If you like giant keyboards and two-inch screens, Kitchener’s Steckle Heritage Farm was the place to be on Sunday.
The Retro Computing Expo featured computers, video games and typewriters from the 1970s.
Nearly 100 machines, including Commodore, Tandy and Macintosh, are on display at the one-day free interactive event.
“From the 70s you really had to say [the computer] What do you want it to do,” said Justos Jurica, founder of Retro Computing. Now, you are beginning to know what you want to do.
Nostalgia was the name of the game on Sunday and Jurica doesn’t look to be losing that spot from the globe anytime soon.
“The evolution of computers is constantly evolving and there will always be nostalgia in computers,” Jurica said.
“[It’s] It’s fun to see things that my parents used to use,” said participant Eric Jarnevich. (Tyler Kellahr/CTV Kitchener)Some of the machines at Sunday’s expo were in pristine condition, while others had major upgrades.
“This is a 1981 Commodore PET 2001,” said an audience member. “I decided to put a whole new computer in it, which is my main computer. Everything I can do on my laptop, I can do on my desktop.
As retro computing enthusiast Kirk Rietveld explains, old computers can still have modern uses.
“We can connect old computers and the Internet, we can talk to people online using computers from 40 years ago. So just because it’s old doesn’t mean it has to be thrown out,” Rietveld said.
Enjoying some retro gaming. (Tyler Kellaher/CTV Kitchen)Others at the event were looking for parts of their equipment.
“I need a floppy drive, maybe a graphics card would be great,” said Taylor Allen. “This table is perfect for me, it’s what I want. You can’t find this anymore.
