Vintage Computers

[Warbaby]

Just wondering if any FL members collect or use vintage computers?

 

[maggiethespy]

Not personally, but my grandmother still owns/uses her 80's model Tandy PC that runs on MS-DOS. It has a menu-based interface. I used to play Zorg on it for HOURS when I was little.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I use a 1933-vintage Burroughs Portable adding/subtracting machine to do my bills, does that count?

(And my main computer computer is a 1999 model, which is extremely vintage in computer-years.)

 

[Diamondback]

Collect, no--but I'll see Maggie's grandma's Tandy and raise with my Osborne, the first truly portable computer... (even though the darn thing weighs as much as a suitcase, lol)
http://members.fortunecity.com/pcmuseum/osborne.htm
http://www.oldcomputers.net/osborne.html
Mine's a "Second Release" model, as it turns out.


----------------
Now playing: John Barry - Gunbarrel/Night Mission
via FoxyTunes

 

[maggiethespy]

Collect, no--but I'll see Maggie's grandma's Tandy and raise with my Osborne, the first truly portable computer... (even though the darn thing weighs as much as a suitcase, lol)
http://members.fortunecity.com/pcmuseum/osborne.htm
http://www.oldcomputers.net/osborne.html
Mine's a "Second Release" model, as it turns out.

My BCIS professor was telling the class about his Osborne the other day. He still has/uses his, too. He calls it his electric briefcase.

 

[ScionPI2005]

Actually, I used to collect vintage electronics: computers and robots, mainly from the 80's. Over the past four years or so, I have sold some of my collection away: mainly a couple of Macintosh computers from the 80's and 90's, a few 80's portable PC's, and a few robots. I do still have a few Omnibots from the 80's, as well as a Heathkit Hero Jr in my collection.

 

[dhermann1]

I had one of those very useful (not!) TI99's years ago. But the first computer I ever actually used was an IBM 1401, back in 1967, when I was in the USMC. Yeah, I was a rough tough computer operator in the Marines. Anyway, it had 16k of memory, and we fed hundreds of thousands of punch cards into it. After I got out I lived in Cambridge Mass for a year, and worked at the Harvard Computing Center. They had a small hunk of the original Eniac machine in the lobby. It was buiilt in 1942, I believe, It was pretty cool.

 

[Starius]

During my time at ISU, I got to get up and close with the Atanasoff-Berry Computer. Can't get much more vintage than that.

As far as my own personal collection goes... I have a basement full of old hardware, SGI behemoth monitors, spare parts, etc. But probably nothing older than a Tandy 1000.

I always wanted a Atari Falcon or Amiga 4000 computer, though. Maybe I will still get one someday.

 

[Diamondback]

My BCIS professor was telling the class about his Osborne the other day. He still has/uses his, too. He calls it his electric briefcase.

Mine didn't come with any of the disks, so I mainly keep it as a conversation-piece--my school was getting rid of it, it was either I take it home or it was going into the trash.

Besides which, for the same weight or slightly less (including peripherals and bag) my Dell gives me a lot more functionality (CAD/CAM terminal, typewriter/spreadsheet-generator and entertainment-center all in one) and is easier to cram under airliner and bus seats. Carrying an Osborne--well, you could almost make that part of a workout routine!lol

----------------
Now playing: John Williams - Main Title - Approaching The Death Star - Tatooine Rendezvous
via FoxyTunes

 

[Forgotten Man]

?

Computers as we know'em today started in the 70s... now, if that's vintage, I'm insulted!

 

[Diamondback]

But you're not looking at it within the context of its own "subculture"--yes, PC computing is comparatively a young field, but mainframes are sufficient to be vintage--check out this story from a programmer on the New York Central's IBM 407 and 1401 in 1965: http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh010906-story04.html

Still looking for a good price on a preowned Cray... preferably a cluster of three XMP's. Wouldn't mind a Connection Machine or eight, either... lol

[edited to correct glitchy memory on model-numbers]
----------------
Now playing: Carlo Siliotto - About Your Family - Setting the Trap
via FoxyTunes

 

[Starius]

?

Computers as we know'em today started in the 70s... now, if that's vintage, I'm insulted!

Well, the ABC was made between '37 and 42, I think. And the more popular ENIAC was made in '45. So they're definitely vintage. My father worked with computers in the Air Force in the 60s, (the big kind that fill rooms). But you are correct in that "personal computers" started in the 70s.
But by many accounts, any material product older than 25 years is "vintage." Though, I suppose you could argue 50 years for vintage... but then you're pushing "antique" status.

 

[maggiethespy]

?

Computers as we know'em today started in the 70s... now, if that's vintage, I'm insulted!

I'd say "vintage" in computer terms is far different than vintage in most any other situation. Computers are constantly being updated and changed, and compared to my Dell Laptop, my grandma's Tandy looks (and functions like) a dinosaur. It could even be considered ancient, not just vintage.

 

[Starius]

If you REALLY want ancient, lets not forget the Antikythera mechanism. That thing is over 2000 years old.

 

[Diamondback]

Maybe even "antediluvian", possibly on the edge of "technically prehistoric"?

Let's put it this way, by IT standards four to eight years is a design-lifespan, which makes the fact that my previous laptop survived that under Boeing and then a further "lifetime" of almost-continuous use by me downright impressive.

@Dan: Yeah, but you were a Marine and a rifleman first, and a computer-op as your MOS; that's still "tough enough".

----------------
Now playing: Frank Klepacki - Hell March
via FoxyTunes

 

[anon`]

If you REALLY want ancient, lets not forget the Antikythera mechanism. That thing is over 2000 years old.

But that wasn't a computer so much as the world's most incredible clock.

The modern computer (read: PC) traces it's roots to the early '70s, when Intel, TI and Garrett AiResearch all interoduced microprocessors at around the same time.

Going back to 1936, Alan Turing dreamt up the machine which bears his name and was--arguably--the genesis of modern computing (or computer science, if you prefer).

Even further back than that, Charles Babbage started development of his difference engine in 1822, and was working on the programmable analytical engine until his death in 1871.

Of course, I consider my old E6600/D975XBX machine to aged, the the 3700+/A8N SLI-Premium it replaced to be antiquated, and the 2.4C/P4C800E-Dlx before that to be a certified relic. So I suppose it's all relative!

(To answer the OP, my most vintage computer is only an 8088-powered IBM PC from the early '80s.)

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Not as vintage as Lizzies' vintage computer, but:

Vintage Adding Machine:

Vintage Plain-paper Copier:

Vintage Automotive Performance Chip:

Vintage Photoshop Part A:

Vintage Photoshop Part B:

I have an even more vintage version of Photoshop, but pictures of porcelain-coated metal trays can be rather boring.

My brother has our old Pong game, with built-in monitor. He once took it to an 80's-themed party as a prop, and it completely took over the festivities!


Lee

 

[Forgotten Man]

This should be "show us your vintage adding machines, cash registers and anything remotely related to computers thread". lol

Man, are we running out of material to talk about or what?

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I could kick myself for passing over an ancient Commodore 64 at a thrift store a few years back. Still in it's original box with a price tag from Zayre's discount stores for $149.95! :eusa_doh: Probably never see another,...

 

[The Wolf]

I don't have room in my current place for an ENIAC. :whistling




<-------
The Wolf