Stone Tools

I spent some time getting to know Superbase on the C64. While using it, I was revisited by a ghost from the past who tried to make trouble for me. When all hope was lost, with the power of BASIC, I overcame my enemy. Intrigued to know more? Read on!
#retrocomputing #stonetools #superbase #c64

Superbase on the Commodore 64 In the 70s and 80s, the "office of the future" remained tantalizingly close, ever slightly out of reach, but definitely almost here. I'll commandeer the family C64 and rebuild my business into a "pape...

🪨🛠️ "Superbase on the Commodore 64"

Dreaming of a "paperless office?" You'll need a database to make it happen. Superbase promises to help you ditch those antiquated filing cabinets. If only the manual would explain how.
stonetools.ghost.io/superbase-c64

#RetroComputing #Superbase #Databases #C64

Would love to get my hands on a dedicated system like that.

v1.0.0 has been released!

#vintagecomputing #retrocomputing

github.com/twvd/snow/re...

YouTube video by This Week in Retro Commodore Datasette But Tiny - This Week In Retro 235

What a delightful surprise. My new blog, @stonetoolsblog.bsky.social, seems to mark a tipping point, earning a lengthy discussion of my full body of retro-related works in the latest @thisweekinretro.bsky.social

I am, apparently, "Someone you should know"🙇
#retrocomputing.

youtu.be/UHYscl1Ayqg?...

Electric Pencil on the TRS-80 A disillusioned filmmaker turned beach bum turned a hobby project into millions by creating the first word processor for home computers. His creation was so compelling a jewelry salesman reinvented hi...

🪨🛠️ New Post: "Electric Pencil on the TRS-80"

This time, I examine the first word processor for home computers, Electric Pencil, which worked best if you weren't afraid to break out a soldering iron.
stonetools.ghost.io/electricpencil-trs80

#RetroComputing #ElectricPencil #WordProcessing #TRS80

Jason reports fresh off the weekend of Vintage Computer Festival Midwest 20, full of classic tech, This Week in Retro viewers, and distinctive hairstyles. All this and more including your nominations for the unsung heroes of retro, coming in episode 236 this Saturday!

On iOS mobile Safari shows the banner, mobile Firefox does not. Strange.

Yeah, I see that myself. When did that stop working, I wonder

That's the site banner, not the article image. The site will cover many systems and I needed a visual stand-in for "old computers" for now. I'm working on developing a better site image that conveys the breadth. I'm a blogging newbie and hadn't realized the post vs. image disconnect this would make.

Deluxe Paint on the Commodore Amiga Back when EA was cool, they packaged their software in album-style sleeves and promoted their developers like rock stars. I was a Dan Silva groupie.

🪨🛠️ New Post is Up!
2025 is the 40th birthday of the Commodore Amiga. It is *also* the 40th birthday of Deluxe Paint. Our first retrospective examines this classic hardware/software combo.
#RetroComputing #SoftwareArchaeology #Amiga #DeluxePaint #StoneTools
stonetools.ghost.io/deluxepaint-amiga/

Futura Extra Bold Condensed

A dense Utopian Scholastic style ad for geoCalc, claiming Berkeley Softworks (creators of GEOS) rely on their own software for payables, receivables, taxes, budgets, and projections. Insets include the boxed software itself (depicting a desk), a spreadsheet showing Berkeley Softworks' own operating expenses, and a tiny order info section.

"We're selling the one thing we count on every day."

In this William Geise illustrated ad, the title "Computer Graphics" appears up top, being cast from a giant Apple II monitor on an iceburg; the casts are a gradiant from purple to orange to yellow to green to blue to purple again, hewing towards neon tones. From the tan Amdek monitor flies a red biplane, a parachuting penguin, and a leaping unicorn; dolphins jump from the ice into the monitor. Around the iceberg, a sea otter peeks up, a penguin tap-dances, and a whale tale lifts a unicorn on a floe. The monitor is sitting on a giant Apple II. Down below, breathless text describes three different programming packages: "For the artist: Special Effects by David Lubar and Mark Pelezarski. Paint on your computer in over 100 colors with 96 different brushes!" "For the designer: The Complete Graphics System II by Mark Pelezarski. Everythign needed for computer-aided design." "For the programmer: The Graphics Magician by Mark Pelezarski, David Lubar, and Chris Joehumson. Add fast, smooth animation and hundreds of pictures to your programs." In the bottom left, the penguin software logo appears next to ordering information, with a sunfish floating to its left; at the very bottom it says, "All Penguin applications products are now on unprotected disks for your convenience."

COMPUTER GRPAHICS

Above, the headline "Word Processing Has Never Been Simpler." Below, a picture of a young girl dutifully typing at her computer, while her proud parents watch, set before a monochrome CRT. Below, bullet points of features ("Document chaining allows you to print documents of unlimited length", "Highlighting of text", "Upper and lowercase without additional hardware"), below the Bank Street Writer logo. The slogan: "The First Word Processor For The Entire Family." The logo of Broderbund Software, three abstract crowns, appears at page bottom.

WORD PROCESSING HAS NEVER BEEN SIMPLER

DOS productivity tools are absolutely on my to-do list for the site. Good to know about the PDF option in DOSBox 👍 Thank you for sharing your setup! (jealous of the keyboard!)

The internal operating system of the Fujitsu FM TOWNS computer. A few windows are open; one shows the disk drives and one shows the contents of the physical CD-ROM inserted into it.

We were cooked the moment operating system UIs stopped shipping looking like this

Introducing “Stone Tools” A blog about the productivity software of the 8/16-bit era. No games, just work.

We’re live! 🪨🛠️ Stone Tools soft-launch today, with the first proper post coming later this week. If you think retro-computing means more than just games, you’re in the right place.
#RetroComputing #ComputerHistory #OfficeOfTheFuture #SoftwareArchaeology #StoneTools
stonetools.ghost.io/introducing/