Great Computers Never Die
Catch a glimpse of some classic machines displayed at the Vintage Computer Festival East
The Vintage Computer Festival East (VCF East) took place from 15-17 April at the InfoAge Science Center in Wall, New Jersey. Computers on display included: a fully restored and working Apple 1; an Altair 8800; and a host of 8- and 16-bit machines, including a collection of (mostly unlicensed) Apple II clones from around the world, and an array of Commodore 64s upgraded to do things like control the lights in your home. Speakers at the festival included the legendary Ted Nelson, the man who coined the words hypertext, hypermedia, and other additions to our modern digital lexicon. We sent IEEE Spectrum’s Senior Editor Stephen Cass out to New Jersey to give us a dose of nostalgia and some inspiration from the dawn of the Digital Age.
VCF Europa takes place in Munich from 30 April to 1 May; VCF West will convene at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley on 6-7 August.
Read more: They’re Alive! Vintage Computer Fans Keep the Great Machines of the Past Running
Stephen Cass is the special projects editor at IEEE Spectrum. He currently helms Spectrum's Hands On column, and is also responsible for interactive projects such as the Top Programming Languages app. He has a bachelor's degree in experimental physics from Trinity College Dublin.