Decided to try out X articles to see how well it works versus linking to my Substack. It doesn't look like X supports footnotes, so if you want to see the citations, head over to the Retro Tech Reads version of the article. x.com/RetroTechReads/status/…

Unauthorized Macintosh Laptops: The Rise and Fall of Outbound Systems open.substack.com/pub/retrot…

The inside of the box is pretty barebones, there is nothing on the right side at all. I do find the simple design on the left side pretty nice though, it’s minimalistic and clean. The back (mine is a little beat up unfortunately) is also very basic, it’s just a single paragraph repeated three times (English, French, and Spanish), presumably so #nintendo could use it in multiple regions.

Anyone remember the demo of Metroid Prime Hunters that came with early DS purchases? I bought my #nintendoDS from GameStop shortly after launch (after agonizing over whether to get a PSP instead) and this game blew my mind. It genuinely felt like pocket Halo to me…at least at first. The shine did wear off though, and I eventually lost interest in dealing with the clunky controls, so I never actually bought the full game when it released.

I am really looking forward to reading @geoffrey_cain new book, Steve Jobs in Exile, its a key part of Steve Jobs history that has been sadly neglected. Jobs' primary biographer, Walter Isaacson, almost entirely ignored this formative period in Jobs' life, something that has always enormously frustrated me. You do not get iCEO Steve Jobs without his formative experiences at NeXT, both good and bad. Its a critical part of Apple's history, and it has long cried out for an in-depth examination. I do have two excellent books on NeXT, Steve Jobs and the NeXT Best Thing and iFailed: The True Inside Story of NeXT. Both are very good reads (especially the first one), but since they were published in 1993 and 1994 respectively, they cannot offer any insights on NeXT and Jobs after NeXT's pivot to software only, let alone the negotiations with Apple. Also, with NeXT's story getting a much needed deep dive, we now need a good book on Be Inc, BeOS, and Gassee...

I started writing the script for this on July 2nd, 2022. I starting recording the audio for it in July of 2024, and then spent over a year fiddling with it, adding new sections (deleting others), and wrestling to piece the whole 2:19 video together into a cohesive video, which I finally released on @TopicBoring in September 2025. The final script was 23,000 words long, and subscribers can read it here: retrotechreads.substack.com/…

9,000 words on working with desktop video in the pre-PowerPC, pre-Windows 95 era. What were some of the tools available? How much did it cost to get set up with a Macintosh or PC editing suite? What were the limitations and compromises required to work with footage on a 486 or 68040 CPU? Did you know that the editing software known as Pinnacle Studio started life as a product called VideoDirector on the Amiga in 1991? It couldn't digitize footage, but it could control a camcorder and VCR to edit (hard cuts only) footage, copying only the selected time chops from the camcorder to a tape. open.substack.com/pub/retrot…

Tomorrow at 10 AM, the console battle for the '90s begins again!

Kicking of a new series today with the release of the first installment of the Rise and Fall of Windows CE open.substack.com/pub/retrot…

Been reading through archives of one of my favorite, yet sadly unknown, comics. Norm Feuti’s comic strip “Retail” is an amazing, hilarious look at retail life. I found it when I was in retail management (thankfully I no longer am) and he absolutely nailed the experience. But this comic in particular reminds me of just how amazing the iPad was when it came out out in 2010. Seeing one in the wild was always attention-getting, and I still remember the very first time I ever got to use one. It was just an amazing experience to hold that sleek aluminum rectangle, with its giant glossy screen and responsive interaction. Also iOS was still in its skeuomorphic era, meaning the interface looked incredible instead of modern iOS’s complete lack of personality #retail #ipad #retailcomic

Just realized that my copy of Soul of a New Machine that I bought used a number of years ago—is actually signed by Tracy Kidder! At least, it looks like it (I don’t have another signature of Kidder’s to compare it to).

How to upgrade a 1997 HP 320LX palmtop from Windows CE 1 to Windows CE 2 in six easy steps. 1.) Remove all batteries, including the coin battery that preserves data during battery swaps 2.) Remove the door over the ROM containing Windows CE 1. This door is really stiff and hard to remove, so use careful pressure to get it to pop free 3.) Insert the nib of the stylus into the hole on the end of the ROM card, and apply gentle pressure to carefully work it loose and slide it out. 4.) Once its out, take the new card and slide it into place, it will only go in one way. You will feel it firmly slide into its slot, its pretty easy. Then replace the cover over the ROM. 5.) Insert the coin battery and wait about a minute, then insert the two AA batteries that will power this mighty PDA for a good 15-20 hours (or less...depends on how much you make use of the dim green backlight). 6.) Turn the 320LX on by pressing the right side of the space bar and voila, you now have a Windows CE 2 palmtop! Read all about the 320LX here retrotechreads.substack.com/…

The first PDA we are doing a deep dive into for the PDAs of 1997 series is HP's 320LX. A first generation WindowsCE device, the 320LX could also be upgraded to WindowsCE 2 by physically swapping out the ROM chip where CE resided. retrotechreads.substack.com/…

1997 was a big year for PDAs, with new generations of #apple, #psion, and #palm PDAs hitting store shelves, along with the first generation of #windowsCE devices. retrotechreads.substack.com/…

Updated to the latest iOS yesterday an now I have “Liquid Glass” In an ocean of people saying how dumb this redesign is, my thoughts aren’t even going to be a drop. However I think the idiocy of #liquidglass is really well shown off in this screenshot of my email search. Why is this search box partially translucent?! When I’m searching, I don’t want the search box floating in front of blurry text. It was dumb when #windowsvista did this and it’s dumb when iOS 26 does it. Bring back skeuomorphic design

Very neat, back from the days before the Xbox brand was driven straight into the ground by some of the most idiotic decisions in business history

Just got this amazing offer from X Forgive me for being skeptical but I have my doubts about my little X account ever being worth spending 500 dollars a month on. Or even 100 dollars a month.

The rise of Excel part 2 is now live! There is no paywall on this one, so it can easily be shared with anyone who might be interested :) retrotechreads.substack.com/…

Been delving into 1980s issues of Popular Computing lately, this ad encouraging people to subscribe was in one of them