Sony released four controllers for the original PlayStation, presented in this article in chronological order. Continue reading
Author Archives: Giacomo Vernoni
Sanyo PHC-25 (1982)
In the eighties many companies tried to compete in the growing home computer market with one or more products. Some companies made history, other had a niche following, some others didn’t succeed or were successful in a few countries only. Continue reading
My book “Commodore VIC 20: A Visual History”
This book was funded by a Kickstarter campaign that I run in mid 2016. Printed in January 2017, it received enthusiastic reviews from the backers of the project. Continue reading
2015 Donations
I can’t always publish an article for every item I receive, so I would like to publicly thank all the people I still haven’t cited that contacted me during the last year to donate some material related to my passion. Continue reading
Staff C1 (Apple II clone)
One of the many Apple II clones, this was designed to look more professional, moving away from the “all-in-one” concept by having a more pc-like style with a central unit, double drive and a separate keyboard. Besides a small ad in an old magazine, I couldn’t find any information about this Staff company. Continue reading
Texas Instruments TI-99/4A (1981)
Very uncommon here in Italy, this system was quite successful in the US in the early Eighties. I thank Ciro from the TI99 Italian User Club for having helped me to find a TI-99/4A in good condition: the metal of the upper case can be scratched very easily. Continue reading
Apple IIe (1983)
Here in Italy the Apple II family of computers wasn’t very common. The Apple II was used by my parents’ generation rather than my own, mostly because it was much more expensive than more “popular” alternatives. The configuration of this Apple IIe is fairly standard for the times: third party Centronics printer interface, Apple 80 columns + 64KB RAM expansion, mouse interface, and floppy controller; DuoDisk and monochrome monitor. Continue reading
Digital VT100 (1978)
I thank Daniele F. for donating this terminal. He contacted me from the donation page at the end of May but I couldn’t retrieve it until the beginning of October, when I passed through Verona while I was going to Brusaporto (a few kilometres from Bergamo) where I attended an annual retrocomputing meeting.
Commodore 64 (1982)
About a year ago I bought this Commodore 64 from eBay US. I got it cheap because the seller didn’t advertise the fact that it was a “silver label”, and there were 4 pictures of the (not so good-looking) box before seeing an actual photograph of the computer. So I was the only person who bid on the item! It’s a bit yellowed on the right side and a most of the hooks are missing on the back, but otherwise it is in good working condition. Continue reading
Commodore MPS 801 (1984)
I don’t usually care about printers: they take up precious space (especially the office/business ones), there are tons of models and most of the times they’re just rebranded items.
But there are a few printers that deserve some care, mainly the early ones or those that made us print the first happy birthday card for a friend. Continue reading