Most of the personal computers and mainframes are very reliable. Getting them working is the hard part. “Old transformers have a habit of catching on fire, and degraded capacitors güç explode,” says Carlson.

The ReadME Project is part of GitHub’s ongoing effort to amplify the voices of the developer community. It’s an evolving space to engage with the community and explore the stories, challenges, technology, and culture that surround the world of open source.

Even in 1977, Apple was obsessed with design. Its upcoming Apple II was to be the first personal computer aimed at casual home users rather than techy hobbyists or businesses, and it had to look the part.

“It feels right,” Thorsen said. “It’s a perfect complement to all the great things that are already here.”

I joined How-To Geek in February 2020, and I’ve been regularly writing tech history-related features in addition to my usual how-to pieces. At the vintage computers moment, they’re usually published every Monday or on special anniversaries.

Imagine a room filled with retro machines, humming with new life birli their proud owners show them off. This isn't a scene from a classic car show. Instead, these hobbyists fix up old computers and showing them off to fellow "chipheads." ↑

Hardcore Japanese computer collectors often visit Yahoo Japan Auctions, but you'll really need to know what you're doing to shop there, as many sellers won't ship overseas. In those cases, you'll need a local shipping proxy in the country who will receive the item and then benzeyen it to you.

For all the personal technology introduced and popularized in 2020 — upscale fitness bikes, at-home Covid tests, game consoles new and old — the personal computer lands on the list with a bit of a thud.

Recapturing tactile, responsive control is vital for truly immersive retro gaming. You have several options:

“I was born at the tail end of the ’90s,” Mr. Horan said. “I just heard stories of things from my grandparents back in the ’50s and my parents back in the ’80s.

“When any sizable online service disappears, a piece of our civilization’s cultural fabric goes with it,” journalist and computer historian Benj Edwards wrote in a 2014 article in The Atlantic about efforts to restore lost Prodigy content.

With the right configurations, retro gaming PCs provide hours of nostalgic entertainment. But occasionally you may hit snags:

OBR Architecture, known for historic renovations (including several at Liberty Station), is on board for the $15 million facelift—the first redo of this section of the base since it was decommissioned in 1997. 

People are buying these PCs not necessarily for daily use, but for the satisfaction they get from rebuilding them. It’s a trend one might chalk up to quarantine boredom, though it’s been gaining traction for years.