10 DAYS OF VINTAGE: Day 5

The famous IBM PC 5150 turned 30 in 2011, and I spent quite some time preparing for that important anniversary. During my brainstorming process, I thought it would be fun to celebrate the 30th anniversary of another famous cultural icon — the "smiley" ASCII character, which originated with that seminal IBM machine.

To me, the the smiley character (seen above in its original and inverse forms) is best known as the protagonist of pseudo-graphical text-based games like ZZT.

To find out the origins of this whimsical denizen of Code Page 437, I sent an email to Dr. David J. Bradley, one of the creators of the IBM PC, whom I had corresponded with before. In fact, Dr. Bradley is best known as the inventor of "CTRL-ALT-DELETE" keyboard combination that once reset almost every IBM PC-compatible computer.

I never did get around to writing that Smiley celebration as I planned, but I just ran across my conversation with Dr. Bradley recently, and I still find it interesting. With Dr. Bradley's permission, I am reproducing a transcript of our email conversation below, which I hope will aid future IBM Smiley researchers in their quest for information.

[ Continue reading [ VC&G Anthology ] Origins of the ASCII Smiley Character: An Email Exchange With Dr. David Bradley (2011) » ]

Make it no, Number One.

I once lampooned a Klingon keyboard for a PC World slideshow back in 2009 (looks like the images on that slideshow are broken now — bummer), so I found it especially fun when I ran across this entry for a Star Trek-themed keyboard and mouse in a 1995 Things You Never Knew Existed catalog.

The year 1995 seemed like the height of TV Star Trek, with TNG ending not long before, Voyager starting, and DS9 still on a roll. So it was as an appropriate time as ever to market a keyboard and mouse like this. Sadly, neither one looks very comfortable to use. But if ergonomics were the point of novelty products, then Things You Never Knew Exsited would have never existed.

By the way, I love the extremely 1995 hairstyle. I think my hair looked like back then too.

Discussion Topic of the Week: What is the weirdest keyboard or mouse you have ever used?

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the United States, which means we cook a lot, eat a lot, sleep a lot, feel uncomfortable around somewhat estranged relatives a lot, prepare to spend a lot, officially start Christmas a lot, and generally take it all for granted, despite the title of the holiday. In order to break with American tradition, I thought I'd offer a personal list of things that I think we — vintage computer and video game enthusiasts — should be thankful for. After all, these things let us enjoy our hobbies. Without them, we'd be collecting dirt and not even know what it's called. Pay attention, my friends, as we start off serious-ish and degrade into something resembling silliness — but it's all in the name of holiday fun.

[ Continue reading What Computer Nerds Should Be Thankful For » ]