ibm pcjr Archives - The Silicon Underground David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more Sun, 19 Apr 2026 15:10:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://kerosin.digital/rss-chimp16321610 Where to buy vintage computers https://dfarq.homeip.net/buy-vintage-computers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=buy-vintage-computers Wed, 28 Jun 2017 11:00:13 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=13051 Collecting vintage computers can be fun. I also personally think it’s great that people are interested in preserving that history. Where to buy vintage computers hasn’t changed much over the years. It just may take a bit more work than

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Radio Shack computers https://dfarq.homeip.net/radio-shack-computers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=radio-shack-computers Thu, 25 May 2017 11:00:13 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=12946 Radio Shack released one of the first home computers, the TRS-80 Model I, in 1977. Between 1977 and 1979, it sold 100,000 units. Radio Shack sold them just as quickly as Tandy could make them. You can count Radio Shack and

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IBM PCjr and Tandy 1000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/ibm-pcjr-and-tandy-1000/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ibm-pcjr-and-tandy-1000 Wed, 29 Jan 2014 11:00:20 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7036 On January 29, 1984, two computers hit the market. One was Apple’s Macintosh. It needs no introduction. The other was the IBM PCjr. It was a little less successful. We’ll talk about what this has to do with the Tandy

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Commodore 128, top-12 dud? By what measure? https://dfarq.homeip.net/commodore-128-top-12-dud-by-what-measure/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=commodore-128-top-12-dud-by-what-measure https://dfarq.homeip.net/commodore-128-top-12-dud-by-what-measure/#comments Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:13:32 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=3992 PC Magazine presented a list of 12 computer duds, and while I agree with most of them, my old friend the Commodore 128 makes an appearance. Commodore released several duds over the years, but calling the 128 one of them

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Dinosaur hunting https://dfarq.homeip.net/dinosaur-hunting/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dinosaur-hunting Sun, 23 May 2010 01:06:01 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=1889 Today I slipped over to Laclede Computer Trading Company for the first time in many years. I was in search of an ISA parallel card. They're not easy to find these days, mostly because they aren't particularly useful to most people these days, but I figured if anyone would have one, it would be them.

No dice. But man, what memories.

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The rise and fall of Shack, and how to fix it https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-rise-and-fall-of-shack-and-how-to-fix-it/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-rise-and-fall-of-shack-and-how-to-fix-it Wed, 12 May 2010 01:13:45 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=1883 Wired has a nostalgic piece on the not-quite-late, not-quite-great Radio Shack. I think it's a good article, but it glosses over part of the reason for the store's decline.

It blames computers.

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How IBM and DOS came to dominate the industry https://dfarq.homeip.net/how-ibm-and-dos-came-to-dominate-the-industry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-ibm-and-dos-came-to-dominate-the-industry https://dfarq.homeip.net/how-ibm-and-dos-came-to-dominate-the-industry/#comments Wed, 19 Feb 2003 23:27:30 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=175 Revisionist historians talk about how MS-DOS standardized computer operating systems and changed the industry. That's very true. But what they're ignoring is that there were standards before 1981, and the standards established in 1981 took a number of years to take hold.

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Old computer magazines https://dfarq.homeip.net/old-computer-magazines/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=old-computer-magazines https://dfarq.homeip.net/old-computer-magazines/#comments Wed, 13 Nov 2002 00:39:41 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=272 I guess I need a "retro" category here. Anyway, I found this on Slashdot this morning: The Computer Magazine Archive. Don't let the URL fool you--it's not just Atari stuff.

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