Everything about The West Coast Computer Faire totally explained
The
West Coast Computer Faire was an annual computer industry conference and exposition most often associated with
San Francisco, its first and most frequent venue. The first faire was held in
1977 and was organized by
Jim Warren and
Bob Reiling. At the time it was the biggest computer show in the world, intended to popularize the
personal computer in the home. The West Coast PC Faire was formed to provide a more specialized show. However, Apple stopped exhibiting at the West Coast Computer Faire, refusing to exhibit at any show other than Comdex that also had PC based exhibits.In
1983, Warren sold the rights to the Faire for US$3 million to
Prentice Hall, who later sold it to
Sheldon Adelson, the owner of Interface Group and
COMDEX. In total sixteen shows were held, with the last in
1991. After Jim Warren sold the show, it had a few more good years, and then declined rapidly.
History
Some people refer to the first faire as the birth of the
personal computer industry. It took place on
April 16 and
17,
1977 in San Francisco Civic Auditorium & Brooks Hall, and saw the debut of the
Commodore PET, presented by
Chuck Peddle, and the
Apple II, presented by then 21-year-old
Steve Jobs and
Steve Wozniak. On the first day of exhibition, Jobs introduced the Apple II to a
Japanese textile technician named Mizushima Satoshi who became the first authorized Apple dealer in Japan. There were about 180 exhibitors, among them
Intel,
MITS and
Digital Research. More than 12,000 people visited the faire.
The 2nd West Coast Computer Faire was held March 3-5,
1978 at the San Jose Convention Center. This event had the first ever micro
computer chess tournament, won by
Sargon.
The 3rd West Coast Computer Faire was held November 3-5,
1978 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The 4th West Coast Computer Faire returned to San Francisco in May
1979 at Brooks Hall and Civic Auditorium.
Dan Bricklin demonstrated
VisiCalc, the first
spreadsheet program for personal computers.
At the 5th West Coast Computer Faire,
Microsoft announced their first hardware product, the
Z-80 SoftCard, which gave the Apple II
CP/M capabilities.
The 6th West Coast Computer Faire was held in April
1981, when
Adam Osborne introduced the
Osborne 1.
The 7th West Coast Computer Faire saw the introduction of the 5MB Winchester
disk drive for
IBM PCs by
Davong Systems. It was held on March 19-21,
1982 in San Francisco. That year's conference also featured a Saturday breakout session, titled "THE IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER", with eight talks delivered in a three hour period. One of these was (as listed in the program):
P.C. — It's Impact on the MicroComputer Industry
Bill Gates, President
Microsoft
10800 N.E. 8th #819
Bellevue, WA 98004
At its peak, all available spaces for exhibits were rented out, including the balcony of Civic Auditorium, and the hallway to the restrooms in Brooks Hall (Where Bob Wallace ("Quicksoft") introduced "PC Write")
The 8th West Coast Computer Faire was held from March 18 to 20,
1983.
Subsequent West Coast Computer Faires were held in Moscone Center in San Francisco.
The 16th West Coast Computer Faire was held from May 30 to June 2,
1991, at Moscone Center in San Francisco.
Further Information
Get more info on 'West Coast Computer Faire'.
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