San Jose Mercury News, October 23, 1997

 

A Walk Down Nerdy Lane
Mike Cassidy

 

For a walk down nerdy lane, try a nostalgic blast from the computer's past

Sam Ismail never should have sold that Mattel Aquarius. It was his first computer, and he has yet to forgive himself. "This is very nerdy," Ismail, 26, says. "I have very few regrets in life, but that is one."

He was only a kid, and he was trading up to an Apple II+, but that's little comfort. The sale made him what he is today: an avid collector of old computers. He's proof that one person's paperweight is another's passion.

"I think a lot of it is nostalgia," says Ismail, a Livermore programmer. "A lot of people will go out and find the computer that they started on."

Ismail started slowly--about 20 vintage machines in 10 years. He found some Aquarius parts. Then, last spring, he found an online discussion group for collectors and went, well, nuts.

"I didn't realize that there were other people dumb enough to want to collect old computers. I thought it was just me."

He hit flea markets, garage sales and surplus stores. "I really mushroomed. I now have 200 computers."

And a very crowded garage. Keyboards, monitors and CPUs are stacked waist high. There are Apple IIs, IMSAI 8080s, Cromemco C-10s (no, you shouldn't necessarily have heard of all these), Texas Instruments 99/4As.

"I call it a mess," says Michele Ismail. She supports her husband's hobby but longs to park in the garage again.

Ismail blames it all on a passion that started when he began programming at 13. He lusted after the latest computers, which were not affordable then. So it's hard to resist when you spot an old flame for $10 at a flea market.

"I remember the first computer I really wanted was the Commodore Plus/4," he says. "That was the one that looked really sexy when you went into the store."

And Ismail sees a bigger point. The focus is always on the newest and the next. Few look back. "For me it's wanting to show other people, 'Hey, it wasn't always Wintel,'" he says.

So, he's arranged a Vintage Computer Festival this weekend, featuring workshops, a flea market and more than 100 old computers. Think of it as a classic car show for computers. Eventually, Ismail hopes it will become an annual, money-making event.

For now, it's enough that it will help him bury the memory of a little boy's Mattel Aquarius.