• 5150,  ibm,  pc,  retro computing,  vintage

    IBM PC Model 5150 Retrospective and Unboxing

    June 13, 2025 /

    On August 12, 1981, IBM entered the Personal Computer (PC) market with the launch of the IBM PC Model 5150. Not to be confused with IBM’s 5100 microcomputer, the PC Model 5150 was powered by the Intel 8088 CPU, and becoming the basis for all of the x86 PC compatible computers that came after it. As and enduring testament to the 5150’s influence on the technology landscape, PCs x86 PCs, powered by Intel and AMD CPUs are direct descendants of IBM’s first PC.

    My first experience with the IBM PC was in the mid-1980s. Somewhere between 1985 and 1987, my parents bought a PC to help run their small business. In that same time period, I had already been introduced to the Apple IIe in the spring of 1984, gotten my first computer, the Apple II+ clone the V-Tech Laser 3000, and was learning how the guts of my second hand Apple IIe worked. The Apple IIe and the IBM 5150 looked very different on the outside, but both used command line interfaces, 5.25″ floppy disks, and clicky-clacky keyboards. I also remember, but the details are a bit fuzzy, my parents PC being upgraded at least once they had it. I clearly remember a RAM expansion card being installed and learning how to install the business specific software on a hard drive. This is where things get fuzzy, I don’t recall if they upgraded the parts inside or upgraded to the similarly styled IBM Model 5160. Regardless, the important thing was that the password to install the insurance illustration software was “apple” and I’m taking full credit for having guessed “Apple is awesome”. But, I digress, so back to the IBM 5150.

    Unlike other business computers, IBM changed its approach to build a home machine that could compete with offerings from Apple, Commodore, and Tandy. To keep costs down, and get a product to market sooner, Ron Mion, a Senior Business Trends Advisor, recommended that the 5150 be built with commodity off the shelf parts and license and existing operating system. Rather than designing everything from scratch, IBM chose to purchase existing parts from vendors and make sure that their PC could run Digital Research’s CM/P operating system as well as Microsoft’s MS-DOS.

    Back in July 1981, Byte Magazine Editor in Chief, Chris Morgan, wrote of the rumored specifications of IBM’s unannounced entrant into the home computing market. “The computer (code-named “Chess”) looks like IBM’s low-cost ASCII terminal[.] The keyboard, designed as a separate module, has received high marks from people who have tested it. The computer uses and Intel 8088 microprocessor (a 16-bit processor with an 8-bit data bus)[.] There are five slots on the motherboard – à la Apple II – to accommodate additional interface, memory, and peripheral boards.” The more things change, the more they stay the same, and that includes computer rumors too.

    Phil Lemmons was handed the first impressions assignment for Byte Magazine for the October 1981 issue. The base configuration of the Model 5150 came with the PC chassis, which held inside the Intel 8088 CPU, 16KB of user RAM, a 40KB ROM loaded with the Microsoft BASIC programming language, a speaker, a power on self-test, a combination video card and printer controller card, and empty space for up to two full height 160kb floppy drives that could be added later. The base configuration started at $1,565. The $3,005 option, the one most people would want to get, upgraded the RAM to 64kb and added a single floppy drive. If you wanted to go large, adding the second 160kb full height floppy drive, a color graphics adapter (CGA) and an IBM-badged Epson MX-80 dot matrix printer raised the price tag to $4,500. The 11.5″ IBM monochrome monitor was an extra $345.

    You always remember your first love, and for me, that is the Apple IIe. The IBM Model 5150 PC was interesting to me, and the keyboard felt great to type on, but I was consumed with learning as much as I could about the Apple’s computers. Several years later, when I got to high school, I needed to learn house to use a Radio Shack Tandy 1000XT computer. It ran MS-DOS 3.3. By that time, I was using the Apple IIgs, with it’s graphical interface running on GS/OS, but I also learned how to use the ProDOS operating system. This gave me the foundation to learn MS-DOS 3.3 and how PCs worked in general. By the early 1990s, when MS-DOS 6 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11 came around, getting the hang of PCs wasn’t all that different. Still, the look, the feel, and the sounds of my parent’s first PC never really left me. And so, when I saw one come up for sale on eBay, I bought one to add to my growing collection of vintage machines.

    So that brings us to today. I wanted to take on some new projects that would force me to learn how to solder and restore vintage computers like the Model 5150 and get it back into working order. Other hobbyist and tinkers are still developing new hardware and software that makes it possible to upgrade and extend the capabilities of that the 5150’s designers have ever imagined. And that is what keeps this hobby fun and interesting.

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  • lifestyle

    Happy Thanksgiving

    November 28, 2024 /


    May your Thanksgiving be full of peace, love, and joy!

    The year ending this past September has been a very difficult time for me. I am thankful for my family and friends who helped me get through it. I am so grateful for all of you. And pickleball! Who knew I’d be any good at a sport?! I didn’t! And it has become a great way to get out of the house, socialize, relieve stress, and exercise.

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  • apple,  apple music,  ios,  itunes,  macos

    Lyrics in Apple Music

    October 7, 2024 /

    Why is it, that in the Year of Our Lord 2024, there are songs and albums that I purchase from Apple that do not contain the lyrics to the songs I’m listening to. On Apple Music. On my iPhone 16 Pro Max.

    What. The. Heck?

    Here’s an example. I’ve been exploring Pat Monahan’s music, both his solo albums and his work in the band Train. He’s a very talented artist and song writer. Which is why I want to read the lyrics why the song is playing.

    I recently purchased Last of Seven, the Monahan solo rock album. It’s really good and there are several tracks on that record that speak to where I am in my life right now.

    When I play the song Someday in Apple Music in iOS 18, 18.0.1 specifically, the Lyrics button is dimmed out. No reading along. Absolutely no Alan Karaoke sessions going on while I’m cleaning the house.

    If I switch over to my Mac Studio, with macOS Sequoia 15, Apple Music (RIP iTunes), the situation is only marginally better. Apple Music on Mac doesn’t have the lyrics either. That makes sense because the song is coming from the same source: Apple. What you can do on the Mac, however, is add custom lyrics. This has been a feature of Apple Music, and iTunes before it, for years. The process is a like “jank,” as the kids say.

    1. Find the track in your Apple Music library on your Mac.
    2. Get Info (Command + i on your keyboard) to bring up the details.
    3. Switch to the Lyrics tab. Click the Custom Lyrics checkbox.
    4. Go to the web and search for the song lyrics.
    5. Copy the lyrics from an ad-infested sketchy website.
    6. Paste the lyrics into the Custom Lyrics box in Apple Music.
    7. Clean up any ad or tracking HTML code that was embedded in the page you copied.
    8. Click Ok to save your lyrics.
    9. Pray to the Goddess of Perpetual Maintenance that Apple actually syncs the changes.

    To be fair, for every Train track or album I have purchased to date, or any other major artist, the lyrics have been included. Well, mostly. I’m looking at you, Apple and Def Leppard. Why are the lyrics missing from Pour Some Sugar on Me from 2023’s Drastic Symphonies?!

    So, what do I want to happen? I would love Apple and the record companies to get their acts together. As an Apple One Premier customer, all song lyrics should be included. Period. That plan isn’t exactly cheap. Tim Cook loves his sweet services money. I would like to have lyrics. The same is true for purchases made in the iTunes Store app on iOS.

    But we know that Tim, Apple, and the record companies aren’t going to spend a minute on edge cases like this. So, my hope is that “Someday,” the Apple engineers working on the Apple Music app, not the service, will finally add an easy way to add lyrics to downloaded tracks on iPhone, Mac, and, yes, even the iPad. (The iPad Pro has great on-board speakers!)

    Someday.

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  • apple,  carplay,  honda

    Rough Road Ahead for Wireless CarPlay Upgrades

    February 10, 2024 /
    Photo Credit: Honda.com

    Last month, Honda announced that the company would make a dealer installed upgrade available for model year 2018 – 2022 Accord vehicles to add Apple’s wireless CarPlay feature. (The same upgrade adds support for wireless Android Auto also.) The cost of the upgrade kit will be $112 MSRP plus technician labor charges.

    This software only upgrade is great news for owners like me who have a 2019 Accord with wired CarPlay. I mean, a wire! In 2024! The struggle is real.

    To me, the press release announcing the upgrade kit is validation of what I had expected all along: the 2019 Honda Accord line of vehicles had all of the internal hardware that could have supported wireless CarPlay, but that Honda chose not to make the feature available. Whatever the internal decision making process might have been, a global pandemic, snarled computer chip production lines, and waitlists for a new Accord likely convinced Honda to change their thinking on older model upgrades.

    From the official press release, Honda states that “[t]his quick software update enables customers to leverage hardware already in their Honda vehicle to enjoy seamless connectivity through wireless Apple CarPlay” and that this upgrade is “a key strategy in pursuit of our goal to have zero environmental impact by 2050.”1

    Getting Ready for the Upgrade

    If you are reading this blog, you know I’m a computer nerd. You’re probably a computer nerd too. I have no idea about car people react to changes like this or how quickly the network of Honda dealers could roll out an upgrade like this. My Accord needed an oil change, so I called one of my local dealers and asked if they could do the oil change and the software upgrade at the same time. I was assured that the upgrade could be done, but that I should bring the car in during the week to avoid the Saturday rush. The cost of the software upgrade would be $120. I made the appointment for two days later.

    Service Day

    Potholes started appearing on the information superhighway when I arrived at my dealer. First, I was told that I needed to leave the car for the day as the software upgrade would take several hours because the update needed to be downloaded to the car via the satellite radio connection. That didn’t sound like a “quick software update” to me. Still, I really wanted wireless CarPlay in my Accord, so I agreed.

    After getting a ride to work, the dealer’s service center called me to tell me that the total cost of the upgrade would be $270! The price increase was due to the wireless CarPlay upgrade kit software license ($120) plus one hour of labor ($150). I asked if I could buy the upgrade kit and do it myself and was told that it was a dealer-only install option. I was annoyed, but the excitement and satisfaction of having CarPlay in my Accord overtook me and I approved the work.

    It Gets Worse

    About three hours later, I received another call from the dealer. Things were not good. I was told that the software upgrade was attempted on my Accord via a USB flash drive and that it had failed. The dealer called the Honda support center, and they weren’t able to resolve the issue either.

    Asking about the software upgrade process, I came to learn that this wasn’t a patch to CarPlay, but a full infotainment system OS upgrade to a newer version of Android Automotive – the software that many car manufacturers use in their infotainment systems. Android Automotive is able to “project” CarPlay and Android Auto (a completely separate CarPlay-like feature for Android smartphones) on the in-vehicle infotainment screen(s).

    It was the OS upgrade that crashed and couldn’t be restarted. In its current failure mode, the radio head unit was completely unresponsive and would not turn on. In computer terms, we call that “bricked”. None of the vehicle functions that use the infotainment system worked. No AM or FM radio. No satellite radio. No backup camera. No auxiliary input. No wired CarPlay. Obviously no wireless CarPlay. No iPhone charging. Nadda. In other words, “She’s dead, Jim.”

    This was not good. Seeing out the back window of a 2019 Accord is difficult and, in my opinion, really requires the assistance of a backup camera. Since they couldn’t get the radio head unit to respond to any maintenance commands and could not turn it on, the entire head unit needed to be replaced.

    Thankfully, it will only be about a week before the replacement service can be performed. I couldn’t help myself. I had to press the poor service department staffer harder. “This replacement head unit is going to come with the new Android Automotive software preinstalled so that I will have the wireless CarPlay feature, right?” We both knew that the service staffer couldn’t answer the question and that the head unit that would be pulled off an inventory warehouse shelf wasn’t going to have the upgrade.

    Furthermore, I was later told that it took three attempts to upgrade another compatible used Accord on the dealer’s lot and that Honda wanted all dealers to install the upgrade on every compatible used Honda Accord in inventory.

    Based on the headaches I caused the dealer’s service department crew; the general manager told me that he was shutting down all future upgrades and was not installing the software update on any other Accords in their inventory.

    So Now What?

    What this story reveals is that software is hard. It’s hard for nerds like us. It is harder still for service techs who aren’t properly trained on how to install and support the software. And it is absolutely disastrous for dealers and customers when the software is so poorly tested that it is bricking the entire infotainment system in such a way that Honda has to cover the cost of replacing them.

    For now, I am driving my Accord around and singing to myself. I’m also backing up carefully. Hopefully, the replacement part(s) will arrive at the dealer this week and we can schedule another full day of service to have the new unit installed in the car.

    I would have loved to have seen the documentation and the upgrade process, but the general manager wasn’t going to let me anywhere near any of the official upgrade materials.

    I will post a follow up when the issue is resolved. In the meantime, I need to get working on my singing voice.

    1. By 2050?! How many of the current automobile executives do you really think will still be working at Honda in 2050? Talk about kicking the can down the road. Environment?! It’s someone else’s problem. And that’s the problem – no one wants to take up this issue now. ↩︎
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  • atari

    Thank You x 2.3k!

    January 28, 2024 /

    I wanted to stop and thank all of you who watched the heck out of my Atari 2600+ video that I posted last month!

    You folks went absolutely nuts and pushed my view count up to 2.3k, which makes it my best watched video on my channel so far.

    I have been having a blast planning these old games and I have purchased many more since the video was released, brining my total cart count up to 32.

    I will have some more Atari content in the future so get subscribed and stay tuned for that.

    Until then, thanks for watching! 🙏🏻

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  • vision pro

    Apple Vision Pro Pre-Orders Start Today

    January 19, 2024 /

    At 8:00am this morning, Apple began taking pre-orders for the new Apple Vision Pro, their new mixed reality spatial computer. Worn over your face, Vision Pro is able to add Apple software into your environment while allowing you to also interact with your environment and the people in it. Unlike a Mac that uses a mouse or an iPhone that uses touch, Vision Pro is controlled with your eyes, hand gestures, and your voice.

    Rather than try to explain it, you can now visit the new Vision Pro Guided Tour website.

    The pre-order process was pretty smooth. Unlike this past September’s iPhone 15 launch, I was able to get my pre-order in pretty quickly. The iOS Apple Store app promptly opened at 8:00am ET, I was able to pick my SKU, enter information about my eyeglasses prescription, and set the location, date, and time for my in store fitting and pick up. The whole thing was over in just about five minutes.

    So, what did I get you ask?

    After my Mac Studio with Studio Display setup, the Apple Vision Pro is the second most expensive piece of gear that I’ve purchased. To keep costs as reasonable as possible, I chose the least expensive Vision Pro possible: the 256GB storage model. I also told myself that I wasn’t going to buy the rumored OLED iPad Pro this year because I was buying Vision Pro. I choose the 256GB model based on the storage usage on my iPhone. If I end up taking a lot of spatial videos, I’ll have to offload some of them if I start to run low on space.

    There are other accessories that you might want to consider if you are thinking about buying an Apple Vision Pro. I also purchased the $49 Belkin battery clip – mostly because I’m an idiot – but I wanted to make sure that I didn’t catch the power cable on something. You can also purchase a $199 backup battery. Keep in mind, that the most optimistic runtime for Vision Pro is 2.5-hours. If you are going to be traveling on a plane and what to use Vision Pro, you might want to get a second battery. Me? I’ll risk it for now. The final accessory that will likely be a popular one, and one frankly, I feel should have been included in the box, is the $199 Travel Case. I haven’t purchased it yet, but I have a feeling come Feb. 9, I’ll end up buying it in the store.

    I know that I said I wasn’t going to buy one of these, but a have to say, the FOMO is real.

    Congratulations to everyone else who bought a Vision Pro with me today. I hope we really enjoy it!

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