13 Nov 2022

Franklin Wordmaster Electronic Dictionary Demystified!

Dictionaries, Vintage Equipment
WM-1000 I recently came across a Franklin Computer Wordmaster WM-1000 handheld dictionary, thesaurus, and spelling corrector device at a local thrift store. Having an interest in vintage electronics, I picked it up for $9.99 (USD) and took it home, where it sat for a few weeks before I finally decided to check it out. On first inspection, I could see the device was in really good shape with little wear and tear on the case. When I first opened the battery case, I found four AA batteries in a very corroded state. It was pretty obvious that someone set this…
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20 Feb 2022

Commodore Minuteman 3 Calculator

Calculators, Vintage Equipment
MM3 While I do not remember Commodore calculators as a kid, my first computer was a Commodore VIC-20. I loved my VIC-20 but quickly outgrew it. Eventually, my parents got me a Commodore 64 for Christmas. The 38,911 bytes available on my C64 was more than 10 times(!) what I had at my disposal on my VIC-20, which topped the digital scales at 3,583 (usable) bytes. I loved my Commodores and I spent countless hours writing software in both BASIC and assembly as well as playing countless video games. My love for retro computing is still with me today. I…
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