We used to actually own our computers

Duration: 11:59

Vintage Computer Festival Midwest 2025 was overwhelming (in a good way).

I'll tell you my favorite experiences and interactions with the vintage tech community in this video.

Some of the projects and products mentioned in this video:

- VCF Midwest: https://www.vcfmw.org

- yyzkevin PCMCIA Pico card: https://www.yyzkevin.ca/pico-pcmcia/

- Open Source CRT analog board: https://github.com/tdaede/td-crt

- Meshtastic 64 on C64: https://64jim64.blogspot.com/2025/09/meshtastic-64-meshtastic-radio-for.html

- Juicy Crumb Systems: https://juicycrumb.com

- Mac84 Video on Personics View Control System: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41jCujsrHVg

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Contents:

00:00 - Old computers, new tricks in Chicago

00:54 - Nostalgia for old Macs

02:00 - The free pile, and Jeff is easily distracted

02:47 - Open source CRT analog board replacement

03:41 - An unexpected meeting at RCV's booth

04:21 - Cursed input devices

05:07 - Meshtastic on a C64

05:54 - My timing sense tingled

06:57 - Side quest - BlueSCSI disk rescue

08:20 - Relay computers, 70 lb HDDs, and ESMs

09:38 - Preventing e-waste, and analog DRM

10:42 - The anti-AI