Vintage Computers At VCF 2023
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2024
- Okay... so we were killing time waiting for the room to open up for our TH-camrs Mega Talk, and so I took my little gimble and did a walk though of the vendors that were still setting up for the weekend. I got totally caught up in it all and lost track of time, holding up the whole conference. I ended up getting to the talk and the room was full up and everyone waiting for me. I guess this is why I stay in the Lab and never go out!
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At 10:24, The AT&T Unix PC. I was hired to work on it at Bell Labs in Holmdel, NJ (the Severance series building).
I saw a prototype with a cool, squishy silcone-filled touch screen, in 1986.
Two weeks before starting, the project (and the position) was cancelled. Too bad.
What could have been...
When looking at this, Fran said this is a "copy of the 2E"? What is that? (or did she say 2B?) Fran, perhaps you can enlighten us here, I'd like to learn more about what you know about these...love these machines!
Reminds me of the local computer shows I went to in the late 80's. Shareware and beyond.....Computing in its infancy. For those who experienced it, knows what I'm talking about. I worked part-time at Radio Shack during those decades. Most of the computers sold, were custom made for the customer. In short you sold it, built it, then demoed it before they took it home. It was a fun time.
did you ever hear of a DOS shareware called "Cash Control"?
@@haroldfarthington7492 No, I haven't.. But that was close to 40 years ago.
All my fav youtubers in one place 🤩spotted an ncommander at 11:46 and a sneak preview of usagi’s stand. Awesome, wish I was there Fran!
Thanks for taking us through, Fran! I also follow some of the other people who were there. I really wanted to go but it didn't work out this year. There's definitely something there for everyone to enjoy!
3:00 Those first-generation home VCRs were truly massive machines. Note it needed a separate flip-chart mechanical clock module on top for unattended timer recording. Good thing those big wooden console TV sets were popular - only type sturdy enough to place the unit on top.
3:55 I don't ever remember seeing a PET 2001 up close in person -- to truly appreciate how crazy small the keyboard really is.
4:24 Look like rolls of aluminized paper for early thermal printers. Does it go "stale" and unusable after many years?
5:20 The 7" CRT on the Osborne Executive represents a quantum leap forward for bi-focal spec wearers like me; from the 5" CRT on the original model.
The unit beside it with the 9" CRT looks very heavy. [ I recall a YT video featuring a true all-in-one luggable in the "extreme" category -- it had a printer built in. ]
5:58 I've never seen in person a tan case TI 994A. Only in ads featuring spokesman Bill Cosby that came out just as TI discontinued it.
I was watching for TI 99/4A and did not see the tan one. I still have mine. I built a desk and shelves to hold it and a VIC 20.
10:45 - The teletype that Usagi Electric needs/deserves. Will make the lab smell like 3-in-1 oil forever.
there was also a PDP system that might complement or give ideas for the PDP case based Digital system he is working towards building. I hope he saw what was there and maybe did a couple of deals / more contacts made
So cool. I remember working on some of that old stuff. Thanks for the walk through
Thank you for this Fran!
Just want to say thank you for making your thumbnail of this video a Quantel Paintbox!
This is pretty cool. I should look into this next year. I love old macs.
Great to see a tour - a trans-Atlantic flight to see VCF first-hand feels a bit much. Many thanks!
6:28 Sark sighting! Glad you made it, my friend!!!
Great tour of either a tech museum or a nerd cave. Reminds me of home.
13:06 Awesome a Timex Sinclair 2040 Printer - used 4.3-inch wide thermal paper 32 columns, worked with all Timex Sinclair Computer Models 1000, 1500, 2068
Timex Sinclair 1016 a 16K Memory Pack - this only worked with the Timex Sinclair Computer Models 1000 and 1500
At 6:05. An Ohio Scientific computer! Has a 6800, a Z-80, and it's primary, a 6502. It's OS was essentially a bunch of MS Basic utilities. My first computer job was on one of these, in a 4 ft. rack with a giant 400 Meg Fujitsu hard drive.
Brings back memories of the Trenton State Computer Faire here in Jersey. I had a Commodore Amiga 500 and I scored a 20 meg XT HD for 200 bucks. Thing was a beast! The lights in my room actually dimmed a bit when this thing was powered up. Cool thing was that the Mcguyver'd Amiga interface allowed the HD to format to 40megs in AmigoDos! Unfortunately, theHD started crashing 2 months later.
Good to.see a commodore Vic 20 and a 64 in there.
When I had my first home computer, a Sinclair spectrum, my best buddy had the Vic 20 and later 64 model.
I always thought the spectrum had the best games choice by far but the commodore models had the better graphics.
It certainly influenced my move to getting a Commodore Amiga 500 when they first came out.
Then it was a constant visit to 'vintage' computer fairs like this, trying to find the best prices for 3.5 blank discs.
I remember seeing boxes full of 'old' PC parts, for really cheap, they weren't that old at the time but they sure did quickly become obsolete in those early days of windows 3.1 to windows 95. 😲⚠️😳
Being only a bit over an hour away from Wall, I had every intention of going again this year. Unfortunately, work got backed up and I had to forgo. Hopefully next year. So much cool stuff to see and great people to meet.
Very cool. I was a Lab Tech in Junior High and I had to maintain the old Apple II series computers, as well as the odd Apple III and the old Macs and IBM Model 25 and 30 boxes. It was nice to see everything all out on display!
I still have an old IBM AT and a Compaq Suitcase of my own bombing around here somewhere.
I built an Altair 8800 from a kit in 1976. I also built the optional 4K byte RAM card. For saving and storing the Tiny BASIC programs, I built the audio modem for use with a tape recorder. For user I/O, I built the SWTP (Southwest Technical Products) "TV Typewriter" which was a standard QWERTY keyboard. I used a 9" Sony TV for the display. I sold it all in the early 1980s but I wish that I had kept it. It is quite collectible now. I was hoping to see one in the video but I didn't.
Probably the greatest thing I've seen on TH-cam in a loooooong time. thank you Fran!!!!
I used to go to these kinds of stuff swap meets in the late 80s and early 90s here in the Detroit area wow this brings back so many awesome memories thank you thank you Fran!!
I was a Mainframe dinosaur jockey but supported some PCs running a special OS for dial-up. The modems ran so hot their little rubber feet melted.
Dang it, I was This Close to Going on Friday, but my house on Friday did a SHTF Mode and the upstairs toilet did a line feed Leak, and Sunday House HVAC, the AC Stop working, YAY Early Heat Wave.. But I did make it on Saturday, but I did not see you..
Crazy price on that Pet!
Recently retired after 40-odd years in IT. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! It seems like I've worked with about half the stuff there. I learned assembler on a TRS-80 Model I back in the late 70's and that started me on a lifetime of computers.
Some of my first memories were of playing "Scarfman" on my Dad's TRS-80. It was like Pac-Man, but it was harder.
Thanks for the tour, lots of things I remember when they were new. I may even have the odd bit.
Nerd heaven. My favorite place❤
Wow!! A quantel paintbox!!!
Nice! 😍
That made me quite nostalgic.
Went to shows where that was then state of the art.
Still have the Apple //e gathering dust, not sure it would still fire up.
Remember once buying and add-on at one meeting that didn't fit, and managed to sell it at the next one with a profit :)
Thanks for the walk-around, Fran! I had a handful of those SGI and Sun machines you walked by. Had to e-waste them when our family of 5 rapidly downsized to a house a third smaller, and couldn't find anyone in the area who would like them. Wish I'd had a better option. I'd especially like to have that Octane back.
Some cool stuff
Fran I am an old Mainframe guy who worked his way thru the industry and had to re-learn computers over 7 imes during my career. one thing I noticed: lots of Macs and even a Apple /// or two (I owned 3 of them), but no ][ ][+ //e //c IIGS (though I did see a //c mini monitor minus the hooked stand (I still have one). Years ago I was an occasional writer for retro computer mags. Ah....those were the days.. thanks for sharing
Wow, I was just "discussing some vintage computing devices" online in a few places, and also I made mention of the Atari computers, which at this point, some may also refer to as being of the vintage variety. The Atari 8-bit and 16-bit computers, as I recall, were apparently very popular with many viewers of this channel, and we discussed them quite a while ago, in the comment section of one of your videos.
Thanks for publishing another interesting video, and Best Wishes to everyone, _John_ :)
If it’s older than 7 years it’s considered vintage in the electronics community, though in the antique world it’s at least 20 or 40 years depending on who you’re talking to
What a trove of cool stuff. As someone who's been in the computer game since the late 1970s it was great to see some "blast from the past" stuff. An Apple 1 but no Altair 8800 eh?
Way cool walk-thru Francesca...need I remind everyone that the Apple II had color, graphics, and sound in 1977, meanwhile Commodore was selling the Pet & Radio Shack- the TRS 80 & both were monochrome. The c64 was not released until 82. Rock on!
Don't forget that all those "extras" such as color, graphics and sound made the machine cost significantly more. That's why lower-end machines were, at least in the beginning, more popular. They were simply more affordable.
Hey Fran, it's autistic hyperfocus time again! There's indeed soooooooooo much stuff happening there. And more people babbling all at once to give me a sensory overload that'll end in another Chernobyl meltdown.
12:00 ha! I like him sooooo much, he's crazy and mighty passionate, it shows.
Core memory, a thing of beauty and a joy for ever.
I spy Action Retro's TAM... and of course it's running Doom! 😃
Ah, the Quantel Paintbox. That looks like it's an earlier model to the one I used to use back in the '90s. That 35mm film imager (can't remember what it's called) is a bit bigger than the one I had too. The rat was cool too. It looks like someone's hidden the pen though. Maybe to stop people creating immature doodles on the screen.
Very cool to have someone spot a Paintbox. What did you use in the 90s, a HAL, Editbox or maybe a Henry?
was there for 2 days. the guy let anyone draw if they showed interest. I think he just didnt want the rare pen stolen
my buddy spent 10 minutes drawing a game character with it , its surprisingly easy to use.he even printed out a instant photo print of it for us to keep.
@@DextersTechLab I started on Paintbox in 1992, we then tested out the Micro Henry, which was a cut-down and compressed version of Henry. Finally we upgraded to an Editbox Magnum in 1998. Which is currently in pieces in my Garage.
@@grimninja2004 Yes, the pens were expensive. The original ones were custom made by Quantel and had little velvet lined cases with spare nibs. Later, they switched over to using Wacom pens and tablets. The one thing that people today wouldn't appreciate is that they didn't have any undo function. You had to keep storing versions onto the disk, or into one of the two temportary buffers. It really made you concentrate on what you were doing.
@@Thebrainymonkey i would love to get a bit more information on the editbox and if you need any help or advice fixing it, your welcome to get in touch.
Thanks for your time
That reminds me of my first Amiga 600 and the distinct smell the computer shop had where I bought it.
Looks like my old basement!
Hmm, ended with some Heathkit H8's. I have one and did a similar mod to put it in a 19" rack case. Used it in college in the early '80s and it was near already obsolete.
Wish I kept the floppies, they are near impossible to find.
So many familiar faces. Wish I lived in a place where stuff like this happens :)
I guess the PDP 11s and the DG Novas have become Antique now instead of only Vintage. I saw a PDP switch panel, but that was it.
Very cool!
I feel young again looking at the the old electronics, especially the computers and keyboards that could double as a lethal weapon 😊❤️🌈✌️
Thank you.
Totally worth being late for, in my opinion. So much home computing history in that building! I figured we'd see icons like the TRS-80 and the Commodore64, and I even told myself that a Lisa was probably a stretch so I was looking out for a ][. A minute later, there's a Lisa and I'm giddy, but I was not expecting the Apple 1. 🤯 Thank you for taking the time to record all of that and thanks for sharing it with us. 💜
Thanks Fran!
07:28 Shows music video by New Order - True Faith (1987) at about 2 mins 36 secs in. Unforgettable and instantly recognisable. errr... to me anyway. I have a YT playlist called "Let's Get Surreal" and that vid is second up.
What? No Pinecone Computer?
Ohh what is the computer at 6:05 with the brown case, I recognize it looks from the 80´s we had one a the company i worked for, used for customer register and invoice computer any one know the inside stuff ?
How many space bars did you fumble? 😉
Why so few coverage? they all editing their vids?
Neuro-spicy represent 😆. That's we have waiting mode.
Ahh Fran, stop and show us the Osborne! (Fortunately you stopped to show us the Osborne.)
its like looking in a bald middle-aged man mirror
What is the model number of that tiny IBM laptop at 8:48?
IBM Palm Top PC 110
150-1? Isn’t that 149? :p
Tempus fugit.
What? No punch cards?
Shame the bay ruined hamfests and computer/electronics shows