Describing himself as an amateur computer historian, Savetz says that he’s scanned “tens of thousands of pages of computer magazines, newsletters, and catalogs” over the years, and also co-hosts ANTIC: The Atari 8-Bit Podcast, conducting hundreds of interviews with the people involved in the company.
Browsing through the catalog is a fascinating glimpse into NeXT’s software, user interface, peripherals, and more. What’s striking about the software is how familiar it looks to Apple users. NeXT, Savetz says, was a particularly interesting company, because it “came at a pivotal time, and although it wasn’t a commercial success,” its hardware and interface ultimately led to the modern products that Apple now ships. “Plus, the machines were just so cool looking.”
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
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