I’ll make the argument that Microsoft is very much still in the public mind and is well represented by the BASIC dialects and MS-DOS that will be exhibited on many computers. The Amiga was probably the most popular 16/32 platform at the time and this is, after all, a vintage computer fest and all vintage platforms are celebrated. We always pick a main theme and exhibitors are encouraged to take advantage of anniversaries to draw interest. Giving equal time in the program to every anniversary negates the idea of theme. My 2¢. On Wed, Mar 19, 2025 at 1:33 PM Andrew Mattera via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
all these important machines/developments happened 30-50 years ago......
it just seemed like favoritism to bend the event *this* much to the Amiga
Thanks, Andrew Mattera
On Mar 19, 2025, at 13:15, Jeffrey Brace <jeffrey@vcfed.org> wrote:
Don't forget the IBM 7531 and 7532 which came out in 1985!
On Wed, Mar 19, 2025 at 1:02 PM Randall Kindig <randall.kindig@gmail.com> wrote:
The Atari ST was also released in 1985.
On Mar 19, 2025, at 11:54 AM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Wed, Mar 19, 2025 at 11:35 AM Andrew Mattera < andrew.mattera@vcfed.org> wrote:
Jeff
Great questions! And only 2 weeks to go before the show starts. I can certainly change everything at this point.
I thought the theme of this year was the "sound of vintage"? Why is it
all
the way on the last page? Why's the Amiga on the front?
The Amiga's on the front to celebrate the 40th anniversary. There are many anniversaries including Microsoft's founding on April 4, 1975, The Altair, Windows 95, etc. I had to choose one. This is the graphic that will be on the t-shirt. The Sound of Vintage was chosen because it is a general theme for the exhibitors as well as the talks that can be done by a wide range of computers and devices.
I get that the Amiga turns 40 this year. But if we're celebrating anniversaries aren't we missing a big one? Win 95 turns 30 this year!
We can't celebrate *all *of the anniversaries. We have to pick one.
Everyone is going to say why not this anniversary or that one. Well I had to pick one. In 5 or 10 years I can do Windows 95 and we can invite Bill Gates to come give a talk.
Keep in mind that we are going to have a big Amiga presence at both VCF East and VCF West. Two Amiga roundtables at East. At West there will be a huge exhibit area and likely many Amiga speakers. How many people are interested in a Windows 95? I couldn't tell you, but it's likely far less than Amiga, Altar, etc. At least for now. That could change over time. We *do* have one exhibit with Windows 95 and we have one in our museum too.
Just my 1.73 rupees ( or $0.02)
I only accept Brace Coins.
If you'd like to be part of the planning, then come help me next year. I'm short on volunteers and long on outside opinions.
Sincerely,
Braceman
Thanks, Andrew Mattera
On Mar 19, 2025, at 08:07, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
The VCF East 2025 program book is almost finished. This is the final draft. It goes to the printers tonight (Wednesday 3/19) at 10PM. Please let
me
know what you think:
https://vcfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/vcfeast2025program_draft3.pdf
Take care!
Jeff Brace VCF East Showrunner