Part 1 couldn’t possibly contain everything I’ve seen over that weekend, and I didn’t wanna leave any parts out – so here’s part 2 as promised. I returned near the Retro Tech Foundation’s Apple Garage to see the other Apple computers next to the Bell & Howell Apple II.
First time trying an Apple Lisa
I wanted to see what it was like, how the UI behaved, how it would perform, and whether or not I’d be able to do something on it with the preinstalled apps. It was neat to see the graphics load up one by one when switching overlapping windows back and forth, interact with a seemingly familiar OS, and observe the differences between it and classic Mac OS.
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The MacCharlie
I had to do a double-take when seeing it.. “there’s no way..” but yes there it was.. a well-preserved MacCharlie + Mac 128K + IBM breakout box (required)! Had all its original documentation as well. Made by Dayna communications, it allowed users to run MS-DOS software.
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This was hosted by The Computer Museum at System Source, at table D701 – D702, sitting right next to a Macintosh SE that had a Radius full page display + Radius 16 accelerator.
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Meeting Mac84
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Meeting DosDude1 (Aka Collin)
Finally met Collin Mistr, spent a little time chatting! There were more devices up on display, but the prototype iPod touch and this Sony pocket Pc running SL were quite intriguing. Should’ve taken more pictures. He’s a chill, knowledgeable, approachable guy. Good to see you!
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Evanboone & LAVCC
While I’ve seen (and once had one a graphite) 1998 Apple Studio Displays (VGA) before.. never saw a teal one in person, nor one in such nice shape! This was over at Table D204, LVACC and Evanboone.
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THIS.. is a Power Mac G4 with an Orange PC 660 Windows compatibility card (and what looks like an aftermarket heatsink). It’s an entire PC complete with RAM, a CPU, etc; to enable users to run Windows and DOS on their Mac! This was also at the evanboone & LAVCC table 
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Meeting Superstar64
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What a smoke show!
What a smoke show this was. One of my favorite moments of the whole event was how this Samsung EDO/EGA CRT erupted in smoke as I was walking by it, just about making a mushroom cloud up to the ceiling. Then everyone clapped and cheered 
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I wasn’t able together a good picture of the smoke in the air, but luckily someone else in the Low End Mac community spotted it too! The display ceased to work right in front of me, long after smoking.
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Playing with SGI Machines for the first time
These were a longstanding curiosity for myself, but I could never afford one for the longest time. I hear some are more inexpensive, but I’m not well researched, would need to spend time and make room. In any case, I’ve never used a Silicon Graphics Machine before, only read about them and know they made movies like Toy Story and Jurassic Park, while also being heavily used in a TV show I grew up on (and love to this day), Star Trek: The Next Generation.
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I wound up sitting behind a purple cube looking computer called a Tezro, which had absolutely mind-boggling graphical animations and renderings for the time period. I know little to nothing of the OS or how to effectively take advantage of the tools, but I wanted to know how using the computer would be like. Everything on-screen looked SO far ahead of it’s time.
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Was the Nintendo Virtual Boy (1996) actually bad?
Walking into VCF Midwest I didn’t know there’d be so many game consoles there, but it’s a welcome surprise especially when you grew up playing video games and can put other systems you never used into perspective. I had a GameCube and a clear GameBoy Advance when they were first released ~2002, a neighbor had a Genesis and a Dreamcast, and to me at that time, the NES was this rare fabled gem I never got around to seeing until later in life. But I never even heard of the Virtual Boy until a few yers ago, and now I got to see what it’s like.
Tetris was the cartridge loaded up, and my first thought was: How is this 3D experience going to enhance Tetris? I put on the headset, and off we go. The Tetris part plays as you expect, but the depth of field is simulated by the effect of flying stars from the center outward to the edges of the screen.
I noticed the simulated parallax effects too. Visually I think I would’ve been okay if it weren’t for the sound.. game sound was piercing and feels like it’s right under my face when wearing the headset. Game sound design amplified any nauseating effects/head change. I didn’t personally feel stomach sick, but I did feel disoriented.
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Seeing many familiar devices in-person for the first time
First time seeing in person: Macintosh Portable, eMate 300, all the Newton MessagePads, a Pioneer MPC-GX1 Macintosh Clone, QuickTake 150, and Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh. I think there were at least 3 – 4 TAMs on display throughout the whole event.
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Bringing back some goodies
But how could I possibly leave VCF Midwest without some haul? This was only the start, but I found some MacBooks, a PowerBook 165 and an AirPort Extreme Base Station.
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Was this the long-lost twin of my 3,1?
While I didn’t ultimately end up buying this Mac Pro 3,1, the post-it note on it made me pause as I was walking and chuckle, thinking back to the 3,1 at home which does the same exact thing. I would accidentally bump into the table with the swivel chair sometimes, and the 3,1 would restart. Partly why I went to a 5,1 in 2020 and later an M1 mini.
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More in Part 3!
Stay tuned for part 3, which will contain all the remaining bits. Thank you for reading!
