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Ground Zero for the Personal Computer Industry: 1977's West Coast Computer Faire
Apple. Commodore. Zilog. Osborne. MITS. An event like no other.
June 03, 2024
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On April 16, 1977, something amazing happened. An even that would shape the personal computer industry for years to come…

The first “West Coast Computer Faire” kicked off in San Francisco, California.

Organized by Jim Warren (editor of “Dr Dobb’s Journal of Calisthenics and Orthodontia” — the original name of the legendary “Dr Dobb’s Journal”) and Bob Reiling (editor of “The Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter”).

The cover of the February 1977 issue of The Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter - courtesy of the DigiBarn Computer Museum

The event was also promoted — with a full page spread — in the December, 1976 issue of BYTE Magazine.

The list of companies, magazines, and computer clubs already confirmed to be attending — a full 4+ months before the event — reads like a who’s who of luminaries and pioneers in the world of personal computing.

Apple Computer (listed as Apple Computers), Zilog, MITS, Osborne, MOS, and so many more.

Boy howdy, word spread quickly.

Over 12 Thousand people attended the first Computer Faire — more than double the number planned for — making this the largest event in computer history up to this point (by a long shot).

Jim Warren, one of the organizers of the event, recalls that first day this way:

“We had these lines running all around the [CENSORED]ing building and nobody was irritated. Nobody was pushy. We didn’t know what we were doing and the exhibitors didn’t know what they were doing and the attendees didn’t know what was going on, but everybody was excited and congenial and undemanding and it was a tremendous turn-on. People just stood and talked—‘Oh, you’ve got an Altair? Far out!’ ‘You solved this problem?’ And nobody was irritated.”

Introduction of the Apple ][

By nearly every account of the event, the Apple II was the computer that generated the most excitement and the largest crowds. People were truly excited to see an Apple II in action for the first time.

The event was dramatized in the film “The Pirates of Silicon Valley”, which contained the following scene depicting the moment the doors opened, on the first day of the West Coast Computer Faire:

While that’s obviously all been exaggerated for dramatic effect, this does appear to be (based on every account I’ve heard) a somewhat accurate retelling of that particular moment in time. And did, in fact, include Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, and Paul Allen (along with so many others).

To say the Apple II introduction was a hit would be a mammoth understatement. The very next month, Wozniak would publish a detailed introduction to the Apple II in the May issue of BYTE Magazine… and the Apple II line would go on to sell close to 6 million computers and be in production for almost 17 years. (Making it one of the longest produced personal computer lines.)

If this moment in history had not occurred… would Apple (then “Apple Computer”) even exist today?

Introduction of the Commodore PET

The Apple II wasn’t the only computer introduced that day which was powered by the MOS 6502 CPU…

Commodore Business Machines — which had just recently purchase MOS (the company behind the 6502 processor) — was unveiling the Commodore PET 2001:

Who was there to do the unveiling? None other than Chuck Peddle, himself — the main designer of the 6502 CPU and the Commodore PET. Absolute legend.

The crowds weren’t quite as excited about the PET as they were the Apple II, however. The color graphics and sound of the Apple II really grabbed the attention of the conference goers (the PET only had a monochrome screen).

Just the same, the Commodore PET series laid the groundwork for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 (which would become the best selling computer model of all time, moving upwards of 17 million units).

Fun bit of trivia: Commodore was this close to purchasing Apple Computer outright before all of this took place. Commodore decided to not go through with the purchase and, instead, built their own computers based on the 6502.

There surprisingly few pictures…

One thing about many of these early — and historically significant — events in computer history: Not a lot of pictures.

The 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, despite being the largest Personal Computer event to have occurred — with thousands in attendance — is no exception to that rule. In fact, many pictures that are often passed off as “Steve Jobs at the 1977 Computer Faire” are actually from later years. The same is true of Bill Gates and Paul Allen (who also attended in the years that followed).

Some of the best, verifiable pictures (although low resolution) came from an article on the 1977 event in Creative Computing Magazine (lovingly preserved by AtariArchives.org). Which I highly recommend reading as an in-person account of this legendary event.

 
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The linux vm's in digitalocean just sit on the internet, unlike my home computers and VM's that are behind my router. I had NO IDEA about the basics that one needs to do to lock Linux down.

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I tell this story to add some context to securing, debloating and turning off or blocking telemetry on Windows. It takes just a bit of time and education to learn what to do.

I find it weird that anybody who educates themselves on running Linux and extolls the virtues of how customizable it is, and the power of learning how to use VI --- would...

Time to buy a Mac Mini - but no. Not really.

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Funny Programming Pictures Part LXII
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Apple Removes Ability to Run Unsigned Apps in macOS 15.1
Big Tech's war against "sideloading" continues.

On Monday, October 28th, Apple released the macOS 15.1 update.  And, with that update, Apple has ratcheted up their war on "sideloading" by completely disabling the ability to run unsigned macOS software.

And signing software, of course, requires an Apple Developer Connection subscription.  Which, for most people, is a costly thing.

 

Every Few Months, A Little Less Freedom

 

Just a little over one month ago (September of 2024), the initial release of macOS 15.0 brought with it a new round of restrictions on running non-signed (also called "non-notarized") applications.  With 15.0, users could still run non-signed software... but they needed to jump through a few extra hoops by openning the System Settings and manually enabling each application they wanted to run.

 

 

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Now, in 15.1, when you attempt to run a non-notarized piece of Mac software, you will be greeted by a simple error message: "The application 'Finder' does not have permission to open '(null)'."

 

 

No option to run the software whatsoever.  Effectively banning all non-signed software (such as those developed by a hobbyist).

 

The War on Sideloading Continues

 

This isn't exactly a surprising move by Apple.  Over the last few years, all of the Big Tech operating system companies (Microsoft, Apple, and Google) have pushed -- with increasing intensity -- to lock down what software users are allowed to run on their computers.

Increasingly restrictive "application signing" systems, and the removal of "features" which allowed non-signed applications to run, have been a stated goal of all three corporations.

All in the name of a war on, what Big Tech has termed, "Sideloading".

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"Sideloading" is most simply defined as "The act of installing software on a real computer."  And Apple, Google, & Microsoft are determined to stop people from doing that.

 

 

These companies haven't exactly been quiet about their goal to stop people from installing software on their computers (outside of approved, heavily restrictive mechanisms).  Back in 2021, Apple published a whitepaper entitled "Building a Trusted Ecosystem for Millions of Apps - A threat analysis of sideloading".

 

 

That's right.  Apple considers you having the freedom to install whatever software you want on the computer you own -- something every real computer (including those made by Apple) have done since the dawn of Personal Computing -- to be a "threat".

With macOS 15.1, Apple is taking significant steps to neutralize that "threat".

No software freedom for you.

 

The Last Workaround

 

As of now -- with macOS 15.1 -- there remains one final way to work around these draconian and artificial restrictions.

To do so requires the complete disabling of "Gatekeeper", the system which verifies downloads and restricts the running of non-signed applications.

This can be done via a fairly simple terminal command run as root:

 

sudo spctl --master-disable

 

However, it should be noted that with Apple's ever increasing requirements of application "notarization" -- and increasing reliance on the Mac App Store for software distribution (which ties into Gatekeeper) -- the full disabling of "Gatekeeper" seems likely to cause issues going forward with "Apple approved" methods of installing software.

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Don't Laugh, Google & Microsoft Users

 

While the news, today, is focused on Apple (their fight against the most basic freedoms of computing -- the ability to run software)... both Microsoft and Google have made it clear that they are all in on the war against sideloading.

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