Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

New York Man Discovers 30-Year-Old Apple Computer Still in Working Order - Including a Saved Game
ktla ^

Posted on 02/18/2019 7:43:54 AM PST by BenLurkin

Pfaff restored the saved game of Adventureland, a text command game released for microcomputers by Scott Adams in 1978.

“This is tricky, because three decades later I can’t quite remember where I left off this round of Adventureland.”

Pfaff found floppy disks with several different games of the time including; Millionware, Neuromancer and Olympic Decathlon.

Besides finding games on the floppy disks, Pfaff came across saved copies of his high school assignments and a note from his late father.

“Just found this letter my dad typed to me in 1986, when I was 11 and at summer camp,” he tweeted. “My dad passed away almost exactly a year ago. It’s amazing to come across something so ‘ordinary’ from him.”

Pfaff showed off the vintage system to his own children and their reaction is what you’d expect from a generation that has moved on to an iPhone X.

(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: apple; appleiie; newyork
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-99 next last

1 posted on 02/18/2019 7:43:54 AM PST by BenLurkin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]


2 posted on 02/18/2019 7:45:28 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both. O)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
I still have my Apple //e, along with all the disks, manuals, even the dot matrix printer and color monitors, upgraded ZIP chip, dual disk drive, joystick...

-PJ

3 posted on 02/18/2019 7:50:39 AM PST by Political Junkie Too (The 1st Amendment gives the People the right to a free press, not CNN the right to the 1st question.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: KC_Lion

Ping.


4 posted on 02/18/2019 7:52:39 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Political Junkie Too

Wow.....that is treasure!!


5 posted on 02/18/2019 7:54:00 AM PST by Jane Long (Praise God, from whom ALL blessings flow.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Political Junkie Too

“I still have my Apple //e, along with all the disks, manuals, even the dot matrix printer ...”

Same here...bought in 1984. My introduction to the world of computing.


6 posted on 02/18/2019 7:54:35 AM PST by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
Back in the day my family a Franklin Ace 1000 which was an Apple II clone. My dad was a cheapskate so no way we were getting a real Apple but at the same time he was an engineer who was curious if he could use a computer to help him with work stuff so we were on the early end of having a computer at home.

I remember begging him for three things, all of which he refused. A color monitor ("bah, I already spent extra for the amber one"), a mouse which was rumored to make gaming a lot easier ("Who cares? I don't need it for my VisiCalc spreadsheets") and a winchester drive a.k.a. a 10 MB hard drive ("Are you kidding? What would we ever do with 10MB of storage! We could never fill that much! That would be a huge waste of money!")

As a result of little storage, no color graphics, and no mouse I mostly just played text based adventure games like Zork.

7 posted on 02/18/2019 7:54:47 AM PST by pepsi_junkie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

V-ger?


8 posted on 02/18/2019 7:55:23 AM PST by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Gonzales! Come and Take It!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

9 posted on 02/18/2019 7:56:14 AM PST by Flick Lives
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
Pfaff showed off the vintage system to his own children and their reaction is what you’d expect from a generation that has moved on to an iPhone X.

My (now grown) children have the same reaction to my old toys. They roll their eyes and go "how prehistoric, Dad."

When I tell them of my childhood with no internet, no cell phones and no cable tv, I might as well be talking about farming in the Dust Bowl during the Depression.

10 posted on 02/18/2019 7:56:51 AM PST by SamAdams76
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bonemaker
My introduction to the world of computing.

I actually had a TI/99 before I got the Apple. I don't recall what happened to it, though.

Before that, I had one of these:

-PJ

11 posted on 02/18/2019 8:02:17 AM PST by Political Junkie Too (The 1st Amendment gives the People the right to a free press, not CNN the right to the 1st question.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

I had an Atari 400 back in the mid-’80s but, frankly, it didn’t serve much purpose until I discovered CompuServe.

I still have a fully functioning PC made from a bare bones kit that runs Windows 2000 NT (it used to run Windows 98). Its main purpose today is converting audio files to CDs to be played in my car.


12 posted on 02/18/2019 8:02:41 AM PST by OrangeHoof (Trump is Making the Media Grate Again)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Apple geek historian$ are totally nut$ about vintage Apple stuff.

I’d say he could be looking at some money there, if he were to sell that stuff.


13 posted on 02/18/2019 8:03:45 AM PST by gaijin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bonemaker
Actually, as a child I also had one of these:

-PJ

14 posted on 02/18/2019 8:07:28 AM PST by Political Junkie Too (The 1st Amendment gives the People the right to a free press, not CNN the right to the 1st question.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

I still have my IBM 486? that I bought for $2500 bucks in 1993!


15 posted on 02/18/2019 8:11:07 AM PST by US_MilitaryRules (I'm not tired of Winning yet! Please, continue on!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Political Junkie Too
My father bought me a Commodore 64 and a book by Carl Shipman titled How to Program Your Commodore 64: BASIC for Beginners. I credit that event to putting me on the path to becoming a software engineer. That book wound up impacting my life 2nd only to the Holy Bible. :)

Cover of: How to program your Commodore 64 | Carl Shipman

16 posted on 02/18/2019 8:12:00 AM PST by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Political Junkie Too

I have one of those somewhere around here. Never used.


17 posted on 02/18/2019 8:13:01 AM PST by subterfuge (RIP T.P.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

I have a Z80 machine which I salvaged and modified in 1982. It is in my ham shack, back room with a lot of test equipment. I built the power supplies and floppy drive enclosures from scratch. I bet it will still operate too. but have not tried it in many many years.

Only issue might be the floppy boot disc used to bring it to life. They have been stored a long time. Was running NewDOS80 at the time.


18 posted on 02/18/2019 8:15:07 AM PST by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Political Junkie Too
I think as a child we were using these things...


19 posted on 02/18/2019 8:16:23 AM PST by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
New York Man Discovers 30-Year-Old Apple Computer Still in Working Order - Including a Saved Game

Barn find?

20 posted on 02/18/2019 8:17:41 AM PST by FreeReign
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-99 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson