On Sun, Jun 13, 2021 at 1:53 PM Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Bernie S paid a visit on May 16 at the very end of our repair workshop. He had brought some items for Dmitry. One thing was a custom built 6502 system with all sorts of wires. Another one was a custom built Apple // clone. Very interesting to see all these items.
The photos reveal, some kind of late 1970's, hand-wired cassette-based computer of some sort. And some kind of massively reworked possibly-Apple-II motherboard surrounded by hand-wired boards.
Jeff, were you told some kind of history associated with these constructions? Otherwise for anyone not alive in the era, these will be indecipherable pieces of chips and boards. And, that applies to most people interested today. I'll give some interpretation, otherwise this stuff looks awful from a 21st century view; and that saddens me.
Yes, but I didn't write it down and know the gist of it. I would have to ask BernieS to send me an e-mail description.
Without my seeing them myself - I was on campus but unaware - all I can say from the era, is that many techs were obliged to wire up their own computers from pieces of other digital technology. Why? Because computers were not available or too expensive on the one hand, and pieces and parts of older computing tech were available cheaply on the other hand. And some people had the ability, tools and parts to design (or copy) and hand-wire their own boards.
Yes. Bernie S mentioned that the original machines were expensive so the guy was trying to save money by building his own.
Those skills were valuable in the years before (and after) personal computers started becoming available. When personal computers became CHEAP and available, this technology was abandoned - that's why it's all dusty and rusty. And so that's what you see now.
In any case it was fascinating to us because it was before our time. I was interested in the historical aspect of it and the others were interested in the technical aspect.
Regards, Herb
-- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net
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