Difference between revisions of "Homebrew Computer Club"
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In the mid-seventies, Bob Albrecht, founder of the [[People's Computer Company]] newsletter, ran a storefront center in Menlo Park called the People's Computer Center. The People's Computer Center offered public access to a couple of minicomputers running time-shared BASIC, and was used by local youth as a game parlor. The centre served as a gathering point for computer professionals or amateur enthusiasts who were interested in alternative use of computers, such as [[Lee Felsenstein]] of the Resource One project, computer engineer Gordon French, and political activist Fred Moore. The People's Computer Center also kept a list where visitors could sign up for more information about the centre's activities. | In the mid-seventies, Bob Albrecht, founder of the [[People's Computer Company]] newsletter, ran a storefront center in Menlo Park called the People's Computer Center. The People's Computer Center offered public access to a couple of minicomputers running time-shared BASIC, and was used by local youth as a game parlor. The centre served as a gathering point for computer professionals or amateur enthusiasts who were interested in alternative use of computers, such as [[Lee Felsenstein]] of the Resource One project, computer engineer Gordon French, and political activist Fred Moore. The People's Computer Center also kept a list where visitors could sign up for more information about the centre's activities. | ||
| − | In January 1975, the [[Altair | + | In January 1975, the [[Altair]] 8800 computer kit was announced. Fred Moore convinced Gordon French to make his garage in Menlo Park available for a meeting. Fred Moore compiled the PCC visitor lists, and they put out a call to all people on the list. |
| − | Thirty-two people showed up for the meeting, including [[Lee Felsenstein]], who brought with him a version of the Altair. This version had been sent to People’s Computer Company as a review copy, and they gave it to Felsenstein, who had assembled | + | Thirty-two people showed up for the meeting, including [[Lee Felsenstein]], who brought with him a version of the Altair. This version had been sent to People’s Computer Company as a review copy, and they gave it to Felsenstein, who had assembled taken it to his friend Efrem Lipkin’s place. Lipkin considered it useless, since there was nothing to it but switches and lights (it had no screen or keyboard). He set it up as a sculpture in his living room, on the same table with his guinea-pig cage, with its lights flashing to keep the guinea pigs company. Felsenstein retrieved it, and it turned up as the centerpiece of the meeting. |
The people at the meeting stood looking at the Altair, and started telling each other what they knew about it. Steve Dompier had made a trip to Albuquerque to try to pick up from MITS the Altair kit he had ordered but had not received, since MITS was swamped with orders. He described a very small operation, with overworked staff trying to catch up on a flood of orders. What’s more, the company would deliver none of the much-needed accessories until they filled the outstanding orders for the basic machine, so Dompier had left Albuquerque without significant chunks of the Altair kit he had paid for. [[Lee Felsenstein]] talked about Community Memory and the Tom Swift Terminal. [[Steve Wozniak]] talked about the Breakout game he had made, and the video terminal he was working on. The people in the room began to understand that as a group they probably knew as much as the MITS people. | The people at the meeting stood looking at the Altair, and started telling each other what they knew about it. Steve Dompier had made a trip to Albuquerque to try to pick up from MITS the Altair kit he had ordered but had not received, since MITS was swamped with orders. He described a very small operation, with overworked staff trying to catch up on a flood of orders. What’s more, the company would deliver none of the much-needed accessories until they filled the outstanding orders for the basic machine, so Dompier had left Albuquerque without significant chunks of the Altair kit he had paid for. [[Lee Felsenstein]] talked about Community Memory and the Tom Swift Terminal. [[Steve Wozniak]] talked about the Breakout game he had made, and the video terminal he was working on. The people in the room began to understand that as a group they probably knew as much as the MITS people. | ||
