Welcome to Paleozoic PCs!

Greetings. As you've probably already guessed from the title, this little corner of Blogger is yet another Retro-computing-based blog, in this case one specifically intended as a companion for yet another retro-computing-based Youtube channel. Certainly not going to blame you for grumbling something about the market for this sort of thing being saturated and moving on, if you're so inclined. But if you haven't already done that I'll go ahead and lay out a brief introduction/sales pitch.

Collecting "retro" computers is a thing I've done since long before it was cool. Not to date myself too badly, but I am old enough to have grown up alongside the earliest 8-bit microcomputers and lived through the "Great Video Game Crash of 1983" (when suddenly my allowance went a lot further than it used to in buying Atari 2600 cartridges), so I remember when many of the home computers that are considered "retro" today were the bleeding-edge of consumer technology. Many of these machines that sold for thousands of dollars in the beginning of the 1980's were cheap garage sale fodder by the end of the decade, and I had a weakness for picking them up for practically nothing and tinkering with them, in some cases destructively. (All in the name of education and exploration, of course.) I still love doing that today, other than the destructive part, of course.

(If only they were still as cheap as they were back then...)

My attitude regarding almost any hobby is it should be a journey of discovery, not just a passive exercise in collecting. I have very little interest in owning a meticulously restored original Apple Lisa or I or whatever that sits on a pedestal and never does anything. If nothing else my house isn't big enough for that. Therefore my modus operandi is generally to only have one or two of my limited (but fairly diverse) collection out at a time, and keeping it out as long as I feel like I have some fun ideas to try out with it. Lately I've started branching out from just fiddling with/repairing the original hardware to trying to build my own hardware add-ons. So... basically, if your idea of a good time with old computers looks more like this:

Than a spotless museum case then there's a chance that you might find something I post here or on my channel interesting.

Here's a brief list of the systems I own that might find their way into the discussion:

• "Classic" TRS-80 models 1, 4, and 4P. Also Color Computer 3
• Tandy 1000 EX and HX (My current favorite lab rats!)
• Several Apple II-family systems. (Frankenstein'ed II+ clone, IIc, and IIgs)
• Some early Macintosh systems (512k, Plus, LC III)
• Several different models of Commodore PET
• Amiga 1000
• Northstar S100 CP/M chassis
• Various other bits and bobs, depending on how deep I want to dig, including UNIX workstations and some embedded development systems.
• Whatever might happen to fall into my lap if I'm lucky tomorrow.

I can't promise how diligent I'll be updating this. I'll probably just use this space to drop some notes related to my sporadic video uploads, but maybe it'll add up to more than that. In any case, if you've read this far then thank you for your time, hope to see you again.