By Ben Forest
They may be computers of another generation, but the Vintage Computer Festival East XI, held April 15-17 at the InfoAge Science Center in Wall Township, attracted enthusiasts of all ages.
The best part of the show was hands-on (unless directed otherwise by staff). Playing the computer games was encouraged, as was using the dot matrix printer, and trying to figure out the odd shapes on the green-screen monitors. There were command lines, punch-cards and floppy disks to re-discover. Twenty four staff volunteers were on hand to make it fun.
The three-day show – which concluded on Sunday – included classes, a social get-together, a vintage computer game programming “hackathon,” and everyone’s favorite: a soldering-iron training session, which was full. Even vintage computer vendors attended. (Yes, even your old computer books might be worth something.)
Kayla Lewis, an attendee and assistant professor of physics at Monmouth University, said she enjoyed seeing all the old computers. “Some of them were childhood friends of mine,” she said. “I fiddled with an Apple IIe and played PAC-MAN for a little while on an ATARI (I had forgotten how much fun that is!). I had always been curious about the (Commodore) Amiga and finally got to see one.”
Lewis was intrigued by a WWII exhibit, where she learned about something she can bring back to campus: how to generate microwaves using a cavity magnetron. “The explanation was detailed enough that I can use what I learned to make up a good problem or two for my students,” she said.
The show attracted 300 on Saturday.
Evan Koblentz, the festival’s director and president of the Vintage Computer Federation, said “We’re all volunteers here. There is no paid staff. As you can see, we made a lot of improvements to some of the facilities here but much of it is as it was when the Army was here.
The InfoAge Science Center in Wall Township is formally the Camp Evans area of Fort Monmouth.
“Our philosophy is simple,” said Koblentz a resident of Springfield, about the club. “Help. Contribute. Don’t complain. If you want a wall to be painted, by all means do it. You want to make a financial or other contribution, fine, it’s welcome.”
Jeffrey Brace of Ocean Township, the federation’s vice-president, manned a table of classic Commodore 64 computers set up for games. He said, “I am motivated by the nostalgia. There is no money in this of course, but I enjoy it.”
Corey Cohen of Matawan was running the hugely popular demonstration of a rare Apple I. “This is a hobby and I enjoy doing this. It’s just that simple,” he said.
Cohen spent several hours with a large crowd going over the pros and cons of the first computer produced by Apple. “Steve Wozniak (Apple’s co-founder and engineer) learned a lot of this design, really laying the groundwork for the Apple II,” he told the spectators.
Volunteer staff members Dean Notarnicola of Long Valley spoke for himself and his son Drew when he said he’s participating for the sheer fun of it. “There seems to be more interest in vintage computers now. And I have more money now than I did back then. Instead buying a new car in my midlife crisis, I bought some vintage computers,” said Notarnicola.
The keynote speaker Saturday was Stewart Cheifet, the founder and later the host of the PBS show The Computer Chronicles, which aired from 1983 to 2002. Full of entertaining anecdotes about the giants of the computer industry, Cheifet did not hold back. He told stories about Steve Jobs of Apple, with whom he had several interactions; “He was a rude punk. Obnoxious.” Of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, he said, “Always pushed his staff to tell him the bad news, not just the good news. Really a nice guy. People are surprised when I say this. Big ego.”
Cheifet said the Computer Vintage Festival took him back in time, to when he learned BASIC computer code on a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I and kept current by reading Byte magazine and attending user group meetings.
“Now I am back to being one of you guys. Just a geek having fun,” said Cheifet.
The Vintage Computer Federations is always seeking volunteers and donations. To learn more, log on to vcfed.org. The InfoAge Science History and Museum is at infoage.org
Ben Forest is an Apple computer consultant in Red Bank.
