Off topic post for today based on a few emails sent my way regarding the computers and “calculators” in the background of some of my paint pics…
My man cave is a strange place…
Brandy and a blackjack table on one side, 40K and assorted gaming stuff/Xbox in the center, and my computer collection on the other.
People collect all sorts of weird stuff so why not computers?
How does one even get started in collecting vintage computers, same way you really collect any kind of odd or off the wall stuff.
Back in grammar school I talked my parents into allowing me to buy a computer- a Commodore 128, which I promptly used to play Dungeons & Dragons games with my friend D. when we weren’t playing tabletop Dungeons & Dragons games. Long forgotten titles like Bards Tale, Wizard’s Crown, and the entire Phantasie series was played with reckless abandon like you might play Space Marine today. I knew it could do other “stuff”, but it wasn’t till I got into junior high school and some crazy math homework that talents were needed elsewhere…
I was one of those kids who hated to do homework because it was a waste of time- school was for learning, and if the teacher did their job right, why did I need to learn at home? Time wasted when I could have been playing computer games or building model rockets. We can understand the “logic” of a 13 year old kid.
Anyway, I wasn’t allowed to play any video games per parental orders till my homework is done, and even now as a grown man-child I’ve never admitted this to my parents- I programmed my computer to do my math homework, entering the problem ,and having it spit out the answer and the solve/proof which I just then copied down. Do the homework in ten minutes, hang out in my room for an hour or so and then come out and play…
Later on in college when I decided not to pursue entering the Society of Jesus, and had to suddenly find a major and figure out a “career” (a ridiculous expectation of a college kid at the time) I figured I'd study computer science since I had a lot of fun using and programming my old computer.
Of course I had a new computer at the time, and I even added my own CD-ROM and sound card to play this crazy new game called DOOM, but in the back of my room was my old computer.
Lots of fun memories, what if something on it broke, or the power supply burned out? This lead me to scouring thrift stores for parts, and eventually finding and buying other computers from the late 1970’s to early 1980’s. Over time my collection grew, and I even managed to acquire an old Sperry mainframe complete with a reel to reel tape drive which is currently in storage- I’m not sure if the floors of my house could hold it all up, and even Mrs. Fritz has her limits on what she tolerates.
Over the years this stuff has been harder and harder to find, surprisingly not because it has any real monetary value, but rather because it really doesn’t have any value other then nostalgia or a tech priest like curiosity. What used to be saved or boxed in a garage or attic has mostly been thrown out, shame that it is.
So, long and short, that’s about 1/3rd of my collection in the background, mostly the smaller stuff I can fit on a shelf- can any of you old timers identify some of them off the bat?
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