Nerd Alert!
So the past 2 weekends in San Jose, I've done some nerdy things. Why not - I'm in a major nerdicenter here, right? So I let my nerd flag fly.
First was a trip to the Computer History Museum. That was more interesting than I was expecting, in part because it covered a lot of pre-70's computer history. There were exhibits starting at abacuses, moving through slide rules and Babbage machines, super-old adding machines and IBM's first few devices (labelled "International") and then part of an ENIAC, as well as huge supercomputers from the 60's. It was all very interesting to see up close. I always wondered what all those dials and buttons did, and now I have a pretty good idea. They even had not one but 2 "Apple Computer 1"'s on display, one signed by Woz.
I also checked out Castro street in downtown Mountain View and bumbled my way into some sort of street festival (as a spectator, not a participant). It was very cool. They also had a nice used bookstore there that reminded me a lot of Bookmans in Arizona and to a lesser degree, Half-Price Books.
This past weekend, on a tip from a friend, I checked out the Weirdstuff Warehouse in Sunnyvale. They had a ton of older computer stuff and older office supplies, and lots of other, well, weird electronic stuff. So much in fact that it was really hard to discover it all because the place was just jam-packed with stuff only loosely organized. Sadly, they didn't stock a lot (or really much of any) vintage computer hardware. Macintosh SE's are about as old as it got, and the only Apple II computer was a //e in a display case. Surely there is someplace here in the valley with stock of some old Apple IIs, but I have yet to find it.
Finally yesterday I checked out the San Jose Flea Market. This was, for me, a bust. It was huge and bustling, but the selection was very narrow. It was a lot of people selling a lot of the same thing. It was also fairly clear I was not in the target demographic, as most of the sellers in the "produce row" were barking out to passers-by in Spanish. ¡Que Ganga!
My quest for vintage computer stuff in the valley continues. I understand there's a Vintage Computer Festival coming up in November that may do the trick.
Comments
Don't forget, California Extreme is coming up August 11-12 in San Jose.
http://www.caextreme.org/
Posted by: Nathan Strum | July 31, 2007 09:08 AM
Hrmmmm.... posts like this need pics. I want to see the piles of vintage hardware.
Posted by: BWJones | July 31, 2007 08:42 PM
Have you visited Muir Woods yet?
BTW, your RSS feed is broken.
Posted by: Ian Bullard | August 3, 2007 10:01 PM
Hi Ian,
No I haven't been to Muir Woods yet. I'm saving that for when Beth is out visiting.
I see what you mean about the RSS thing. I'll look into that. That said, you can click on the "Subscribe to this blog's feed" link on the front page and it'll work that way.
Posted by: Brad Oliver | August 4, 2007 12:46 AM
What kind of Apple ][ stuff are you looking for? I ask because I just unpacked a ][e w/Apple III monitor that I'd had in a box for untold years, and waddya know, it works! Drop me an email if you want details. Was thinking of ebaying it, but I'd cut you a discount, it would save me some hassle plus I'd know it was going to a good home.
I also have some vintage Mac/Apple programming references: the "telephone book" edition of Inside Macintosh vols 1-3, some of the later volumes, assembly langauge for Applesoft programmers, a few Hypercard books...
Posted by: Matt Diamond | August 4, 2007 06:26 PM
Hi Matt,
I'm on the lookout for stuff I don't have, which isn't easy to sum up here. ;-) In a nutshell, I'm looking for an old AppleColor RGB 100 monitor (the one with the auto-swivel motor), old original Apple II or III software (I'd like to get my hands on Business BASIC), interesting peripheral cards for the II, that sort of thing.
I already have 2 Monitor IIIs (the darker brown and the lighter brown to match both Apple III models). I also have 2 IIe models - enhanced and unenhanced. I'm looking for the later platinum IIe with the keypad or the very old IIe with the brown keyboard and the big open/closed apple logos on it. If you are local, it would work out best because shipping those is a pain for everyone. Drop me a line via my regular e-mail - bradman AT pobox.com.
Posted by: Brad Oliver | August 5, 2007 09:49 AM
Hey Brad, I really never thanked you for coming through on your word back at Aspyr, and all the great work you did back there in general.
I'm going to echo the voice of a few other people that have posted here... pictures! Also, I'm going to go ahead and subscribe - seems like San Jose is quite refreshing.
Posted by: Michael Bennett | September 2, 2007 05:34 AM
Check out the electronics flea market once a month, spring through fall at DeAnza college:
http://www.electronicsfleamarket.com/
Welcome to Apple! I just left after 10 years, myself. I randomly found your blog via a long chain of acquaintances who were asking some games dev questions on IRC.
Posted by: Peter Bierman | February 3, 2008 01:59 AM