# Floppy Days 164 - The Sphere, Part 1 with Ben Zotto

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/floppy-days-vintage-computing-podcast-167763/floppy-days-164-the-sphere-part-1-with-ben-zotto
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/floppy-days-vintage-computing-podcast-167763/floppy-days-164-the-sphere-part-1-with-ben-zotto.md
Podcast: [Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/floppy-days-vintage-computing-podcast-167763)
Published: 2026-06-29T21:05:00+00:00
Episode link: https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-164-the-sphere-part-1-with-ben-zotto
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/floppydays/164FloppyDays_2026_06_The_Sphere_Part_1_with_Ben_Zotto.mp3?dest-id=130236
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/floppy-days-vintage-computing-podcast-167763/episodes/floppy-days-164-the-sphere-part-1-with-ben-zotto
Duration seconds: 4671

## Resource

Floppy Days 164 - The Sphere, Part 1 with Ben Zotto Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics Arcade Shopper and https://thekeep.net FutureVision Research Tuc's Workbench Hello!!! and welcome to episode 164 of the Floppy Days Podcast, for June, 2026. My name is Randy Kindig and I'm your host for this joy ride through the rewarding hobby of vintage computers and computer history. I have to start off by apologizing, as I'll actually be stepping back in the computer timeline for this episode. Sometimes it happens. My goal from the beginning of this podcast was to go through computers in the approximate order they were released (at least by year). And, I've largely done that with this podcast. However, sometimes a machine comes up that I didn't know about or didn't recognize its importance at the time I put together the list of computers to cover. This month that computer is the Sphere, which was introduced in 1975. That's right, I said 1975. That was the same year as the Altair and even before the Apple 1. What was the Sphere and why do we care? The Sphere was the first "personal computer," defined as such by Byte Magazine due to its consumer focus and built-in keyboard and monitor. Now, I know that many computers can claim the moniker of first "personal computer", and rightly so, but this one has the endorsement of an early, well-respected, long-running computer magazine and they have good reason for feeling this way about the Sphere. Once you hear the details, you'll see just how ground-breaking this machine was at a very early period of computer history. Not only that, some of the personal stories behind the machine are simply downright fascinating. Ben Zotto is the undisputed expert on the Sphere in these times, after finding an abandoned ma…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/floppy-days-vintage-computing-podcast-167763/episodes/floppy-days-164-the-sphere-part-1-with-ben-zotto/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/floppy-days-vintage-computing-podcast-167763/floppy-days-164-the-sphere-part-1-with-ben-zotto.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.