VCF Midwest update?

----- Original Message ----- From: "Dwight K. Elvey" <dwight.elvey at amd.com> To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2005 2:52 PM Subject: Re: VCF Midwest update? Interesting, I've never heard of this show before now. Can you tell me more about how it was similar to and different I really need to see a west coast show to get a better understanding of VCF events. I think we all know what loss leaders are, they are products you carry in order to make more profits from the other products you carry. You carry a loss leader because if you don't, your customers will do their business with someone who does, and you will loose profits. Loss leaders are all about profit. Wow, that sure would kill the shows. Who would want a bunch of union workers who may know nothing about your system moving it? (I'm thinking mini's and larger stuff here) I don't think anyone wants to see VCF's become like trade shows. That would be a disaster, no question. But does anyone really need to subsidize a $10 fee? The cold equations suggest that at $10, you already got a good deal. Some exhibits might eat that just in power over a 2 day show! But think about what we are collecting. Real vintage mini's and some microcomputers are historically very similar to antique steam and early gas engines. They are machines that made a huge impact on society, an impact at least as large as the first industrial revolution (brought on by those vintage engines). Another collectable from the first industrial revolution are vintage pocket watches. Once the engines moved workers from the fields to the factories, they needed to get them there on time and the mass production watch came to be. Have you ever seen a vintage engine show? Or a NAWCC show? How about a vintage car show? They are all very different from todays VCF event from what I've seen. Vintage computers are very historically important inventions. They need to be preserved because of their intrinsic value. Maybe most people today collect and restore these machines as a hobby. But thats also true for pocket watch collectors and even vintage engine collectors too. A minority of these collectors do this professionally. Hobby or not, at some point the financial value of our beloved machines will reflect their intrinsic value. This is already effecting our hobby. Its a fact of life, IMO. No one had ever suggested that the shows should be fun. Some have suggested that they could be even more fun. Clearly people that go to a classic car show don't go there to have a bad time. Isn't a big part of the reason for VCF events to spread the hobby to others? Maybe your not much into museum exhibits, but didn't you say it should be enjoyable for all who attend? I think exhibits are needed that make vintage computing accessible to people. You should have heard some of the questions, and absolute wonder that came from some of the Sun programmers who had never seen a blinkinlights CPU before. I really should have had a canned presentation that explains how front panels are used, and how vintage systems were bootstrapped, etc. This simple technology has become totally forign to todays techies. So why not make this stuff accessible, even to non technical people who attend? Or am I missing your point here totally? Why restrict the exhibits? How does this make the show more enjoyable for all? Good point. At VCF East 1.0, exhibitors were mixed with the rest. But I really did not see that as a problem. But at VCF Ease 2.0, we had space behind the tables, and there was even room to place chairs in front of consoles so that people could sit and actually use some of the exhibits. Clearly thats better, space permitting of course. I think this is really up to the design of the exhibit, not the people running the show. In fact at VCF East 1.0 a PDP-12 was playing spacewar. This was set up as a free-standing, hands-on exhibit. I totally agree with the last point, whatever arrangement is needed to 'go on with the show' is fine. People really should not be sup by this. Its always been clear to me during the registration process.