Hundreds have come through our booth, the Vintage Computer Festivalers exhibit, in order to take photos, gawk at, and play with the computers we have on display. I myself brought a Commodore VIC-20, an Amiga 1200, and a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A (that last one was due to the crowd demanding that one should be here this year).
Several attendees have asked where the C64 was. I had to tell them that we had a C128 last year at the show, but because of the 35th anniversary of the VIC-20, it was time to give the VIC some love.
The attendees asked about the VIC-20 in general, how they still have or how they used to have a VIC-20, and how to repair them. I pointed them to Ray Carlsen for advice on anything from board problems to power supply problems.All of them were delighted that the VIC was there, telling their significant other and/or their children and/or their friends that the VIC was their first computer. Others asked how to get one again while others looked at the items on display -- VIC cartridges, the datasette, the cassette programs, the 24K ram expander, the cartridge expansion board -- all with happy smiles on their faces, remembering how computing used to be. They were very grateful that we were exhibiting such computer goodness.
Next to the VIC, I had a sheet of paper listing the specifications of the machine. For those who took the time to read it, they grinned as they compared the VIC's power to today's devices.
On the VIC I had the Behr-Bonz cart 2015 and an old version of the uIEC/SD. The most popular games that the attendees played -- Aggressor, Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Pulse. Heh, I loved telling them that Pulse was a new game from November, 2015. The surprised look on their faces was priceless.
They couldn't believe that such a sophisticated game was running on an unexpanded VIC. I told them that new games were still being developed for the VIC.Last day at the show,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
