About our site

Technology Rewind was founded in June 2006 as a vintage technology news and resources site. It follows the Computer Collector Newsletter which began in Jan. 2004, and which itself followed the Classic Tech E-Letter which began in 2002. But regardless of our name changes, our basic purpose remains unchanged: to cover the hobby of vintage computer collecting for fun and education. The hobby is similar to collecting antique cars: some people just collect to reminisce, others spend all their time and money doing full restorations, and still others actually drive around. It’s the same with vintage computers. You can collect, restore, or use numerous kinds of computers, such as mainframes, minis, micros (desktops), portables, handhelds, and game consoles. You can collect hardware, software, and accessories. You can do it in private, share it with friends via the 'net, and meet in person at clubs and shows.

You can help us by suggesting story ideas. The newsletter is a non-profit entity and everyone on the staff has a day job, so publishing each week can be difficult. If you have an idea such as a restoration project you’re working on, a book review, an interview with someone of note, or just a fun tale of collecting — please tell us. We welcome letters to the editor. Contact us.

Hello! I’m Evan Koblentz, and thanks for visiting. I'm the editor of Technology Rewind, the president of a user group called MARCH (Mid-Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists), and a collector of vintage portable computers (check out my PDA research.) By day, I'm a freelance technology journalist. I live in northern New Jersey and relax by driving my Mazdaspeed Miata.

Hail our founder! Mike is a former Byte editor and now edits UCG publications focused on SAP AG’s technology. He founded our predecessor publication, the Classic Tech E-Letter (archives under construction). He also wrote the book Collectible Microcomputers, featuring descriptions and a price guide for about 700 systems, and he collects vintage computer literature. Mike lives in southern New Hampshire with his family.

Sellam Ismail, the most public face of the hobby, is lucky enough to have it also be his career. Sellam runs three companies: VintageTech, a consultancy for vintage computing; the Vintage Computer Festival, a three-times-a-year gathering; and e-Cycle, for electronics recycling. He also founded the Vintage Computer Marketplace and runs the FutureKeep project. Old computers are our friends, but if you encounter one that’s not, he probably wants it.

What can we say about Christine Finn? She’s British, brilliant, and a prolific writer (and artist and radio commentator!) of technology archeology. By day, Christine is Honorary Research Fellow & Writer-in-Residence, J.B. Priestley Library, at the University of Bradford. She wrote the book Artifacts: An Archeologist’s Year in Silicon Valley (now in its second edition with a new epilogue). Her newest book is Past Poetic: Archaeology in the poetry of W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney. She also writes a blog.

Erik Klein owns Vintage-Computer.com. He's a card-carrying geek. After discovering eBay’s vintage computer pages, “The end result is the functional equivalent of a heroin addiction that costs less but takes up more space. I started collecting old computers. Specifically I collect old PCs. First just the machines that had a particular history with me... and then it became any machine I remembered reading about, playing with or regarding as cool at one point.” He lives in Silicon Valley and drives a vintage Corvette.

Bill Loguidice is the founder and editor of ArmchairArcade.com, which provides our weekly dose of classic videogame news. By day he's a technology analyst at Volt Information Sciences. He also owns BillandChristina.com and Mythcore.com.