21 Jun
2010
21 Jun
'10
9:43 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-
bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Tony Duell
Sent: 21 June 2010 19:15
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: photos from VCF UK etc
This may well me my last post to the list for many reasons...
Of course I did not go to to VCF-UK, and after seeing the photos, etc,
I
think I meade the right decision.
Having looked at many of the photos on flickr, etc, I think you need to
distinguish between the stuff which is at BP all the time (the NMoC
etc)
and the stuff that private collectors brought along specifically for
the
VCF.
Several people have commented on the Colossus rebuild and the talk, for
example, but I don't consider that to be specifically part of the VCF.
Of the enthusiast displays, it appears most, if not all, were 1980s UK
home micros, often running commercial games of the time. Which to me
seems like something to attract the general public, not something that
a
classic ocmputer fanatic would rave over. Were there any minicomputers
or
workstations brought along by enthusiasts?
I too was a little disappointed that most of the exhibits concentrated on
gaming, as this is not something that interests me personally. There was one
DEC display (where I spent most of my time) and Jim Austin brought some of
his things too. There was also Lawrence Wilkinson's display which I have
already commented on (impressive and interesting).
This is not to say I would not go again, I would. But next time I think I
would bring some of my own bits and pieces to show (not that exciting for
people on this list, just MicroVAX II and other MicroVAXen). I didn't this
time around because I went to the DEC Legacy event in April and could not
justify to my family another weekend away. Perhaps if more people on this
list with different things to show went along then it might make for a more
varied event.
I suspect the PERQs you
mentioned were the ones that were in the NMoC anyway
I failed to find these, and I think they also have a Cray on display, which
I also failed to find. I should have asked someone I suppose.
(As an aside, if I
had been coming, and if I had had time to prepare it, I might well have
brought alon a PERQ 2T4, a machine which is _not_ in the NMoC. Or at
least one Philips minicomputer. Or HP calculators from discrete
transsitor to 68000).
Waht was the fleamarket like?
Again, not sure if I found it, because the only thing I saw was a little
disappointing, but there again I was there on the Sunday so may have missed
the good stuff.