The Homebrew Computer Club was an early computer hobbyist group in Menlo Park, California, which met from March 1975 to December 1986. The club played an influential role in the development of the microcomputer revolution and the rise of that aspect of the Silicon Valley information technology industrial complex. Several high-profile hackers and computer entrepreneurs emerged from its ranks, including Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the founders of Apple Computer. With its newsletter and monthly meetings promoting an open exchange of ideas, the club has been described as "the crucible for an entire industry" as it pertains to personal computing
Introduction
Homebrew Computer Club
Homebrew Computer Club | Introduction
March 1975 March 5, 1975 March 5, 1975 March 5, 1975
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Albany
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The Ten Broeck Mansion, USS "Slater" (DE-766) museum ship.
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The word "silicon" in the name originally referred to the large number of innovators and manufacturers in the region specializing in silicon-based MOS transistors and integrated circuit chips.
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An early computer hobbyist group - played an influential role in the development of the microcomputer revolution and the rise of that aspect of the Silicon Valley information technology industrial complex.
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The Homebrew Computer Club was an informal group of electronic enthusiasts and technically minded hobbyists who gathered to trade parts, circuits, and information pertaining to DIY construction of computing devices. It was started by Gordon French and Fred Moore who met at the Community Computer Center in Menlo Park. They both were interested in maintaining a regular, open forum for people to get together to work on making computers more accessible to everyone. The first meeting was held as of March 1975 at French's garage in Menlo Park, San Mateo County, California; which was on occasion of the arrival of the MITS Altair microcomputer, the first unit sent to the area for review by People's Computer Company.
Silicon Valley | Homebrew Computer Club
The Homebrew Computer Club was an early computer hobbyist group in Menlo Park, California, which met from March 1975 to December 1986. The club played an influential role in the development of the microcomputer revolution and the rise of that aspect of the Silicon Valley information technology industrial complex. Several high-profile hackers and computer entrepreneurs emerged from its ranks, including Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the founders of Apple Computer. With its newsletter and monthly meetings promoting an open exchange of ideas, the club has been described as "the crucible for an entire industry" as it pertains to personal computing
Homebrew Computer Club | Introduction
The Homebrew Computer Club was an informal group of electronic enthusiasts and technically minded hobbyists who gathered to trade parts, circuits, and information pertaining to DIY construction of personal computing devices. It was started by Gordon French and Fred Moore who met at the Community Computer Center in Menlo Park. They both were interested in maintaining a regular, open forum for people to get together to work on making computers more accessible to everyone. The first meeting of the club was held on March 5, 1975 in French's garage in Menlo Park, San Mateo County, California, on the occasion of the arrival in the area of the first MITS Altair 8800 microcomputer, a unit sent for review by People's Computer Company.
Homebrew Computer Club | History
The Homebrew Computer Club's newsletter was one of the most influential forces in the formation of the culture of Silicon Valley. Created and edited by its members, it initiated the idea of the personal computer, and helped its members build the original kit computers, like the Altair. One such influential event was the publication of Bill Gates's "Open Letter to Hobbyists", which lambasted the early hackers of the time for violating the copyrights of commercial software programs. Paul Terrell, partner in Repco who was the exclusive sales rep company for MITS in Northern California, was a member of the Club and would provide information at the meetings about the progress of the Altair 8800 in the factory and provide copies of the MITS Newsletter to members.
Homebrew Computer Club | Newsletter
He later started Byte Shop, an affordable computer store in Mountain View, California, and bought the first 50 Apple I Computers from Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak after they did a demonstration of the Apple I at a meeting at SLAC. The first issue of the newsletter was published on March 15, 1975, and continued through several designs, ending after 21 issues in December 1977. The newsletter was published from a variety of addresses in the early days, but later submissions went to a P.O. box address in Mountain View, California.
Homebrew Computer Club | Newsletter
Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs credit that first meeting with inspiring them to design the original Apple I and (successor) Apple II computers. As a result, the first preview of the Apple I was given at the Homebrew Computer Club. Subsequent meetings were held at an auditorium at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
Silicon Valley | Homebrew Computer Club
Li-Chen Wang, developer of Palo Alto Tiny Basic and graphics software for the Cromemco Dazzler, was also a club member, and Lee Felsenstein was moderator of the club meetings. Steve Inness was a primary designer of one of the early cell phone touch screens as well as a business partner with John Draper. Others went on to other pursuits, such as Dan Werthimer who is a researcher in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Homebrew Computer Club | Members
The club is depicted in the films "Pirates of Silicon Valley" (1999) and "Jobs" (2013), as well as in the PBS documentary series "Triumph of the Nerds" (1996). However the depiction of how the club worked was not entirely accurate.
Homebrew Computer Club | In popular culture
January 1975 was also the month that the Altair 8800 appeared on the front page of "Popular Electronics", sparking off intense interest among the engineers of the rapidly growing Silicon Valley. Shortly thereafter, on 5 March 1975, Gordon French and Fred Moore held the first meeting of what would become the Homebrew Computer Club. Felsenstein took Marsh to one of the meetings, Marsh saw an opportunity supplying add-on cards for the Altair, and in April, he formed Processor Technology with his friend Gary Ingram. The new company's first product was a 4 kB DRAM memory card for the Altair. A similar card was already available from the Altair's designers, MITS, but it was almost impossible to get working properly.
Sol-20 | Processor Technology
As a result, the "traitorous eight" engineers left the company to form Fairchild Semiconductor. Two of the original employees of Fairchild Semiconductor, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, would go on to found Intel. In 1971, Intel created the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004. The next step in the Silicon Valley revolution occurred in March 1975, when the Homebrew Computer Club in Menlo Park was created by students with an interest in technology and a desire to experiment with building home computers. Steve Wozniak, a founding member, built a home computer from a cheap microprocessor, and showed it to his fellow club members, who included his friend Steve Jobs.
History of Santa Clara County, California | Growth of Silicon Valley
Steve Wozniak credits that first meeting as the inspiration to design the Apple I. The next few meetings were held at a large home in Atherton, California, which had been used as a preschool. Subsequent meetings were held at an auditorium at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), until 1978, when meetings moved to the Stanford Medical School. An anecdote from member Thomas "Todd" Fischer relates that after the more-or-less "formal" meetings the participants often reconvened for an informal, late night "swap meet" in the parking lot of the Safeway store down the road, as SLAC campus rules prohibited such activity on campus property.
Homebrew Computer Club | History
Most of the members were hobbyists but had an electronic engineering or computer programming background. They came to the meetings to talk about the Altair 8800, to review other technical topics, and to exchange schematics and programming tips. From the ranks of this club came the founders of many microcomputer companies, including Steve Wozniak (Apple Computer), Harry Garland and Roger Melen (Cromemco), Thomas "Todd" Fischer, IMSAI Division, Fischer-Freitas Company, George Morrow (Morrow Designs), Paul Terrell (Byte Shop), Adam Osborne (Osborne Computer), and Bob Marsh (Processor Technology). John Draper was also a member of the club, as was Jerry Lawson (creator of the first cartridge-based video game system, Fairchild Channel F).
Homebrew Computer Club | Members
The Homebrew Computer Club was a hotbed of BASIC development, with members excited by Altair BASIC. Fellow members Steve Wozniak and Tom Pittman would develop their own BASICs (Integer BASIC and 6800 Tiny BASIC respectively). Wang analyzed the Altair BASIC code and contributed edits to Tiny BASIC Extended. Wang published in the newsletter a loader for the 8080, commenting on the Open Letter to Hobbyists:
Li-Chen Wang | Homebrew Computer Club
Wigginton was a student at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California, interested in computers just as the earliest microprocessor-based computers were being assembled by hobbyists. Around the age of 14, he had heard about the Homebrew Computer Club, but had no way to get there until he started getting rides with another club member, Steve Wozniak, who lived down the street from Wigginton's family home. The two became friends, and Wigginton became one of Apple's earliest employees in 1976, and was present with Wozniak when the Apple I was first presented to the world at a Club meeting.
Randy Wigginton | Early life
Others, at the suggestion of Roger Melen, convened at The Oasis, a bar and grill they considered a pub located on El Camino Real in nearby Menlo Park, recalled years later by a member as "Homebrew's other staging area". As Steven Levy wrote about the Oasis gatherings:
Homebrew Computer Club | History
Fred was co-founder with Gordon French of the Homebrew Computer Club which first met on March 5, 1975. This club was subsequently called "the crucible for an entire industry."
Fred Moore (activist) | Homebrew Computer Club
Many hobbyists during the mid-1970s designed their own systems, with various degrees of success, and sometimes banded together to ease the job. Out of these house meetings the Homebrew Computer Club developed, where hobbyists met to talk about what they had done, exchange schematics and software, and demonstrate their systems. Many people built or assembled their own computers as per published designs. For example, many thousands of people built the Galaksija home computer later in the early 1980s.
History of computing hardware (1960s–present) | Altair 8800 and IMSAI 8080
Although the Altair spawned an entire business, another side effect it had was to demonstrate that the microprocessor had so reduced the cost and complexity of building a microcomputer that anyone with an interest could build their own. Many such hobbyists met and traded notes at the meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club (HCC) in Silicon Valley. Although the HCC was relatively short-lived, its influence on the development of the modern PC was enormous. Members of the group complained that microcomputers would never become commonplace if they still had to be built up, from parts like the original Altair, or even in terms of assembling the various add-ons that turned the machine into a useful system.
History of personal computers | Homebrew Computer Club
On March 5, 1975, Steve Wozniak attended the first meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club in Gordon French's garage. He was so inspired that he immediately set to work on what would become the Apple I computer. After building it for himself and showing it at the Club, he and Steve Jobs gave out schematics (technical designs) for the computer to interested club members and even helped some of them build and test out copies. Then, Steve Jobs suggested that they design and sell a single etched and silkscreened circuit board—just the bare board, with no electronic parts—that people could use to build the computers.
Apple I | History
The June 1975 "Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter" carried this item written by Fred Moore, Editor: The MITS MOBILE came to Rickey's Hyatt House in Palo Alto June 5th & 6th. The room was packed (150+) with amateurs and experimenters eager to find out about this new electronic toy. At the seminar, a paper tape containing a pre-release version of Altair BASIC disappeared. The tape was given to Steve Dompier who passed it on to Dan Sokol who had access to a high speed tape punch. At the next Homebrew Computer Club meeting, 50 copies of Altair BASIC on paper tape appeared in a cardboard box.
Open Letter to Hobbyists | "Thieves" and "parasites"
Organizers say they're trying to "resurrect the spirit of the Homebrew Computer Club." It is a non-exclusive event intended for passionate and creative technical people that want to have some fun, learn new things, and meet new people. There is no admission charged; the event is paid for by donations and sponsorships. The original SHDH was in Hillsborough, California and later in Los Gatos, California.
SuperHappyDevHouse | Global expansion
PC Club was a privately owned, United States-based chain of computer hardware stores established in City of Industry, California in 1992. The company closed all its stores on July 29, 2008. PC Club operated primarily in the west coast states. It offered hardware and peripherals for PCs, as well as complete desktop and notebook computers assembled under the "Enpower" brand name.
PC Club | Introduction
The Amateur Computer Club (ACC), founded in 1973, was an early British club "open to all interested in the design, construction or programming of computers as a hobby". Most of its members lived in the United Kingdom. In 1976 an educational journal described the growth of "hobbyist" computing and said "in [the UK] there is currently one shop ... and also an active Amateur Computer Club with over 600 members".
Amateur Computer Club | Introduction
Starting the ACC was an initiative of Mike Lord of Basildon, Essex in March 1973. He published a note in the popular electronics magazine Wireless World with a proposal to write to him if one liked the idea of having a Computer Club.
Amateur Computer Club | Foundation
The HCC was inspired by the Amateur Computer Club founded in 1973 by Mike Lord. Dick Barnhoorn became a member of the ACC and after a few years started the HCC in the Netherlands and Belgium (for Dutch/Flemish speakers). In the beginning letters were sent to popular electronics and IT magazines. The initial logo of HCC was an adapted copy of the ACC logo. The first HCC meeting was in a building of the Delft University of Technology, at that moment the HCC had 12 members. A small stenciled, A5 size, newsletter was published bimonthly called HCCN (HCC Nieuwsbrief) similar to ACCN (ACC Newsletter).
Hobby Computer Club | History
The Computer Arts Society (CAS) was founded in 1968, in order to encourage the creative use of computers in the arts.
Computer Arts Society | Introduction
The example of ACC was inspiring. In ACCN vol 2 iss 3 of August 1974, the start of a new club was announced: Association Française des Amateurs Constructeurs d´Ordinateurs (AFACO) by J-C Ribes in Meudon, France. In ACCN vol 5 iss 2 of June 1977, the start of a new club in Dutch language was announced: Hobby Computer Club (HCC) by Dick Barnhoorn, Leidschendam, Netherlands.
Amateur Computer Club | Other Clubs
Gordon French was a computer engineer and programmer who played a key role in the Homebrew Computer Club. He died on October 26, 2019 in Roseburg, Oregon. On 5 March 1975, Gordon French hosted the first meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club in his garage, in Menlo Park, San Mateo County, California. He attended the first three sessions, but when he was offered a post at the Social Security Administration, he moved to Baltimore.
Gordon French | Introduction
The YPG was originally established by students from Thames Polytechnic (now the University of Greenwich) in 1984. By 1985, the group had over 250 members and in 1986 on 23 April the YPG's Constitution was ratified and the group held its inaugural conference organised by Barbara McManus.
British Computer Society Young Professionals Group | History of the group
It was interrupted in 2010 because the commercial parties lost interest as internet was becoming their main sales platform. In 2011 HCC organised a similar event on a much smaller scale than before, HCC!digital.
Hobby Computer Club | History
Kilobaud Microcomputing was a magazine dedicated to the computer homebrew hobbyists from 1977 to 1983.
Kilobaud Microcomputing | Introduction
Silicon Valley became the world's center for computer innovation.
History of California 1900–present | Introduction
The Digital Computer Association (DCA) was established in November 1952 in Santa Monica, California. It was disbanded in 1994. The organization held monthly 2–3 hour technical dinner meetings at local restaurants attended by early computer engineers and computer programmers. The founder was R. Blair Smith, a local IBM salesman. He had two reasons for starting the organization: to recruit the help of all 18 IBM 701 customers in combating copyright infringement, causing salaries to increase; and to provide a forum for exchanging software programs to eliminate duplication of effort. The DCA was loosely organized, met monthly, held an annual party and put out a newsletter.
Digital Computer Association | Introduction
In 1975, the two Steves started attending meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club. New microcomputers such as the Altair 8800 and the IMSAI inspired Wozniak to build a microprocessor into his video terminal and have a complete computer. At the time the only microcomputer CPUs generally available were the $179 Intel 8080 (), and the $170 Motorola 6800 (). Wozniak preferred the 6800, but both were out of his price range. So he watched, and learned, and designed computers on paper, waiting for the day he could afford a CPU.
History of Apple Inc. | Pre-foundation
Hardware Club was originally founded out Alexis Houssou's idea to develop the world's first community of hardware startups. Hardware Club was officially launched in 2015 with a blog post penned by cofounder Alexis Houssou called “Why hardware needs a club”.
Hardware Club | Origins
ASK was started in 1972 by Sandra Kurtzig in California. Sandra Kurtzig quit her job as a marketing specialist at General Electric and invested $2,000 of her savings to start the company in her apartment. At first, the firm built software for a variety of business applications. ASK was incorporated in 1974. In 1978, Kurtzig came up with ASK's most significant product, named MANMAN (originally "MaMa"), a contraction of "manufacturing management". MANMAN was an ERP program that ran on Hewlett-Packard HP-3000 minicomputers. MANMAN helped manufacturing companies plan materials purchases, production schedules, and other administrative functions on a scale that was previously possible only on large, costly mainframe computers.
ASK Group | Beginning and growth (1972–1982)
The Hobby Computer Club (HCC) is a Dutch computer club, now based in Haarlem, the Netherlands. It was established on April 27, 1977 by a small group of people near the town of Leiden. It grew to become a nationally significant club of over 200,000 members in 2003.
Hobby Computer Club | Introduction
After participating in a large event for technical hobbies in April 1978 membership increased from 200 to over 1000. Soon the HCC had branches in every part of the Netherlands, and through the years the HCC grew to more than 200,000 members. The small newsletter turned into a monthly computer magazine called Computer!Totaal. The HCC now also offers a free Internet service to its members, as well as free technical assistance with computer problems. For many decades a big exhibition called the "HCC dagen" ("HCC Days") was held in Jaarbeurs in Utrecht with thousands of attendees. A tradition started in 1977, for showing off the member's activities and giving commercial parties an opportunity to demonstrate new products and sell equipment and software.
Hobby Computer Club | History
The Silicon Valley Historical Association was formed in 1991 and is located in Menlo Park, California. It publishes books, produces documentaries and records filmed histories of notable tech industry figures who have contributed to the development of the tech industry. The association's mission is to record the motivations, successes, failures, mentors and experiences of the individuals who have directly contributed to the Information Age, Computer Age, and Digital Age. The association draws parallels between the information revolution that took place during the Renaissance and the current development of technology in Silicon Valley. Tech industry figures such as Hewlett-Packard founders David Packard and Bill Hewlett, Intel founders Gordon E.
Silicon Valley Historical Association | Overview
In the November 1980 issue of the UK's Personal Computer World (PCW magazine), there was an article written by David Tebbutt, about his visit to the Menlo Park Library where the "ComputerTown USA!" a self-help computer literacy movement, started by the People's Computer Company, was based. That article and the regular CTUK column/page in future issues of PCW in turn sparked a widespread UK based self-help computer literacy movement, called "ComputerTown UK!". Within a few months over 20 local groups sprang up. The idea behind the groups was that members of the public took their own personal computers into public places for the general public to see and use.
ComputerTown UK | Introduction
The primary way to support the members in their hobby was the ACC Newsletter (ACCN), with varied information pertinent to amateurs building, learning, using or just plainly interested in computers. The typewritten leaflet was published every 3 months starting with number 1 in March 1973. ACCN1 contained a description of the instruction set of a simple 10-bit computer designed by one of the first members: Ian Spencer. In August 1973 it mentions an offer to demonstrate a homemade copy of a PDP-8 made by John Florentin. This machine had been demonstrated earlier in March 1973 at a meeting of the Surrey Radio Contact club in Croydon.
Amateur Computer Club | Activities
The CCC was founded in Berlin on 12 September 1981 at a table which had previously belonged to the Kommune 1 in the rooms of the newspaper Die Tageszeitung by Wau Holland and others in anticipation of the prominent role that information technology would play in the way people live and communicate.
Chaos Computer Club | Founding
Silicon Valley started a computer rental service in December 15, 1985. They were the first in the Philippines to sell computer supplies by pieces instead of selling it by sets. With their prospering business for eleven years, in 1996, the company moved its corporate office at San Francisco Del Monte, Quezon City, Philippines and started to expand branches, nationwide. In 1997, First International Computer (FIC), a Taiwanese-based manufacturer of computer motherboards, appointed Silicon Valley as their distributor in the Philippines. It then followed by Hewett-Packard which the appointed Silicon Valley as their Accredited Commercial Reseller (ACR), Dealer Premier Support Partner (DPSP) and Accredited Service Provider (ASP).
Silicon Valley Computer Group Philippines | History
Woman's Club of Palo Alto (founded 1894, and active to present day) is a civic, cultural, philanthropic and social club, initially founded on June 20, 1894 by 24 women in Palo Alto, California. The building that currently houses the club is historical and built in 1916 in a Tudor-Craftsman style, and is located at 475 Homer Avenue in Palo Alto. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
Woman's Club of Palo Alto | Introduction
Computers have been built at home for a long time, starting with the Victorian era pioneer Charles Babbage in the 1820s. A century later, Konrad Zuse built his own machine when electromechanical relay technology was widely available. In 1965, electronics engineer James Sutherland started building a computer out of surplus parts from his job at Westinghouse. The hobby really took off with the early development of microprocessors, and since then many enthusiasts have constructed their own computers. Early examples include the Altair 8800 from the United States and the later British Newbear 77-68 and Nascom designs from the late 70's and early 80's.
Homebuilt computer | History
In 1969, CAS organised "Event One", an early digital art exhibition held at the Royal College of Art in London.
Computer Arts Society | Early activities
The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, a communist dominated union, but friendly to minority and women workers, gradually lost its place during the McCarthy era. In the 1950s the transistor industry was established which led, together with Xerox and Stanford University research and the Digital Revolution, to the Valley becoming Silicon Valley, a premier electronic technology center.
Santa Clara Valley | War and industry
Interface Age, "published for the home computerist", was a computer magazine aimed at the early microcomputer and home computer market. Its first issue was published in August 1976 and the last one in September 1984. It had a technical focus for most of its print run. The magazine started as the newsletter of the Southern California Computer Society, SCCS Interface, which was first published in December 1975. Its publisher, Robert S. Jones, offered to turn it into a professionally produced magazine and established an agreement with the SCCS in which the SCCS would provide a substantial part of the content of the magazine, while Jones would bear the costs of publishing and marketing, with the SCCS sharing in the profits.
Interface Age | Introduction
The society's founding was initiated by Donald Tepas who asked for support from the National Science Foundation's Office of Computing Activities. Tepas wanted help with the development of intereactive system for searches. Instead, the NSF suggested that a conference be arranged and its proceedings published, which was indeed done. In 2006, Dr. Christopher R. Wolfe documented the history of the Society for Computers in Psychology in Behavior Research Methods: SCiP history may be divided into three eras: the Paleozoic (1971–1982), the Mesozoic (1982–1994), and the Cenozoic (1994–present). Following a list of Secretary–Treasurers, a list of all SCiP Presidents is provided in Table 1.
Society for Computers in Psychology | History
1995: founded by Dr. David Lee and Brian Underwood, both Silicon Valley Engineers
Silicon Image | History
The DigiBarn Computer Museum, or simply DigiBarn, is a computer history museum in Boulder Creek, California, United States. The museum is housed in a 90-year-old barn constructed from old-growth Redwood in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which is adjacent to Silicon Valley. It was co-founded by Bruce Damer and Allan Lundell on May 7, 2001. The primary focus of the museum's collection is on the birth and evolution of personal, interactive computing, starting with the LINC (1962), considered by some to be the first true personal computer, and leading on up through the homebrew microcomputer revolution of the 1970s, the propagation of personal computing to homes and businesses in the 1980s and the spread of networked computing in the 1990s.
DigiBarn Computer Museum | Introduction
The couple obtained a founding investment from the Kikkoman soy sauce company, and opened their first gym in the Citicorp Center in San Francisco. It grew quickly during the dot com boom as many companies established in-house gyms as a perquisite for employees. The first corporate facility was started in 1995, after Autodesk, Inc. contacted the couple about opening an in-house gym exclusively for company employees. Similar concessions were opened for The Gap and Electronic Arts
Club One | Introduction
The first Computer Literacy Bookshop was opened in March 1983 on Lawrence Expressway between Lakeside Drive and Titan Way in Sunnyvale, California, by founders Dan Doernberg and Rachel Unkefer. It was located in the heart of Silicon Valley, not far from where the original Fry's Electronics store opened two years later. In 1987 the company opened two additional stores: one on North First Street in San Jose and another in the TechMart complex near Great America in Santa Clara. The San Jose store was probably the largest computer bookstore in America, with over 14,000 square feet of floorspace dedicated to new computer books.
Computer Literacy Bookshops | History
The IEEE Computer Society traces its origins to the Subcommittee on Large-Scale Computing, established in 1946 by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), and to the Professional Group on Electronic Computers (PGEC), established in 1951 by the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE). When the AIEE merged with the IRE in 1963 to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), these two committees became the IEEE Computer Group. The group established its own constitution and bylaws in 1971 to become the IEEE Computer Society. The CS maintains its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and additional offices in California, China, and Japan.
IEEE Computer Society | History
With the opportunity to stay in the United States, he then took his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Stanford University and finished in 1972. Banatao also joined the Homebrew Computer Club, where he met Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
Dado Banatao | Introduction
In collaboration with the MIT Media Lab, The Computer Museum launched The Computer Clubhouse in 1993 to provide children from under-served inner city communities access to computers to learn how to use and program computers. Guided by adult mentors, children engaged in projects such as developing simulations, building and programming robots, and creating computer games. Spurred by a major grant from Intel Corp., a national and then international network of computer clubhouses was established. After the Museum closed in 1999, the Clubhouse moved to the Museum of Science, Boston, which also served as the headquarters of The Computer Clubhouse Network.
The Computer Museum, Boston | Computer Clubhouse
The Disabled Children's Computer Group (DCCG) was started in 1983 in El Cerrito, CA by several parents, educators, and assistive technology developers who felt that the new computer technology could assist children and adults with disabilities to speak, write, read, learn, and participate in a larger world. The founding parents, Jackie and Steve Brand, wanted to find tools that their 7-year-old daughter, Shoshana, could use - as her fine motor coordination and vision were both impaired. Steve took a sabbatical from his teaching job at Berkeley High School to explore the emerging technologies. A friend, Steve Gensler of Unicorn Engineering (later known as IntelliTools) had developed a large flat keyboard alternative.
Disabled Children's Computer Group | Introduction
The organization was started in 2001 by a group of information communications technology practitioners. They officially registered under the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission in 2008 as a non-profit and non-stock corporation.
Computer Professionals' Union | History
Altair BASIC, 4K BASIC, could run within a 4kB RAM machine, leaving only about 790 bytes free for program code. The Tiny BASIC initiative started in response to the $150 charge for Altair 4K BASIC. In 1975, Steve Wozniak joined the newly formed Homebrew Computer Club, which had fellow members Li-Chen Wang (Palo Alto Tiny BASIC) and Tom Pittman (6800 Tiny BASIC). Wozniak concluded that his machine would have to have a BASIC of its own, which would, hopefully, be the first for the MOS Technology 6502 processor. As the language needed 4 kB RAM, he made that the minimum memory for the design.
Tiny BASIC | 4K BASICs
The project was led by students at Cornell University's department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. The effort was inspired by the history of the Altair 8800, one of the first DIY home computer kits released in 1975. The Altair 8800 is largely credited with triggering the home computing revolution and the transition from the industrial mainframe to the consumer desktop, by making a low-cost, open and “hackable” computer accessible to home enthusiasts for the first time. The goal of the Fab@Home project was to accomplish a similar effect in the 3D printing space. The project was one of the first larger scale cases that applied the open-source development model to physical devices, a process that later became known as Open Source Hardware.
Fab@Home | History
The Computer Measurement Group (CMG) was founded in 1974 by systems professionals with a common interest in (mainframe) capacity management, and continues today with a much broader mission. The first UNIX users' group organized in 1978. Users' groups began to proliferate with the microcomputer revolution of the late 1970s and early 1980s as hobbyists united to help each other with programming and configuration and use of hardware and software. Especially prior to the emergence of the World Wide Web, obtaining technical assistance with computers was often onerous, while computer clubs would gladly provide free technical support. Users' groups today continue to provide "real life" opportunities for learning from the shared experience of the members and may provide other functions such as a newsletter, group purchasing opportunities, tours of facilities, or speakers at group meetings.
Users' group | Introduction
The NeXT Introduction sub-titled "the Introduction to the NeXT Generation of Computers for Education"" was a lavish, invitation-only gala launch event for The NeXT Computer (also called the NeXT Computer System) was described as a multimedia extravaganza. It was held at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, California on Wednesday October 12, 1988. The event ran from 9:30am till 12 noon. Attendees were all given a unique launch event poster. After Steve Jobs departed Apple three years prior to this event, he sank from sight only emerging once in 1986 to unveil the NeXT logo and once in early 1987 to announce that H.
NeXT Introduction | Introduction
N8VEM was a homebrew computing project. It featured a variety of free and open hardware and software. N8VEM builders made their own homebrew computer systems for themselves and shared their experiences with other homebrew computer hobbyists. N8VEM homebrew computer components are made in the style of vintage computers of the mid to late 1970s and early 1980s using a mix of classic and modern technologies. They are designed with ease of amateur assembly in mind. In November 2015 the N8VEM project was ended by its creator Andrew Lynch and the community reconvened under the new name of Retrobrew Computers.
N8VEM | Introduction
The original design team had anticipated completing the computer in early 1987 to be ready for sale for by midyear. The NeXT Computer received standing ovations when revealed at a lavish, invitation-only gala event, "NeXT Introduction — the Introduction to the NeXT Generation of Computers for Education" at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, California on October 12, 1988. The following day, selected educators and software developers were invited (for a $100 registration fee) to attend the first public technical overview of the NeXT computer at an event called "The NeXT Day" held at the San Francisco Hilton.
NeXT | First generation
Though no official founding date can be established for this group, its earliest surviving tribute packs are dated December 1991 and includes art dated back to 1989.
Computer art scene | Online
Following the 1959 inventions of the monolithic integrated circuit (IC) chip by Robert Noyce at Fairchild, and the MOSFET (MOS transistor) by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs, Atalla first proposed the concept of the MOS integrated circuit (MOS IC) chip in 1960, and then the first commercial MOS IC was introduced by General Microelectronics in 1964. The development of the MOS IC led to the invention of the microprocessor, incorporating the functions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) on a single integrated circuit. The first single-chip microprocessor was the Intel 4004, designed and realized by Federico Faggin along with Ted Hoff, Masatoshi Shima and Stanley Mazor at Intel in 1971.
Silicon Valley | Computer chips
There are numerous reasons why Silicon Valley came into being. The early collaboration between Stanford professors and nearby industry aided the process. The increasing military presence, which began just before World War II, also contributed to this hi-tech corridor. Certainly America's defense spending during the Cold War Era, when research and development strove to keep abreast of the Soviet Union, helped. In response to Stanford University's financial problems around the mid-century, Professor Fred Terman of Stanford University's Department of Electrical Engineering leased parts of the university to high tech companies for 99 years, a move that is generally considered the start of the computer revolution in Santa Clara County.
History of Santa Clara County, California | Growth of Silicon Valley
The CSUA was first ASUC sponsored in the 1972-1973 academic year. The CSUA shares a great deal of history with the EXperimental Computing Facility (XCF). The CSUA was instrumental for the creation of Cowsay. In the words of author Tony Monroe, Cows have been a big part of the history and culture of the Computer Science Undergraduate Association at the University of California at Berkeley. The cows traditionally seen there before I joined the organization were very limited in what they could say and do. I wrote cowsay in an effort to remove some of those limitations.The CSUA used to be located in Evans Hall, before moving into Soda Hall shortly after Soda's construction.
Computer Science Undergraduate Association | History
In 1959, Douglas T. Ross innovated again while working at MIT on transforming mathematic statements into computer generated 3D machine tool vectors by taking the opportunity to create a display scope image of a Disney cartoon character. Electronics pioneer Hewlett-Packard went public in 1957 after incorporating the decade prior, and established strong ties with Stanford University through its founders, who were alumni. This began the decades-long transformation of the southern San Francisco Bay Area into the world's leading computer technology hub – now known as Silicon Valley. The field of computer graphics developed with the emergence of computer graphics hardware.
Computer graphics | 1950s
Planning began in 1978 by members of the Junior League of Palo Alto, with later assistance by the San Jose Junior League. The City of San Jose promised funding for a Technology Center of Silicon Valley in the 1980s, but progress was slow. The first temporary exhibit opened in 1990; The Garage, named in homage to the HP Garage, was housed in San Jose's former convention center. On October 31, 1998, a brand-new facility was inaugurated, named The Tech Museum of Innovation. In May 2019, the organization was rebranded as The Tech Interactive, and announced a new partnership with Discovery Education.
The Tech Interactive | History
During the 2017–2018 academic year, IT Club was founded with the support of professors and teachers, and it was recognized by the rector of the University. And it is known as IT Club UCSMUB. Music Club, Dance Club, Handmade Club and E-Sport Club are established as students' clubs by the students' union.
University of Computer Studies (Maubin) | Student Associations/Clubs
As early as 1965, some experimental projects, such as Jim Sutherland's ECHO IV, explored the possible utility of a computer in the home. In 1969, the Honeywell Kitchen Computer was marketed as a luxury gift item, and would have inaugurated the era of home computing, but none was sold. Computers became affordable for the general public in the 1970s due to the mass production of the microprocessor starting in 1971. such as the Altair 8800 had front-mounted switches and diagnostic lights (nicknamed "blinkenlights") to control and indicate internal system status, and were often sold in kit form to hobbyists. These kits would contain an empty printed circuit board which the buyer would fill with the integrated circuits, other individual electronic components, wires and connectors, and then hand-solder all the connections.
Home computer | Background
The beginning of the club was documented by music journalist Ian Gittins in the book that accompanied the first Return to the Source compilation 'Deep Trance and Ritual Beats' (1995). At page 8, Gittins writes:
Return to the Source | Introduction
The advent of the microprocessor and solid-state memory made home computing affordable. Early hobby microcomputer systems such as the Altair 8800 and Apple I introduced around 1975 marked the release of low-cost 8-bit processor chips, which had sufficient computing power to be of interest to hobby and experimental users. By 1977 pre-assembled systems such as the Apple II, Commodore PET, and TRS-80 (later dubbed the "1977 Trinity" by "Byte" Magazine) began the era of mass-market home computers; much less effort was required to obtain an operating computer, and applications such as games, word processing, and spreadsheets began to proliferate. Distinct from computers used in homes, small business systems were typically based on CP/M, until IBM introduced the IBM-PC, which was quickly adopted.
History of computing hardware (1960s–present) | Microcomputer emerges
On April 23, 1963, J.C.R. Licklider, the first director of the Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) at The Pentagon's ARPA issued an office memorandum addressed to Members and Affiliates of the Intergalactic Computer Network. It rescheduled a meeting in Palo Alto regarding his vision of a computer network, which he imagined as an electronic commons open to all, the main and essential medium of informational interaction for governments, institutions, corporations, and individuals. As head of IPTO from 1962 to 1964, "Licklider initiated three of the most important developments in information technology: the creation of computer science departments at several major universities, time-sharing, and networking." By the late 1960s, his promotion of the concept had inspired a primitive version of his vision called ARPANET, which expanded into a network of networks in the 1970s that became the Internet.
Silicon Valley | Computer networking
The California Society of Etchers (CSE) was founded in San Francisco in December 1912 and announced in the "San Francisco Chronicle" on January 19, 1913 ("Etchers Form a State Organization", p. 27). Several sources cite an earlier 1911 date, such Marilyn S. Kushner's detailed chapter, "Genesis of the Twentieth-Century Print Club", although she does not cite her source. Robert B. Harshe, founder, and later first president of California Society of Etchers, leaves the founding date ambiguous in his chapter in the 1916 book, "Art in California". His chapter mentions the four years of the society, although the chapter itself is undated.
California Society of Printmakers | Origins of the California Society of Etchers (CSE)
Hacker groups are informal communities that began to flourish in the early 1980s, with the advent of the home computer.
Hacker group | Introduction
The museum began in 1996 with a core group, all of whom had been members of a British sports car club. Talking among themselves, the eventual founders of the museum decided that a former Computer Museum in Boston was failing to inform and inspire future generations about the origins of the computer. The museum was formally established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1999. In 2015, the museum also started leasing space in the Meadows Professional Office Complex to offer a more interactive experience, including classes for the community and students.
Rhode Island Computer Museum | History
Silicon Valley became the world's center for computer innovation.
History of California | History of California, 1900 to present
LaFarr Stuart (born July 6, 1934 in Clarkston, Utah), now retired, was an early computer music pioneer, computer engineer and member of the Homebrew Computer Club.
LaFarr Stuart | Introduction
Following her college graduation in 1984, she moved to the San Francisco Bay area to work at two Fortune 100 companies (Honeywell and Burroughs, which became Unisys) doing software services and software support. She continued homebrewing, but since wine in the area was cheap, in 1985 she turned to homebrewing beer instead. She joined a homebrewing club, the San Andreas Malts, where she learned the foundational ingredients and processes for beer brewing: malts, hops, yeast, and temperature. During this time, she also attended events such as the American Homebrewers Association Conference and the Great American Beer Festival.
Teri Fahrendorf | Early life and education
In 1996/1997, The TCM History Center (TCMHC) in Silicon Valley was established; a site at Moffett Field was provided by NASA (an old building that was previously the Naval Base furniture store) and a large number of artifacts were shipped there from TCM.
Computer History Museum | History
KidSoft Inc. was an educational software company based in Los Gatos, CA. It was started in May 1992 by Richard Devine and Charles Patterson, in conjunction with Alison Woods (partner at Woods+Woods Design), Audrey Mac Clean, and Karen Schultz. The ClubKidsoft children’s magazine and catalog concept was the brainchild from a creative collaboration between Designer/Art Director Alison Woods and copywriter Paula Polley. The first prototypes were developed by Woods+Woods Design and used for raising the first round of venture funding for the project. Alison Woods was brought onboard as vice president and creative director to oversee the creative direction of the magazine and CD-ROM and Paula Polley worked remotely as the senior copywriter and editor.
Club Kidsoft | Introduction
It occupied 343 Soda, then moved to 311 Soda.
Computer Science Undergraduate Association | History
Together, in Steve Job's garage in Cupertino, Wozniak and Jobs formed Apple Computer. By 1976 Apple's first personal computer, the Apple I, was being sold. Even after the collapse of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s, "about 4,000 IT-related companies located along Highway 101 from San Francisco to San Jose generate approximately $200 billion in IT-related revenue annually" reported Gregory R. Gromov, in "The Roads and Crossroads of Internet History". Other technical advances also occurred in the field of biotechnology, a new industry, springing from discoveries of gene splicing and gene cloning at the Bay Area universities. The local four-year colleges and two-year community colleges met the demands for supplying high technology companies with engineers.
History of Santa Clara County, California | Growth of Silicon Valley
The popularization of the name is credited to Don Hoefler. He first used it in the article "Silicon Valley USA", which appeared in the January 11, 1971 issue of the weekly trade newspaper "Electronic News". However, it took about a decade before the term came into common use. The term gained widespread use in the early 1980s, at the time of the introduction of the IBM PC and numerous related hardware and software products to the consumer market.
Silicon Valley | Origin of the term
While he was with Fairchild, Lawson and Ron Jones were the sole black members of the Homebrew Computer Club, a group of early computer hobbyists that included a number of industry legends, including Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Lawson had noted he had interviewed Wozniak for a position at Fairchild, but did not hire him. In 1980, Lawson left Fairchild and founded Videosoft, a video game development company that made software for the Atari 2600 in the early 1980s, as the 2600 had displaced the Channel F as the top system in the market. Videosoft closed about five years later, and Lawson started to take on consulting work.
Jerry Lawson (engineer) | Career
The ACM was founded in 1947 under the name "Eastern Association for Computing Machinery", which was changed the following year to the Association for Computing Machinery.
Association for Computing Machinery | History
The club was founded on the town of Sant Joan at 2007. First years were a chaotic and confused start and sometimes the club was near to the dismiss.
Sant Joan C.E. | Starting 2007-2009
The PC532 was a "home-brew" microcomputer design created by George Scolaro and Dave Rand in 1989-1990, based on the National Semiconductor NS32532 microprocessor (a member of the NS320xx series). Full hardware documentation for the design, including schematics and PAL programming data, was made freely available, and a short run (around 200) of motherboard PCBs were produced for hobbyists to populate and assemble into fully functional systems.
PC532 | Introduction
Sam Matsa whose background in graphics started with the APT project at MIT with Doug Ross and Andy Van Dam petitioned Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) to form SICGRAPH (Special Interest Committee on Computer Graphics), the forerunner of ACM SIGGRAPH in 1967. In 1974, the first SIGGRAPH conference on computer graphics opened. This annual conference soon became the dominant venue for presenting innovations in the field.
History of computer animation | SIGGRAPH
The company was founded in 1968 by David C. Evans and Ivan Sutherland, professors in the Computer Science Department at the University of Utah. who were pioneers in computer graphics technology. They formed the company to produce hardware to run the systems being developed in the University, working from an abandoned barracks on the university grounds. The company was later housed in the University of Utah Research Park. Most of the employees were active or former students, and included Jim Clark, who started Silicon Graphics, Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar, John Warnock of Adobe, and Scott P. Hunter of Oracle.
Evans &amp; Sutherland | History
The inaugural event was held on 15 May 2011 with more than 30 companies in attendance. The event attracted more than 500 developers.
Silicon Milkroundabout | First event
From 1968 through the mid-1970s Warren worked as a freelance minicomputer programmer and computer consultant, operating under the name, Frelan Associates (for "free land"), creating assembler-level real-time data-acquisition and process-control programs for biomedical research at Stanford Medical Center, and control programs for various high-tech companies around Silicon Valley. In those years, he also chaired the Association for Computing Machinery's regional chapters of SIGPLAN, SIGMICRO and the San Francisco Peninsula ACM. In 1977, Warren co-founded the West Coast Computer Faire which, for a half-dozen years, was the largest public microcomputer convention in the world. He was its self-titled "Faire Chaircreature," organizing eight conventions.
Jim Warren (computer specialist) | Computing
"inCider" observed that "companies cannot live by dilettantes alone". Gutman wrote that when the first computer boom ended in 1984, "Suddenly, everybody was saying that the home computer was a fad, just another hula hoop". Robert Lydon, publisher of "Personal Computing", stated in 1985 that the home market "never really existed. It was a fad. Just about everyone who was going to buy a computer for their home has done it", and predicted that Apple would cease to exist within two years.
Home computer | Reception and sociological impact
The Ratio Club was a small British informal dining club from 1949 to 1958 of young psychiatrists, psychologists, physiologists, mathematicians and engineers who met to discuss issues in cybernetics.
Ratio Club | Introduction
The Trenton Computer Festival, founded in 1976 was, up until 3/10/2020, the oldest continuously-running personal computer show in the world. It is considered to be the first major fair for personal computer hobbyists. It was founded 1976 at Trenton State College by Sol Libes and Allen Katz with the assistance of the Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey (ACGNJ). The initial event drew a crowd of approximately 1,500, and featured lectures, vendor tables, and an outdoor computer market, all aimed at the amateur computer hobbyist. By 1992, it had moved to the Mercer County Community College, and by 1999 it had moved to the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, New Jersey.
Trenton Computer Festival | Introduction
SEMI was founded in 1970 as an association of semiconductor production equipment vendors. At that time, most companies in the semiconductor industry exhibited at the Wescon Show on the west coast and the IEEE show on the east coast. Wishing to organize a show dedicated to semiconductor production equipment, 55 companies met in Palo Alto and agreed to found a new association, originally called Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Institute. The first SEMICON show was held in 1971 at the San Mateo Fairground in California, which featured “semiconductor processing equipment, materials, and service firms.” It featured 80 exhibitors and attracted 2,800 visitors.
SEMI | Conferences and trade shows
Opened in 1977 in Marin County, CA, the Marin Computer Center was the world's first public access microcomputer center. The non-profit company was co-created by David Fox (later to become one of Lucasfilm Games' founding members) and Annie Fox an author. MCC (as it was known) initially featured the Atari 2600, an Equinox 100, 9 Processor Technology Sol 20 computers (S-100 bus systems), the Radio Shack Model I and the Commodore PET. In addition to providing computer access to the public it had classes on the programming language BASIC. Later it added Apple II and Atari 800 computers, for a total of about 40 systems.
Marin Computer Center | Introduction
Originally, "C!T" was the newsletter of the Hobby Computer Club (HCC) and was called "HCC Nieuwsbrief". The magazine was started in 1977. It was renamed to the current name in 1992. On 1 October 2008, IDG and HCC terminated their co-operation. From that date onwards, HCC membership and the HCC Nieuwsbrief subscription were no longer linked. "C!T" is published by IDG Nederland and part of IDG's "PC World" product line.
Computer!Totaal | History and profile