[SIGCIS-Members] One last VCF reminder ...

[Evan Koblentz]

Historians,

... A final reminder that the Vintage Computer Festival East 8.0 is less 
than two weeks ago: May 5-6, at the InfoAge Science Center, in Wall, New 
Jersey. We've got 24 exhibits, eight technical workshops, and four 
lectures, and two keynotes. All the details are posted at 
http://www.vintage.org/2012/east/ and there are also updates at 
http://www.facebook.com/vcfeast8.

A pair of intriguing testimonials from veteran VCF attendees:

Steve Wozniak: “Seeing the early equipment at VCF is an amazing 
experience. For many of us, it's better than a museum. It touches on all 
the hopes and dreams of the time and the many efforts to achieve what 
others thought would never happen. It brings back memories of a 
revolution in the making. And we see the humble devices that we could 
actually understand and hold each piece in our hands and even construct 
ourselves. Every new device back then signaled a change in life forever. 
A lot of young people look in awe upon those days too, the way they 
might look upon the founding music of rock and roll. The people you meet 
at the VCF are amazing. Most are older and more accomplished but every 
single story of those days that they tell is the type you hinge on and 
feel inside what they were doing, often against the grain of our culture 
and against what was supposedly possible. It was a time of few rules and 
little conformity, all because there weren't billions of dollars visible 
yet for this new industry. How much we were up against is one thing you 
take home after this event,” Wozniak continue.

Lee Felsenstein: "In 35 years the personal computer has grown from 
nothing into the most important device shaping everyday life. It should 
be part of everyone's education to see how it grew and to learn from the 
people who grew it. VCF is the place to be where not only the equipment 
can be seen and tried out but, perhaps more importantly, where the 
people who rose to the challenge offered by these machines can be met 
and heard from."

Me again: consider putting down your journal articles :) and coming to 
VCF where you see and touch computer history.