Fifty Years of History with the Apple II - With a Forty Year Gap!

Explore a fascinating five-decade journey with the Apple II computer through the personal experiences of John Conrad in this conference talk from KansasFest 2025. Discover how Conrad's academic career at the University of Wisconsin intersected with early Apple II computing in 1978, leading him to develop "Ampergraph," a scientific plotting utility published through his company Madwest Software. Learn about his transition into educational software development, creating programs like "Spelling Bee and Reading Primer," "Counting Bee," and various educational games published by Edu-Ware Services while his young sons enjoyed Apple II arcade games. Follow the remarkable story of how, after a forty-year gap, Conrad returned to Apple II computing to share his educational games with his grandchildren, culminating in his 2025 Instructables.com project for creating USB game paddles and joysticks for Apple II emulators. Understand how this modern project led to an unexpected connection with Chris Torrence and ultimately resulted in Conrad's featured presentation at KansasFest, bridging decades of Apple II history and demonstrating the enduring appeal of this iconic computer platform.