer scrutiny recently thanks to the nasty iPhone-iPad /Adobe Flash feud.

If you’re interested in more Apple printer information, check out this article I did for Macworld last year. It lists “Apple’s Five Most Important Printers.” Supposedly.

Overcome one of the Internet’s least annoying problems.

Ever since Microsoft introduced its first mouse with a scroll wheel, the IntelliPoint Explorer, in 1996, mouse designers have been tripping over themselves to solve the non-problem of how to allow a user to scroll a document horizontally as well as vertically. Along the way, we’ve seen solutions like the IBM TrackPoint (above), Microsoft’s own “tilt wheel” mice, and more recently the “scroll ball” on Apple’s Mighty Mouse. In the case of the ScrollPoint mouse seen above, it looks like IBM simply took its TrackPoint pointing device and stuck it on a mouse where a scroll wheel should be.

It’s all been for naught, though, because 99% of mouse users don’t care about scrolling horizontally. In fact, if you have to scroll horizontally to view a website — the task most often enhanced by a scroll wheel — the website has been terribly designed. As a result, I suspect that horizontal scrolling apparatus tend to annoy users more than help them. I’m sure someone out there will read this and swear by their horizontal scrolling mouse, but I’m also fairly certain that person is in the minority.

For more on mouse history, check out this nifty article I did for Macworld a few years ago. It includes a handy mouse technology timeline.

Discussion Topic of the Week: Does your mouse provide the means to scroll horizontally as well as vertically? How do you feel about it?

“Is your personal computer TOO personal?”

Facetious 1980s computer manual quote: “Never operate a computer with the monitor sitting directly in front of you. Neck torsion increases muscle tone and blood flow to the brain, resulting in higher computing performance.”

Discussion Topic of the Week: Have you ever been forced to share a PC with someone else? Tell us about it.

In Memoriam: Ed Roberts (1941-2010), creator of the Altair 8800.

A deleted scene from Disney’s Fantasia.

Discussion Topic of the Week: Tell us your copy protection horror stories. Have you ever tried to copy a disk but couldn’t? What did you do about it?

Atari Corporation premiered the first member of its ST series, the Atari 520ST, at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show 25 years ago this January. After the 520ST shipped mid-1985, Atari released an upgraded model in 1986 called the Atari 1040STf — variations of which remained best sellers throughout the ST’s run.

In honor of the Atari ST series’ 25th anniversary, I’ve dissected the popular Atari 1040STf in my usual style for PC World, making this the ninth entry in my “workbench series” of tech autopsies. I think it turned out very well, and I hope you enjoy it.

I have fond memories of the 1040STf because my father bought one for the family back in 1986. Games like Phantasie, SunDog, Exodus, and Gauntlet always come to mind when I think of Atari’s GUI-based wonder.

Is anybody else out there a fan of the Atari ST series? If so, tell us about it. What ST model(s) did/do you have? What are your favorite ST games? Bonus points to anyone who can provide a picture of themselves using an Atari ST before 1990!

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Here are my previous workbench teardowns, if you’re interested: Atari 800, Commodore 64, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Famicom, Apple IIc, IBM Model M Keyboard, TRS-80 Model 100, and Macintosh Portable.

“Look over the Rainbow”

In the early 1980s, mainframe giant Digital Equipment Corporation (aka DEC for short) tried its hand in the personal computer market with the DEC Rainbow (1982). Since the market had not settled on an industry-wide PC standard at that time, DEC decided to support the two major operating system platforms of the day: Z80-based CP/M and 8088-based MS-DOS. The Rainbow contained both these processors and was capable of booting both OSes. Interestingly, despite the machine’s use of the 8088 and MS-DOS, the computer remained largely incompatible with the IBM PC from a hardware standpoint.

Discussion Topic of the Week: Imagine a world in which Digital Research CP/M, rather than MS-DOS, became the standard operating system for PCs worldwide in the 1980s. (That is, far beyond CP/M’s market share of the 1970s.) How might PCs today be different?

Atari’s best 8-bit keyboard?

The Atari 1200XL (1982) is something of a cult favorite among Atari 8-bit computer fans due to its keyboard, which probably has the nicest feel of the entire 8-bit line. 1980s critics, while appreciating the unit’s keyboard, simultaneously derided the 1200XL for minor incompatibilities with existing software created for the earlier Atari 400/800 computers. I personally don’t like its recessed cartridge slot, but if you have an AtariMax MaxFlash multi-cart, you don’t need to change cartridges very often.

Over the past decade, I’ve often used my Atari 1200XL as an ideal machine for Atari text adventure games. Whenever I encounter software incompatibilities, I just break out the Atari 800XL or 130XE. Each Atari model has a flavor of its own, and it’s a pleasure to use most of them — if you choose the right machine for the right task (hint: don’t try to write a term paper on an Atari 400’s membrane keyboard).

Discussion Topic of the Week: What’s your favorite model in the Atari 8-bit computer series? To recap, you’ve got the Atari 400, 800, 1200XL, 600XL, 800XL, 65XE, 130XE, and XEGS.

PC World recently published my latest slideshow, The Evolution of Removable Storage, which examines removable computer storage media of the last 60 years. You’ll find plenty of fascinating pictures and lots of written history as well. It’s less like a slideshow and more like an illustrated article in spirit. I hope you enjoy it.

Technologizer also posted one of my latest pieces yesterday: 15 Consumer Electronics Design Mistakes. It’s not perfectly VC&G-related, but it is part of a series with two previous Technologizer articles of mine: 15 Classic Game Console Design Mistakes and 15 Classic PC Design Mistakes.

“Computers designed with kids in mind.”

Discussion Topic of the Week: Would you ever buy a PC with a themed case? If so, what would be the theme?