Click here to go to the main VCF Web Site!
October 25-26, 1997
Alameda County Fairgrounds
Pleasanton, California
The
Vintage Computer Festival (VCF) is an event held to celebrate computers
and their history.
The main mission of the Vintage Computer Festival is to promote the
preservation of "obsolete" computers by offering attendees a
chance to experience the technologies, people and stories that embody the
remarkable tale of the computer revolution.
Meet other collectors to trade tips, stories and even computers, hear
talks by notable computer industry figures, attend workshops geared towards
the vintage computer collector, visit the on-site interactive vintage computer
exhibition. Two days of celebrating the science and technology of our diverse
computer heritage!
Event Highlights
Guest Speakers
- Bill Fernandez
- Apple Computer Employee #4
- Kip Crosby -
Executive Director, Computer History Association of California
- Marvin Johnston
- Santa Barbara and the Microcomputer Revolution
- Stephen Stone
- "The Life and Times of Kaypro Computers"
- Edwin El-Kareh
- “How the Architecture of Vintage Electromechanical Computers Still Strongly
Influences the Design of Today’s Computers”
- James Willing
- Information Sharing for the Masses: The Beginning of the BBS
- Lincoln Spector
- Author of the popular computer humor column "Gigglebytes" and
Contributing Editor to PC World
- Lee Felsenstein - Industry legend and creator of the Sol-20 and Osborne 1
Check out the speaker schedule.
Panel Discussion
- Why do we collect? A panel of speakers will discuss the reasons
behind the desire to collect and preserve old computers.
Vintage Computer Spotlight
Each year a classic computer is chosen to be featured in the Vintage
Computer Spotlight. This year, being the 20th anniversary of the Apple
][, what else but the Apple ][ will be featured.
What's more, each year's Vintage Computer Spotlight subject will be
the grand-prize of the end-of-show drawing.
All attendees will
be automatically entered to win this year's Spotlight computer...
an original Apple
][ with Integer BASIC ROMs!
Workshops
A panel of vintage computer collectors will give talks on topics relating
to the hobby of classic computer collecting. Discussions will include:
- Restoration and preservation of old computers - external and internal
cleaning tips and techniques; basic electronic repair tips; storage procedures
for the long haul
- Software preservation with a focus on storage tips and techniques for
the long haul
- Computer Collecting 101 - basic computing skills including operation,
disk formats, serial communcations basics, how to recognize computers and
their peripherals
Workshop Speakers
- Douglas Coward
- Software Preservation: An Overview
- Bruce Lane -
"The Care and Feeding of MicroVAXen"
- Edwin El-Kareh
- “How the Computer History Association of California (CHAC) performs Excavation,
Conservation, Preservation, Renovation and Fenestration on Vintage Computers.”
Check out the speaker schedule.
Vintage Computer Exhibition
A hands-on, interactive museum featuring many examples
of classic computing machinery through the years. The exhibit is composed
of artifacts on loan from the collections of organizations and individuals,
and will span the course of decades from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Check out a list
of some of the machines that will be on display!
Vintage Computer Festival Flea Market
A swap-meet style vending area where attendees can shop for old, in
some cases antique computers, peripherals, documentation and software.
Some of what you'll find at the Vintage Computer Festival Flea Market include:
- Vintage computers (micro's, mini's, mainframe's?) and peripherals
- Vintage software
- Vintage parts including cases, racks, power supplies, electronic components,
etc.
- Data storage media suitable for classic computers
- Classic manuals, books, magazines and other literature
- Classic video game systems
- Classic video game carthridges, cassettes, diskettes, etc.
All items will be a minimum of 10 years old. No modern day PC clones
here...just good old classic computers!
Click here to request information
about reserving a vending booth at the VCF.
Where and When
Admission
Daily
- Admission to exhibit and flea market only - $10.00 at the door
- Admission to speakers, exhibit and flea market - $16.00 at the door
- Parking extra
Click here for hotel information.
Click
this for a list of links to a plethora of interesting online vintage
computer museums and resources!
For more information, check back to this web page, or contact Sam
Ismail at <vcf@siconic.com>.
The official press
release is online too!