February 2, 2005

It definitely seems that the number of vintage / retro computing fans out there is increasing. I suppose kids that were lusting after the latest and greatest hardware back in the days of the Apple II, Commodore 64, and Atari 800 now have careers and a bit of disposable income to spend on "dream hardware" they could never convince their parents to buy back in the day. One indication of the active fanbase out there is the yearly gathering known as the Vintage Computer Festival. As they, themselves, describe it:

"The Vintage Computer Festival is an international event that celebrates the history of computing.

The mission of the Vintage Computer Festival is to promote the preservation of "obsolete" computers by offering people a chance to experience the technologies, people and stories that embody the remarkable tale of the computer revolution.

Through our event and the Vintage Computer Festival Archives—our publicly accessible archive of computer hardware, software, literature and ephemera—we promote interest in researching and documenting the history of the computer. Above all, we promote the fun of playing with old computers."

The most recent Festival, version 7.0, took place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA on November 6th and 7th of 2004. I thought readers might be interested in browsing a few photo archives of the gathering, so that those who did not attend (myself included) can taste the spirit of the event:

• http://www.floodgap.com/retrobits/guests/robert/
• http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/bill/photos/vcf70/
• http://www.portcommodore.com/vcf7/
• http://bill.wards.net/blosxom/computers/commodore/vcf7.html

Posted by blakespot at February 2, 2005 7:09 AM | TrackBack