Homebrew Computer Club
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Kickstarter to reunite original members of the Homebrew Computer Club more than doubles fundraising goal
A Kickstarter campaign to reunite the original members of the Homebrew Computer Club humbly began last week with a project goal of US$16,000. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Kickstarter campaign had easily eclipsed its $16,000 target with approximately $36,539 pledged from 353 backers. This is particularly cool because event organizers previously indicated that if they reach the $30,000 mark, they'd be able to hire a professional photographer to document the event and license the photos under Creative Commons. If the campaign is able to hit the $40,000 mark by October 29, a professional videographer will be commissioned to create a "micro documentary" of the event. What's notable about this Kickstarter campaign, aside from the fact that nerds are willing to plunk down big money in order to bring a group of famous nerds together, is that all of the Kickstarter incentives are completely sold out. For example, users who pledged $4,096 or more were promised eight tickets to the event along with their company logo on the event program. There were three slots available for that top-tier incentive, and all sold out out rather quickly. As for event details, the event will take place on November 11 and will feature "dozens of original surviving" Homebrew Computer Club members, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Kickstarter launched to reunite the original members of the Homebrew Computer Club
A cool new Kickstarter campaign was launched today. Its goal? To reunite the original members of the Homebrew Computer Club. In case you're unfamiliar, the Homebrew Computer Club was a hobbyist group formed in the mid '70s for computer enthusiasts in Silicon Valley. Some famed alumni of the group include Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and famed programmer John Draper, aka Captain Crunch. The Kickstarter page for the project reads in part: Please join us on November 11th, 2013 for a historic event -- the Homebrew Computer Club Reunion. The legendary Homebrew Computer Club was a grassroots group of hardware hackers who kickstarted the personal computer revolution, and forever changed the course of consumer technology--and in the process--the world. For one night in November, dozens of original surviving Homebrew Computer Club members will reunite to celebrate their legacy and to impart their wisdom to the next generation of hackers and creators whose innovations will shape the future. Guests will include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Hypertext pioneer Ted Nelson, and Homebrew original and sometimes "moderator" Lee Felsenstein. The project goal to get this event up and running is US$16,000. Money donated to the campaign will be used to cover costs associated with booking a venue, security, staffing, food and drink and of course, travel arrangements for Homebrew members. If the amount donated reaches $30,000, a professional photographer will be hired for the event. And if the amount donated reaches $40,000, a small documentary on the gathering will be commissioned. Per usual, there are incentives associated with donating at varying monetary levels. Cleverly, though, the levels for this kickstarter project come in the following dollar increments, $4, $64, $128, $512, $1,024, $2,048, and $4,096. Users who donate $4,096 will receive eight tickets to the event along with "your company logo on the event program." You can read more about the planned event on the Kickstarter page over here. If all goes according to plan, which is to say that the fundraising goal is met by October 29, the reunion will take place on November 11, 2013. Notably, the organizers already have 25 original members on board.
The Homebrew Computer Club first met 38 years ago today
Today marks the 38th anniversary of the first Homebrew Computer Club meeting. The Homebrew Computer Club was an eclectic collection of computer enthusiasts who gathered to meet and talk about tech. It was started in 1975 by Gordon French and Fred Moore. The first meeting was held in French's garage in Menlo Park, Calif. Besides talking, hacking and helping each other, the group also wrote a newsletter that was distributed around Silicon Valley. One of the biggest developments to come out of the Homebrew Computer Club was Steve Wozniak's prototype Apple-1, which was shown off to the group in July 1976 and later sold commercially for US$666.66. There are a lot of good articles about this group and those early days of Silicon Valley, but some of my favorites are this recollection from Wozniak, this memoir from Homebrew Computer Club member Bob Lash and this collection from the Computer History Museum. If you have any other favorites of your own, please share them in the comments. [Image from Bob Lash, who scribbled the date and address for the first Homebrew Computer Club meeting on the back of an envelope. ]
Game console pioneer Jerry Lawson dies at 70
Gerald A. "Jerry" Lawson is one of the great unknown pioneers of the video game industry. He passed away this past Saturday morning of unspecified causes, according to an announcement on Digital Press. Lawson will be remembered as the engineer of the first cartridge-based game console (with a pause option!), the Fairchild Channel F, which launched in August 1976 as the Video Entertainment System (VES). He was also the only black member of the legendary Homebrew Computer Club, formed in Silicon Valley in the mid-70s. In the early 1980s he founded and ran Videosoft, which developed a handful of games for the Atari 2600. Additionally, Lawson's Demolition Derby was one of the first coin-op arcade machines, produced in his garage in the early '70s and installed in a southern California pizzeria shortly after Pong debuted. One of its key design features prevented players from stealing "free" games by jiggling the coin switch. Just last month, Lawson was honored during the 7th Annual IGDA Minority Special Interest Group Social Gathering at GDC. Shortly before the event, he was profiled by the San Jose Mercury News. More about his life is revealed in a 2009 interview with Vintage Computing and Gaming. [Photo credit: Maria J Avila Lopez/Mercury News]
Happy 35th birthday to Apple, Inc.
It's no joke: Apple, Inc. turns 35 today. On April 1, 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne (who 12 days later sold his share of the startup for a meager US$2,300) founded Apple Computer. As a newborn, Apple intended to sell low-cost, hand-manufactured microcomputer components to fellow members of the local Homebrew Computer Club. [Ron Wayne will be appearing on Fox Business News this afternoon at 3:30 PM to talk about his early Apple experiences. –Ed.] Not satisfied with selling a few parts to a handful of enthusiasts, a persistent Steve Jobs pitched Apple's products to Paul Terrell, owner of a newly founded computer store in Mountain View, CA, called "Byte Shop." After a few exposures to Jobs' reality distortion field, Terrell agreed to an order of 50 fully assembled Apple I personal computers from the infant company. The two Steves, with a bit of help from their friends (and funded by the sale of a few prized possessions and a favorable loan from a parts supplier) assembled the company's first 50 machines. Together with Byte Shop, Apple put the original machines up for sale at $666.66 each, lighting the match that would later ignite the personal computer revolution.
Silicon Valley Homebrew Mobile Phone Club formed
Generally we're not the type to engage in wild and baseless speculation, but we imagine that if the just-formed Silicon Valley Homebrew Mobile Phone Club produces even a fraction of the wealth-producing talent of its namesake, the area's venture capitalists would be wise to show up to a few meetings and press some flesh. This new club, an homage to the Homebrew Computer Club that included Apple founders Steve and Steve, was organized by Matthew Hamrick and Larry Cohen as a first step in turning cellphones into the configurable platforms that PCs have become. Hamrick and Cohen envision hackers and modders worldwide (but no cloners, thank you) sharing information on their disparate wireless tinkering, meeting both virtually on the 'net and face-to-face at regular gatherings, with the goal of creating more feature-filled, individually-tailored convergence devices. Our first request for the members? We want a Motorola MPX-styled handset running Vista for Tablet PC on a 1.xGHz dual core processor with 4GB of RAM, 30GB hard drive, SLI-enabled graphics (good luck with that!), eight megapixel camera, and of course, 802.11a/b/g/n, WiMax, Bluetooth 2.0, and, just for fun, both HSDPA and EV-DO Rev. B.
