14 May
2012
14 May
'12
8:14 p.m.
One of the more interesting exhibits for the general public was Ben
Greenfield's Handmade Computers. It was an assortment of old computer parts.
There were boards from a pre-IC missile guidance system. The plug-in boards
had transistors, diodes, resistors and capacitors. People could pick up
the boards the and look at them. This was popular with the kids.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-17B
He also had a vacuum tube storage device (William tube?) . There were
several other devices from the 1970 and 1980s plus old documentation. If you
open a modern electronic device you need a magnifier to see things.
Michael Holley
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
On Behalf Of Evan Koblentz
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 6:54 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: VCF East question
> More than 200 people bought tickets. Of them, I
estimate that about half
1/3 were in the hobby, 1/3 were general techies there to
reminisce, and 1/3
were families.
Thanks Evan,
It sounds like a good turnout. That's encouraging. I am interested in
what kinds of exhibits appealed to the 2/3 that weren't already in the
hobby.
Did anything in particular turn out to be popular with the "general"
crowd? Does everyone love the blinkenlights? Graphics or audio demos?
I find that most people from the general public gravitate toward whatever
they grew up using. Or if they're not techies, then they gravitate toward
micros running videogames and any kind of Big Iron.