Floppy Days 138 - Interview with Hans Franke, VCF Europe and Computeum
Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast
Release Date: 04/24/2024
Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast
Floppy Days 165 - The Sphere Computer, Part 2 with Ben Zotto Patreon: Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics - Arcade Shopper - and FutureVision Research - Tuc's Workbench - Hello and welcome to episode 165 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for July, 2026. My name is Randy Kindig and I’m your host for this audio and video tribute to vintage computers and computer history. For those of you listening to these podcasts in order, this month’s episode is the second part of the 2-part series on the Sphere, which was introduced in 1975; the same year as the...
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Floppy Days 164 - The Sphere, Part 1 with Ben Zotto Patreon: Sponsors: and Hello!!! and welcome to episode 164 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for June, 2026. My name is Randy Kindig and I’m your host for this joy ride through the rewarding hobby of vintage computers and computer history. I have to start off by apologizing, as I’ll actually be stepping back in the computer timeline for this episode. Sometimes it happens. My goal from the beginning of this podcast was to go through computers in the approximate order they were released...
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Floppy Days 163 - Interview with Charles Pfister, Apple 1 Case Designer Patreon: Sponsors: and New Acquisitions Chalkboard PowerPad - “Go Computer Now!!!” by Ben Zotto - “Apple The First 50 Years” by David Pogue - (sponsored link) FujiNet RS-232 - Upcoming Shows (thru AUGUST, 2026) VCF Southwest - May 29-31, 2026 - Westin Dallas Ft. Worth Airport - Retrofest 2026 - May 30-31 - Steam Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon, UK - CORGSCON - Columbus Ohio Retro Gaming Society - June...
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Floppy Days 162 - Interview with Apple Legend, Steve Wozniak Patreon: Sponsors: and New Acquisitions The WOZPAK Special Edition: Steve Wozniak’s Apple-1 & Apple II Computers - Assembly Lines: The Complete Book by Roger Wagner (Author), Chris Torrence (Editor) - (sponsored link) What’s Where in the Apple – Enhanced Edition: A Complete Guide to the Apple II Computer - Upcoming Computer Shows (thru July, 2026) VCF Europe - May 1-3 - Munich, Germany - Vintage Computer Festival Pacific Northwest 2026 - May 2-3...
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Floppy Days 161 - Byte Shop Interviews Patreon: Sponsors: and Hello, and welcome to episode 161 of the Floppy Days Podcast for March, 2026. I am Randy Kindig, your host for this wild ride through vintage computing. This month I have a special episode prepared. For the 50th Anniversary event of the opening of the Byte Shop that occurred in California in December, 2025, I interviewed 11 different people with some sort of ties to Paul Terrell and the Byte Shop. Prior to the event itself, I published an approximately 30-minute-long video...
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Floppy Days 160 - The KayPro, Part 4, with Matt Jones Patreon: Sponsors: YouTube Channel: Hello, and welcome to episode 160 of the Floppy Days Podcast for February, 2026. I’m Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, we are at the tail end of a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. I was able to interview David Kay, son of the founder of KayPro, and...
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FLOPPY DAYS 159 - The KayPro - Part 3 With Matt Jones Patreon: Sponsors: and Hello, and welcome to episode 159 of the Floppy Days Podcast for January, 2026. I’m Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, we are currently in the middle of a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. I was able to interview David Kay, son of the founder of KayPro, and president of the company for...
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FLOPPY DAYS 158 - Interview with David Kay, KayPro - Part 2 Patreon: Sponsors: and Hello, and welcome to episode 158 of the Floppy Days Podcast for December, 2025. I’m Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, this month I’m beginning a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. In researching Kaypro, I discovered that while Andrew Kay, the founder of the...
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FLOPPY DAYS 157 - Interview with David Kay, KayPro - Part 1 Patreon: Sponsors: and Hello, and welcome to episode 157 of the Floppy Days Podcast for November, 2025. I am Randy Kindig, your host. We are currently covering computers introduced in the year 1982 and, to that end, this month I’m beginning a series of podcasts about the Kaypro line of computers. Kaypro had a rich and varied family of computers; certainly much more so than I ever realized. In researching Kaypro, I discovered that while Andrew Kay, the founder of the computer...
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Floppy Days 156 - Interview with Paul Schindler, Computer Chronicles Patreon: Sponsors: and Hello, and welcome to episode 156 of the Floppy Days Podcast for October, 2025. I’m Randy Kindig, your host for this “retro”spective covering vintage computers of the late 70’s through the 80’s and the people who were on the forefront of that incredible revolution. This month, I’m bringing you another interview episode with a tech media personality that was involved with the Computer Chronicles TV show (among many other things): Mr....
info_outlineEpisode 138 - Interview with Hans Franke, VCF Europe and Computeum
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays
Sponsors:
Hello, and welcome to Episode 138 of the Floppy Days Podcast for April, 2024! My name is Randy Kindig and I host this podcast about beautiful, obsolete, extremely interesting computers of 35 to 45 years ago, when computer diversity was abundant.
This episode is an interview show, where we talk with Hans Franke. Hans is very active in the classic computer community, being an organizer of the European Vintage Computer show AND curator of a computer museum! We discuss both of these things with Hans and learn more about the vintage computer scene in Europe.
I actually have several interviews completed and queued up to publish. So, while I continue to work on covering the next computer in the timeline, expect several interviews in the near term. I won’t go into details, but these are great interviews that I think you will enjoy.
I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com. I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast.
What I’ve Been Up To
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Indy Classic Expo - http://www.indyclassic.org
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8-Bit Classics - http://www.8bitclassics.com
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80 column card for Atari 1090XL at Tindie from Brian Reifsnyder
New Acquisitions
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Coco MPI mention on an earlier episode (Episode 131)
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Cloud-9 - http://www.cloud9tech.com/
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Texas Instruments TI58 & TI59 calculators coverage on an earlier episode (Episode 3)
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TI58/59 battery pack mod from Bob Wolfson
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2.4A power adapter for Atari XL/XE - https://www.8bitclassics.com/product/atari-xl-xe-2-4a-amp-power-adapter/
Upcoming Shows
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The 32nd Annual “Last” Chicago CoCoFEST! - May 4-5, 2024 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago-Carol Stream (Wheaton), Carol Stream, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/
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The Festival of Portable Computing - May 18-19 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72231/The-Festival-of-Portable-Computing-18th-19th-May-2024/
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CorgsCon (Columbus Ohio Retro Gaming Society) - June 1 - Kasich Hall – Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, OH - https://www.corgscon.com/
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Game Not Over 2024 - June 8-9 - Dunstall Park Racecourse in Wolverhampton, U.K. - https://retro.directory/browse/events/326-game-not-over-2024
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VCF Southwest - June 14-16, 2024 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/
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Boatfest Retro Computer Expo - June 14-16 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info
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Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 22 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html
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Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 22-23 - Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start
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Kickstart Amiga UK Expo - June 29-30 - Nottingham, UK - https://www.amigashow.com/
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KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 16-21 (in-person), July 27-28 (virtual) - University of Illinois in Springfield, IL - https://www.kansasfest.org/
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Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 19-21, 2024 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/
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Nottingham Video Game Expo - July 20-21 - The Belgrave Rooms, Nottingham, U.K. - https://www.nottsvge.com/
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Fujiama - July 23-28 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2024/
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Vintage Computer Festival West - August 2-3 - Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west/
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VCF Midwest - September 7-8 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/
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VCF Europe - September 7-8 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/
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Portland Retro Gaming Expo - September 27-29 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/
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Tandy Assembly - September 27-29 - Courtyard by Marriott Springfield - Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/
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AmiWest - October 25-27 - Sacramento, CA - https://amiwest.net/
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Chicago TI International World Faire - October 26 - Evanston Public Library (Falcon Room, 303), Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/
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Retro Computer Festival 2024 - November 9-10 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72253/Retro-Computer-Festival-2024-Saturday-9th-November/
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Schedule Published on Floppy Days Website - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/current-year-vintage-computer-show-schedule
Interview with Hans Franke