Vintage Computing in 2020 - Overview

During the past year and a half as we've settled into our new home in Suburban St. Paul, MN, I've continued to enjoy Retro Computing, AKA Vintage Computing.  I enjoy the process of fixing old computers more than using them, although I have spent quite a few hours playing some of the old games. I used to think that I had a unique interest in installing and configuring old versions of Windows and Mac OS.  I now realize that there are quite a large group of retro computing enthusiasts with a wide variety of interests, even within the Twin Cities.  We have Free Geek MN, and we even have our own YouTuber, Collin of This Does Not Compute.

My interest in Retro Computing started with a desire to relive some of my own experiences from around the time I first became interested in computing, but I’m also interested in the history in general and the history of technology, so I soon became interested in the computers that came before my time, for example the 1983 Compaq Portable and 1986 Apple Macintosh Plus shown at the top left and top center of this image...

Three of the computers have mismatching faceplates, these are my “Bridge” computers that have various flash based boot drives or a mismatch of modern and older drives.  Since I’m more interested in the functionality, this doesn’t bother me, just another opportunity to keep an eye out for some low-cost upgrades should they become available.

I’m equally interested in Apple and IBM PC Compatible products, having used both as a young person.  My first computer was a Commodore Vic-20 that was a hand me down from my Uncle, but that computer was quite out of date, and although I read the manual and did some simple BASIC programming, I didn’t really stick with it long enough to become comfortable with that platform.

I have “only” one rack full of computers and as with most collectors storage space is at a premium.  I have some computers in storage that are less interesting too me that I’m ready to sell, and I have my project computers that are not yet working stored out in the garage.

If you are interested in specifics, I have detailed articles about each computer on this blog.  Thanks for your interest, and please leave a comment if you have questions!