Retro Tech Reads

The official X account for Retro Tech Reads, a Substack diving deep into the history of software. Follow to find out when new articles are released

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

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:
https://t.co/PgOXNgdQsJ

[Another Boring Topic @TopicBoring]

For anyone who likes spending two hours+ diving into the history of NeXT, starting with its 1993 pivot to software only and then on through its acquisition by Apple (some might say it was the other way around), and then into the Mac OS X era...

https://t.co/vuys38FNmi

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

@realRetroPC I do too, not only do I like physically owning my software, but I also enjoyed browsing for software (especially games) and looking at all the neat packaging.

That said, I’m not sure using Vista is the best example of this…😜

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

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.

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

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.

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

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.

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

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...

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

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:
https://t.co/PgOXNgdQsJ

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

@bfwebster @geoffrey_cain A couple years ago I read your Byte article and actually used a screen grab of it in one of the two videos on Steve Jobs and NeXT that I made for Another Boring Topic

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

Looking forward to reading this book as well. Jobs’ NeXT era has been sadly bereft of much study, there are only two good books focused on it (“Steve Jobs & The NeXT Big Thing” and “iFailed”), and both have a fairly narrow focus.

One of my biggest criticisms of Isaacson’s biography of Jobs was its incredibly brief coverage of NeXT

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

Enjoyable post.

One small correction though, to the best of my knowledge the Hindenburg was never intended to use helium. Airships need every single pound of lift capacity available and hydrogen can lift quite a bit more than helium.

This is one of the reasons why the disastrous British R101 used hydrogen (and was overloaded even with that).

Helium was also FAR more expensive than hydrogen, which was cheap, domestically generated, and widely available.

The Germans also felt that their wartime experiences with military dirigibles had given them an excellent understanding of how to safely work with hydrogen, which they felt should be very manageable (especially since Frank Luke Jr & Co wouldn’t be shooting incendiaries at them)

Airships were already so monumentally expensive to operate that switching to helium would have been financially difficult-to-impossible

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

I enjoyed Accidental Empires, its another one I’ve read more times than I can count, bought my copy in 2013.

It’s a fun read that brings the 1980s computer wars to life in a very easy to follow way, and does a great job of showing some of the personalities involved.

Unfortunately it does have some serious issues with facts(for example the account of Gary Kildall’s meeting with IBM is very poorly done), plus some odd omissions (Comodore is basically nonexistent).

Cringely is also very sloppy with his sourcing.

For the book I’m writing, I did find Triumph of the Nerds very useful for its transcripts of interviews with various people (Bill Lowe in particular)

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

Psi-Ops: the Mindgate Conspiracy

As a teenager I played the heck out of a demo of this on a disc from the official Xbox magazine (which I bought every month but was too cheap to pay for an annual subscription…math not being a strong suit of mine)

Really enjoyed it, especially the training room where you had unlimited psi power.

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

@ObsoleteSony Shockingly powerful, well supported throughout its lifespan, and the OG version is an absolute beast with its hardware PS2 support

Of course I was a hard core Xbox guy back in the day so I didn’t even buy a PS3 until the mid-2010s and I’ve never done much with it

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

This is excellent news, an I’m glad to see you continuing to survive and thrive.

I like seeing Ubuntu pre-installs doing so well, at some point I might need to pick up a Framework with Ubuntu and see if it works well for me.

I’ve tried repeatedly over the years to make Linux work for me as my primary OS, and every time its drawback have eventually forced me back to either MacOS or Windows.

I exclusively used @pop_os_official from 2020-2023 on my tower and did all the video editing for @TopicBoring videos on it using DaVinci Resolve.

Unfortunately Pop!OS kept giving me such headaches that I finally gave up and just (regretfully) went back to Windows.

Currently I do all my writing and video editing on a 2023 15” MacBook Air, but given Apple’s slow drift towards shoving ads and annoying features into the MacOS, switching to a 16” Framework with Ubuntu down the road is very appealing…IF Ubuntu just works and doesn’t give me Pop!OS style issues

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

@BasicAppleGuy An upgradable tower that starts under 2k for an entry level configuration

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

@ClassicII_MrMac Very very cool, which NeXTWorld expo are these from?

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

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.

https://t.co/L5h0TvWQJq

[Another Boring Topic @TopicBoring]

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

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

@9to5mac While I understand Apple’s reasoning, this still is sad to see

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

Kicking of a new series today with the release of the first installment of the Rise and Fall of Windows CE

https://t.co/koC1M6LDhs

[Retro Tech Reads @RetroTechReads]

@Pirat_Nation So…Evil Pat and Mat: The VideoGame?

https://t.co/YEPi28rgPS