While it doesn’t have DEF CON or even HOPE recognition, the Trenton Computer Festival (TCF) holds the record for longest-running computer convention, dating all the way back to 1976. TCF has offered vendor spaces, a swap meet, workshops, and keynote talks almost as much. as long as the personal computer has existed. But until now, all that knowledge has only been available to those in the northeastern US who were willing to follow the itinerant event as it bounced between locations over the decades.
Or at least, it used to be. Like many events, during the COVID-19 pandemic, TCF was forced to go virtual, meaning that for the first time, all conversations were actually recorded. Over the weekend, organizers announced that all of the 2020 and 2021 lectures and demonstrations had been uploaded to a new YouTube channel, making them accessible to a global audience.
Bill Gates at TCF in 1989
Two years may not sound like much, especially considering that there are still over 40 years of irresponsibility. But thanks to the incredible amount of content squeezed into the event each year, the TCF YouTube channel currently plays host to more than 80 presentations that range from live music performances to deep dives on the Apollo Guidance Computer and quantum computing. Whatever your interests, there’s a good chance you’ll find a presentation or two talking about it in this impressive collection.
When we made our last visit to this legendary convention, our only real complaint was the fact that none of the presentations were recorded. With over 40 lectures crammed into a six-hour event, attendees couldn’t help but see more than a fraction of the content on offer. The nature of going virtual clearly made it much easier to save all this incredible content for later viewing, but it’s unclear if the organizers will be able to maintain that momentum into 2023, when TCF is expected to be back in person.
This post Trenton Computer Festival Makes YouTube Debut
was original published at “https://hackaday.com/2022/04/11/trenton-computer-festival-makes-youtube-debut/”