Topic: Vic 20

Adam Curry and Mimi Smith-Dvorak reminisce about the early days of personal computing, including building acoustic modems from Radio Shack parts and using the TRS-100. Mimi recalls visiting an early microcomputer distribution company in Berkeley where she met Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and the famous phone phreaker "Captain Crunch." She admits she initially doubted the personal computer would ever become a mainstream success.

A segment dedicated to acknowledging high-tier "Executive Producer" donations. One producer, Sir 8-Bit Ben, triggers a nostalgic discussion about early home computers, including the Commodore VIC-20 and the Sinclair ZX80. Adam Curry recounts building an acoustic modem for his VIC-20 in the early 1980s.

The hosts open the program with a discussion about early personal computing history and the slow boot times of vintage hardware. They reminisce about the Sinclair ZX80, the Commodore VIC-20, the TRS-100, and the Kansas City Standard for data storage on cassette tapes. One host notes that his transition into fame coincided with the rise of gaming on the Commodore 64.

A retrospective on early personal computers highlights the Sinclair ZX80 and the Commodore VIC-20 as foundational devices for a generation of programmers. Sir Clive Sinclair is remembered for his commitment to simplicity, famously quipping that he used an 8-bit microprocessor because he "couldn't find a 4-bit." Despite his success in computing, his foray into electric vehicles with the Sinclair C5 was a notable failure.

In the early 1980s, national radio stations in the Netherlands and other European countries experimented with broadcasting computer programs over FM frequencies. Listeners would record the audio onto cassette tapes to load software into Commodore Vic-20 and 64 computers.

The episode concludes with a look back at the rise and fall of Radio Shack in the desktop computing market and the popularity of the Commodore 64 and VIC-20. A humorous anecdote explains why the VIC-20 was renamed the VC-20 in Germany due to linguistic taboos. The hosts sign off from the UK and California, inviting listeners to the next installment of No Agenda.