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0 pointsthrowaway59592y ago0 comments

Thanks for answering the question.

With regard to the show, I didn’t want to pile on, but here we go:

There weren’t that many talks (the primary thing I was interested in), the trade show section was pretty small, and there wasn’t really much for newcomers to explain why this old hardware deserves preservation.

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arexxbifs2y ago

Vintage computer meetups, like vintage car meetups, are mostly chummy in-group gatherings for the already initiated. It's where geeks of a particular brand can talk shop. (I usually don't attend them and instead go to demo parties[1], which are in no way any less esoteric.)

> There wasn’t really much for newcomers to explain why this old hardware deserves preservation.

It does and doesn't - much like old cars, record players, fighter jets, trains, radios and phones. A handful can be kept around for posterity, as museum pieces. There's a point in not forgetting how they work, since most modern stuff is to a large extent refinements and complexity layered on top of previous knowledge.

But mostly, it's just a fringe hobby. Old computers deserve preservation because someone cares deeply about them and loves tinkering with them. Just like with old cars, record players, trains and radios.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demoscene

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