On Saturday, February 19 2022 I posted the first Goto 10 article. It’s hard for me to believe, but it is already one year later!

Here’s how Goto 10 came about. Retrocomputing had been a hobby of mine for many years, but I found things moved in spurts.

In the summer of 2019 my Dad gave me his Atari 800XL collection that had been gathering dust. I set it up here, but didn’t do a lot with it. I like having it in my office, though. It made me happy to see it there and a quick game of Joust was always fun.

Then in the summer of 2021 I got the bug to re-acquire an Atari ST. I started doing research and searching and eventually found a 1040ST in late August. And then another one in October.

I enjoyed cleaning them up and getting them working, but I realized I wanted to revisit and share more of these experiences.

In fall 2021 I started writing an outline for what I thought could be a short book about how I got started in computing. I banged out about 8,000 words across about 40 pages pretty quickly, but set it aside.

In January 2022 I started a music Substack, called Bang Your Head. After about a month I liked using Substack so much that I realized it could be a great way to share my love for retrocomputing.

After brainstorming a name, I set up the Goto 10 Substack on Saturday, Feb 19. My first post was the first chapter from the “book” outline I had written back in the fall. The first subscribers were my wife, 2 kids and my Dad.

I continued posting things from that outline, but also realized I had other things I wanted to write about. Things grew from there.

In the Summer I decided to turn on paid subscriptions for Goto 10, something that Substack makes really easy. I got my first paid subscription in August and as of today now have 31 paid subscribers. Thank you all so much!

Goto 10 itself has now reached over 1,450 regular subscribers and continues to grow at a steady pace.

If you’re new to Goto 10, here’s the deal: I write one free post each week which is posted on Friday (Free Friday).

I write another post which is posted on Monday. This is a paid post, but it is sent to as a preview to free subscribers. I hope some of you enjoy the free Friday content and the Monday previews enough that you will consider becoming a paid subscriber to get extra content and help support my work.

To make that easier, it’s time for an Anniversary Sale! For the next 30 days, you can get a Goto 10 paid yearly subscription for 20% off the regular price: That’s about $40, which is a savings of around $10. That’s less than what a magazine subscription would have cost back in the 80s!

Also, if you have retro computing equipment you’d like to see get written about here on Goto 10, I do accept donations. If your donation is accepted, you’ll get a 1-year Goto 10 paid subscription.

Thanks again to all my subscribers. I truly appreciate every one of you. If you have suggestions for topics, please get in touch: goto10@substack.com