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Hardware

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

By Bill Detwiler August 6, 2010, 12:18 AM PDT on Twitter billdetwiler

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Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair ZX80 playing Space Invaders

Sinclair ZX80 playing Space Invaders

In June 2010, The National Museum of Computing in the UK sponsored the first British Vintage Computer Festival at Bletchley Park. At least 2,000 visitors and 32 exhibitors attended the weekend event, which showcased vintage machines from the 1970s and 1980s.

There were lots of great old machines from Sinclair, Commodore, Amstrad, Heathkit, and others. There were even a few combinations of old and new technology, such as a 28-year-old Sinclair ZX Spectrum running Twitter.

Andy Taylor, a systems analyst and retro computer enthusiast in the UK, attended the event and took more than 100 photos. This gallery is portion of his album.

Many thanks to Andy for allowing TechRepublic to republish these photos. For more information on Andy’s collection of vintage computers, check out his website Retro Computers or his Flickr photostream.

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair ZX80 and monitor

Sinclair ZX80 and monitor

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair ZX80 at the British Vintage Computer Festival

Sinclair ZX80 at the British Vintage Computer Festival

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair ZX80 vintage computer

Sinclair ZX80 vintage computer

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Space Invaders on the Sinclair ZX80

Space Invaders on the Sinclair ZX80

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Another shot of the ZX80

Another shot of the ZX80

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair ZX Spectrum running Twitter

Sinclair ZX Spectrum running Twitter

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Twitter running on vintage computer

Twitter running on vintage computer

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

The Centre for Computing History

The Centre for Computing History

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Electric Dreams Display

Electric Dreams Display

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 running on the Amstrad MegaPC

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 running on the Amstrad MegaPC

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Table full of Sinclair machines

Table full of Sinclair machines

According to Andy, the machines shown in this picture were supplied by The Centre for Computing History located in Haverhill, Suffolk near Cambridge.

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Someone playing the Amstrad CPC464

Someone playing the Amstrad CPC464

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amstrad CPC 464

Amstrad CPC 464

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair Spectrum 128K with 2 micro drives

Sinclair Spectrum 128K with 2 micro drives

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Another Sinclair ZX81

Another Sinclair ZX81

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amstrad CPC 6128 running Roland in Time

Amstrad CPC 6128 running Roland in Time

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Roland in Time computer game

Roland in Time computer game

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair ZX81 and Spectrum 128k

Sinclair ZX81 and Spectrum 128k

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Vintage computer game

Vintage computer game

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair Spectrum 48 & QL

Sinclair Spectrum 48 & QL

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair Spectrum +2 and Spectrum +3

Sinclair Spectrum +2 and Spectrum +3

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair Spectrum +3

Sinclair Spectrum +3

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair PC200

Sinclair PC200

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair PC200 command line

Sinclair PC200 command line

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Commodore 64 playing Shredz 64

Commodore 64 playing Shredz 64

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Osbourne luggable

Osbourne luggable

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

UK101

UK101

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Machine used to write disks using Omniflop and CPCDiskXP

Machine used to write disks using Omniflop and CPCDiskXP

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amstrad PC1512 DD running Digger

Amstrad PC1512 DD running Digger

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amstrad 256k Personal Computer Word Processor

Amstrad 256k Personal Computer Word Processor

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Green Monitors for Amstrad PCW8256

Green Monitors for Amstrad PCW8256

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amstrad PPC640

Amstrad PPC640

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair ZX Spectrum Display

Sinclair ZX Spectrum Display

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair ZX Spectrum box

Sinclair ZX Spectrum box

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amstrad Notepad Computer NC100

Amstrad Notepad Computer NC100

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair Z88

Sinclair Z88

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair Z88 logo

Sinclair Z88 logo

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Visitors at the Vintage Computer Festival

Visitors at the Vintage Computer Festival

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Exhibits from The Centre for Computing History

Exhibits from The Centre for Computing History

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair C5 electric vehicle

Sinclair C5 electric vehicle

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Old game consoles

Old game consoles

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Atari 800XL

Atari 800XL

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Atari, Colecovision, Philips machines

Atari, Colecovision, Philips machines

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amiga sign

Amiga sign

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Commodore PET and CBM machines

Commodore PET and CBM machines

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Commodore CBM Model 3008

Commodore CBM Model 3008

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Commodore CBM Model 4032

Commodore CBM Model 4032

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Commodore CBM Model 4032 running Jetpac

Commodore CBM Model 4032 running Jetpac

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Apple IIe

Apple IIe

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Heathkit Analogue Computer, EC 1

Heathkit Analogue Computer, EC 1

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Lincs Amiga Group display

Lincs Amiga Group display

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Commodore CDTV

Commodore CDTV

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amiga X1000

Amiga X1000

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Compukit UK101 with 6809 CPU and new EPROMS

Compukit UK101 with 6809 CPU and new EPROMS

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

ZX Spectrum running Twitter

ZX Spectrum running Twitter

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amstrad CPC 6128

Amstrad CPC 6128

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amstrad CPC 6128 playing Bomb Jack I

Amstrad CPC 6128 playing Bomb Jack I

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Spectrum +2, Spectrum +3, and a Sinclair PC200

Spectrum +2, Spectrum +3, and a Sinclair PC200

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

PBS Executive IV

PBS Executive IV

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

PBS Executive IV closeup

PBS Executive IV closeup

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

PBS Executive IV power warning

PBS Executive IV power warning

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amstrad 464 Plus

Amstrad 464 Plus

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amstrad MegaPC playing Sonic the Hedgehog 1

Amstrad MegaPC playing Sonic the Hedgehog 1

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Sinclair ZX Spectrum +3 128k

Sinclair ZX Spectrum +3 128k

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Dragon 200

Dragon 200

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Dragon 200 logo

Dragon 200 logo

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Dragon Alpha prototypes

Dragon Alpha prototypes

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

HP V-Class

HP V-Class

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Domesday system

Domesday system

Photo by Andy Taylor

Vintage Computer Festival showcases technology from the 1970s and 1980s

Amstrad PCW 8512

Amstrad PCW 8512

Photo by Andy Taylor

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By Bill Detwiler
Bill Detwiler is the Editor for Technical Content and Ecosystem at Celonis. He is the former Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and previous host of TechRepublic's Dynamic Developer podcast and Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show.
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