Uploaded December 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Sometimes fun to talk to CEOs, and sometimes fun to talk to the people in the trenches. This is an interview from the trenches. Kent Smith was an Atari customer service/technical support rep for the Atari 400/800 from 1982-1984. I interviewed him on September 19, 2014 via Skype.
The videotape that he mentions at the end of the interview -- you'll want to watch that too, for a look at life in some of the Atari offices around Christmas 1981.
Atari Christmas 1981 Video: youtu.be/q3IP4d46zsM
Or at Internet Archive: archive.org/details/AtariChristmas1981
Sometimes fun to talk to CEOs, and sometimes fun to talk to the people in the trenches. This is an interview from the trenches. Kent Smith was an Atari customer service/technical support rep for the Atari 400/800 from 1982-1984. I interviewed him on September 19, 2014 via Skype.
The videotape that he mentions at the end of the interview -- you'll want to watch that too, for a look at life in some of the Atari offices around Christmas 1981.
Atari Christmas 1981 Video: youtu.be/q3IP4d46zsM
Or at Internet Archive: archive.org/details/AtariChristmas1981




![Mary Eisenhart, MicroTimes magazine editor — interview
Mary Eisenhart, MicroTimes magazine
Mary Eisenhart was editor of MicroTimes magazine, a free, advertising-supported magazine that was distributed in California. The first issue was May 1984, and Mary remained at the magazine until 1998, producing more than 180 issues. MicroTimes provided interviews, computer industry news, rumors, and columns, and - of course - advertising. For most of its run, there were two editions of each issue: Northern California and Southern California.
When she left MicroTimes, Mary took with her a copy or two of every issue, which years later were scanned by Internet Archive. The almost-complete collection is now online, full-text searchable, where they can be read online or downloaded.
As a young teenager growing up in Southern California, I read MicroTimes whenever I could find it, usually in record stores. It was a great computer magazine, with the huge bonus that it was free. When I graduated college in Northern California, I wrote for MicroTimes as often as possible (Mary was my editor.) The $200 per article paychecks were the start of my freelance writing career.
Mary and I didnt talk too much about Atari in this interview, but rest assured there was plenty of material of interest to Atari lovers in MicroTimes. For instance, issue 1 has Marys interview with Jon Freeman and Anne Westfall, creators of Archon. A 1985 cover article features The People Behind The Print Shop — and there was a long-running Atari ST column written by Helmi Kobler.
This interview took place on November 25, 2024.
MicroTimes at Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/microtimes?sort=date
[NEEDED for scanning: Volume 2 Number 12, most of Volume 3]
Marys web site: http://www.yoyow.com/marye/default.html
BAM Magazine in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAM_(magazine)
Hedy Lamarr issue:
https://archive.org/details/microtimesissue100unse_28/
Kays first published article: https://archive.org/details/microtimesissue100unse_37/page/178/mode/1up
Support Kays interviews on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/savetz Mary Eisenhart, MicroTimes magazine editor — interview](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oysXRGhQf0s/mqdefault.jpg)





