Reading List
The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.
How to get fossil Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A
Sinners in IMAX: The best horror movie of 2025 is back in theaters
This guy spent the night in the Silent Hill 2 remake in VR
Kickstarter Campaign for Ben Zotto’s ‘Go Computer Now!’, a Book on Sphere, the Nearly Forgotten Personal Computer Company
Ben Zotto:
Name every pioneering personal computer you can think of from the 1970s. The MITS Altair 8800. The Apple-1. The IMSAI 8080. You may even know about the SWTPC 6800 or Processor Technology Sol-20.
There’s a computer missing from that list, and it’s an important one: Sphere Corporation’s Sphere 1. While far ahead of its competitors in 1975 in what it delivered as an all-in-one PC, Sphere’s manufacturing operations and cash flow lagged immediately behind. The company collapsed so quickly that it was nearly erased from the collective memory of that period.
But I know about Sphere. So does Bill Gates! And it just might have sparked a few ideas in Steve Wozniak — though not as many as Sphere’s founder later claimed.
I have a story to tell about this remarkable Utah-based company, one that fills in the gaps in other histories of the era, and puts Sphere in the context of the computers we have heard about again and again for a half century. I want to tell you why Sphere was important and worth remembering — and explain why they were forgotten. While first to market with some important technologies, “firsts” are not as interesting as how their visionary, imperfect founder could see around corners. His reach far exceeded his grasp, leading to his early exit and the company’s quick downfall.
I’ll admit that before I encountered this Kickstarter campaign (via Glenn Fleishman, who edited the book), I can’t recall ever even hearing about Sphere. Count me in as a backer.
How To Join ICE
As Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeks to increase its presence across the country, the agency is actively recruiting new agents to carry out the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. The Onion breaks down how to join ICE. STEP 1 Be born with something just…missing STEP 2 Try deporting a few neighbors without the constitutional authority […]
The post How To Join ICE appeared first on The Onion.