Apple /// luminaries Wendell Sander and Dave Ottalini will join us at KansasFest. They will present at the virtual event on July 29-30 with question/answer time. Registration is open now for this rare gathering of expertise on early Apple computers. Individuals attending in Kansas City receive complimentary registration for the virtual event.
Dr. Sander was an electrical engineer and scientist at Apple Computer. Sander met Jobs in 1976 while demonstrating a game for the Apple I. As Apple’s 16th employee, Sander worked on a single chip floppy disk controller known as the Integrated Woz Machine (IWM) and led the Apple /// project. He is known as the “Father of the Apple ///”, and Apple internally called the project “Sara” named after Sander’s daughter. Sander had a long career in technology, engineering, and semiconductor research, including work on modern iPods and iPhones, with over 100 patents.
Dave Ottalini served as the chair of the Washington Apple Pi Apple /// Special Interest Group from 1986, an organization actively supporting the Apple /// community with public domain software and information—for years after the Apple /// was discontinued, helping the community continue to use their machines productively. The /// SIG even commissioned a significant operating system upgrade in the 1990s. The efforts of the /// SIG (and of Dave primarily) culminated in the WAP Apple /// DVD, with hundreds of public domain disk images, videos, technical documents, message board archives. Dave has long championed the Apple ///, and continues to contribute to discussions in online Apple /// forums.
KansasFest invites any and all Apple II and /// users, fans, and friends to attend the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference. For photos, videos, schedules, and presentations from past year’s events or to sign up for the email list and for inquiries, please visit the event’s Web site.