Floppy Days 105 - Interview with Joe Decuir about the Amiga

Floppy Days 105 - Joe Decuir - Developing the Amiga

Hello, and welcome to another interview edition of the Floppy Days Podcast for July, 2021.  I am Randy Kindig.  I am extremely honored to bring to you today an interview with one of the true pioneers of the personal computer, one of the designers of the Amiga 1000, a primary designer of the Atari 8-bit line and Atari 2600, and the developer of modern USB based on his work developing the SIO port for the Atari 8-bit: Mr. Joe Decuir.

I’ve interviewed Joe for Floppy Days before, but that was about his amazing work on the Atari 8-bit line.  Joe was able to provide a lot of history around the development of the Atari 8-bits for the shows where I was covering the 400 and 800 computers.

The majority of this interview is around the work he did on the Amiga.  Joe worked closely with Jay Miner and others to design a computer in the days when personal computers were just in their infancy.  Joe shares with us the thoughts and reasoning that went into the design of the Amiga 1000  and thus brings all of us a little closer to being a part of an amazing time in computer history.  Joe also mixes in some Atari 8-bit and Atari 2600 information, talks about the Apple II, has a story involving the TI-99 and numerous other tidbits.

Before diving into the interview, I will cover a few of the new acquisitions that have been added to my ever-growing vintage computer and modern upgrades collection.

I had a great time, as always, talking with Joe and learning more about what it was like back in the 70’s and 80’s as a developer of some of the most incredible hardware developed up to that time.  Please enjoy!

Links:

• Amiga .5MB upgrade - https://www.ebay.com/itm/274483642683 
• AmigaSD - ozkanocakli at gmail.com - https://www.vintageisthenewold.com/sdcard-interface-for-the-commodore-amiga 
• Amiga Addict Magazine - https://www.amiga-addict.com/ 
• Upcoming Shows
• • VCF West August 7 & 8, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival West , The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA 
  • VCFSE Aug 20-22 - https://gameatl.com/vintage-computing-festival-southeast-8-0-at-sfge/ or http://southernfriedgameroomexpo.com/ , Atlanta, GA
  • VCF Midwest Sep 11-12 - http://vcfmw.org/announce , Elmhurst, IL (Chicago) 
  • Tandy Assembly October 1-3 in Springfield Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ 
  • VCF East October 8, 9, 10, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival East , Wall NJ
  • Commodore Los Angeles Super Show (CLASS) November 6-7, Burbank, CA - http://www.portcommodore.com/class