11.3

Dead medium: Dead Personal Computers and Typewriters: Some Recommended Books
 From SeJ_AT_aol.com (Stefan Jones) and Darryl_Rehr_AT_lamg.com (Darryl Rehr)

Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer: From Altair to IBM, A History of the PC Revolution by Stan Veit

Published by WorldComm, 65 Macedonia Road, Alexander, NC 28701 ISBN 1-56664-023-7 $19.95

Reviewed by Stefan Jones

For many years, Stan Veit edited the original incarnation of *The Computer Shopper*, a newsprint computer hobbyist want-ad monthly that was the last place die-hard Atari, Commodore, Osborne and Apple II users could find sources of hardware and software.

The classified ad section of this tome was worth the cover price alone, but it also had articles for the major dying computer standards, and Veit's own history column.

While *The Computer Shopper* is now a professionally managed, hernia-inducing monthly dedicated to the PC market, Veit's columns are now available in book form.

The chapters of *Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer* show their origin as magazine columns. The same incidents (e.g., the first months of Stan's Computer Mart store in midtown Manhattan) are described again and again, albeit from slightly different perspectives. This isn't a problem if you read the chapters one at a time and don't expect a consistent narrative.

Each chapter covers Veit's dealings with a particular company: Altair (the folks who arguably started it all), Sphere, IMSAI, and so on. Most of the systems and companies that Veit surveys are long dead; victims of the Apple II with its reliable disk drives and built-in video, or of IBM and its CP/M-squishing Personal Computer. Some of the firms passed on gracefully; others were frauds and cheats.

The most entertaining chapter is the tale of the early days of Apple. Veit rubbed elbows with the two Steves when they were still ragged, long haired hackers; he relates how his mother-in-law made Steve Jobs take off his jeans at a crucial early trade show so she could sew up the rents and tears. Veit also mentions the time that Jobs offered him a chance to buy a significant chunk of the nascent computer giant for $10,000. Had he not had the money tied up in his store, Veit probably would have taken him up on the deal and today would be worth billions. ..

Another highlight: The time that a computer graphics display == the Cromemco "Dazzler" == placed in the store window caused a late-night traffic jam on 5th Avenue. Drivers were so amazed that they stopped and stared. . . and stared... until police rousted Veit's landlord from bed to turn off the monitor.

Veit doesn't neglect the experiences of his customers. The feats of soldering and switch-flipping the early computer hobbyists had to perform to get a working computer are explained in exquisite detail, making one damn appreciative for BIOS chips and floppy drives. The tales of vaporware BASIC, dirty tricks, memory boards that periodically blanked and some systems that just plain didn't work are almost enough to make one grateful for IBM and Microsoft. The computerists of the mid seventies were a different breed, and true pioneers.

Stefan Jones