#vcfwest — Public Fediverse posts

I'm still processing all of the cool stuff I saw at #vcfwest this weekend. So glad to finally attend!

One item that caught my eye was this 1985 issue of Creative Computing for sale at the book stand. "3-D fractals on my micro? Yes please!"

My jaw dropped when I opened the article to find, essentially, the Mountains screensaver from More After Dark, along with source for the algorithm in 3 languages! This must have looked bad-ass on a TRS-80 or Apple II at the time.

Best $1 purchase ever!

I think we can all relate #vcfwest

This was fun to see at the Computer History Museum: the "Big Mac", with a normal-sized Mac for scale.

#retrocomputing #vcfwest #chm

Now I'm kinda kicking myself for not buying that 1st wave LCD Apple Studio Display that was in Consignment #vcfwest

Ron Wayne tells a story about that time he amazed Woz by typing up a 3-page contract from scratch. Sitting next to Ron, L-R: Paul Terrell, Daniel Kottke, Steve Wozniak, Liza Loop

#retrocomputing #vcfwest

Steve Wozniak presents Liza Loop with a replica Apple I computer, 50 years after he presented her with the first Apple 1 off the line, serial number 1.

#retrocomputing #vcfwest

Apple Scribe printer at the consignment tables, for only $10. I thought seriously about it, but didn't bite.

#retrocomputing #vcfwest

All these decades of hardware, running all these decades of software. People creating magic machines for people: one of humanity's nicest traditions.

This kind of access to the history of computing continues to blow my mind. Thank you again, people who make #vcfwest possible. My gratitude is immeasurable and my day is made.

It's also crazy to think how much we've “dressed up" computing in the contemporary age, but at its very heart, my fancy and thin iPhone Air has just so much in common with those early-90s Sun workstations (and yes, with NeXT machines too) #vcfwest

Shoutout to the awesome Xerox guy, who was fully in character as a period-accurate Xerox rep. Thank you for the very cool and informative demo of the UI paradigm on the Xerox Alto/Star #vcfwest

I think I read one time that some people at Apple didn't wanna ship a Mac with only 128k of RAM; they wanted to wait until the 512k model was viable. They were right #vcfwest

I loooooooved #vcfwest this year, so much cool interactive stuff (including The Compact Macintosh Garden, where I took a Mac 128k for a very slow spin). Thank you to all the exhibitors and organizers!

the first time i saw fortran live since i tried to write something in it on a 3270 terminal when i was 10 years old. this one was running on RT11 OS on a custom DEC machine at #vcfwest #vcf.

Oh nice, a customized Model M... wait, for HOW much?

*squint* Oh, nicely done.

#VCFWest #VCFW #VCF2026 #RetroComputing

An original Apple I for sale.

"Very interesting trades considered"

🤨

#VCFWest #VCFW #VCF2026 #Apple #RetroComputing

Amigas continue to be sanely priced, as you'd expect.

I found one of these in a thrift store in the early 2000s. Video Toaster, keyboard and mouse, everything except maybe a monitor. I was vaguely aware of Amigas and the Video Toaster at the time, so I wanted to grab it to mess around with... but I was too lazy to go to the bank or an ATM to get the $40 cash it cost, and it was gone the next day.

Dumbass.

#VCFWest #VCFW #VCF2026 #Amiga #RetroComputing

On the free pile, something I never would have imagined existed: a Snap-On Scribe II, a (presumably) dot matrix printer. Clearly this one has been well used in its life. Going by Snap-On's general pricing, this must've cost more than a house back in the day.

#VCFWest #VCFW #VCF2026 #RetroComputing

I saw this DEC InfoServer 1000 and my mind went instantly to "classy as shit Greaseweazle omni-enclosure." No budget for that kind of thing at the moment, sadly!

#VCFWest #VCFW #VCF2026 #RetroComputing #DEC

Today's #VCFWest consignment area was brought to you by loads of PCjr stuff.

#VCFW #VCF2026 #RetroComputing #PCjr

first color 3270 terminal i saw in action. #vcf #vcfwest

today, i got to use xerox’s operating system that was also used on xerox alto. this ran on a xerox viewpoint (ca 1985). it felt quirky but not much more than a barebones olwm. #chm #vcf #vcfwest

While we're not at #vcfwest this weekend we have Richard at his "Retro Media Recover" Exhibit 3 table showing off some of the latest #BlueSCSI devices and backing up your data - go say hi!

tulip the cat (they/them) on a PC98, using Multi Paint System

#vcfwest2026 #vcfwest #pc98 #art

VCF West 2026 Returns to Mountain View with 73 Exhibits
#VCFWest #VCFWest2026 #VintageComputing #RetroComputing #ComputerHistory #Commodore #Amiga #C64 #MEGA65 #ComputerHistoryMuseum
https://theoasisbbs.com/events/vcf-west-2026-returns-to-mountain-view-with-73-exhibits/?fsp_sid=10787

Is anyone going to VCF West this weekend? I'm undecided if I am. #vcfwest #sfbay