Computer Shopper - UK (2020-03)

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The mailing list became Abraham’s home,
and his mind was buzzing with ideas.
“I got the idea for the Vintage Computer
Festival and held the first one in 1997 in
Pleasanton, California,”hesays (the event
is now international and runs annually).
He also began aconsulting business called
Vintage Tech, since he was constantly being
approached bypeople who needed access
to old computers or who were looking for
specificsoftware.
“That’s when Idiscoveredthe lucrative
business ofrenting stuff toattorneys for
patent litigation,”headds.
Abbrahham, thhereffore,bbecame pioneering
since he was puttinghis old tech tonew
uses very early on. One ofhis firstcases
involved apatent lawyer who was defending
eMachines against Compaq over the design
of aflipdoor that would cover acomputer’s
ports. He also worked on getting a25-year-old
Xerox Star computer working again for
another patent lawsuit.
“But Ialso sat down and thought about
other services Icould provide using my
collection, and Ibegan torent computers to
movie studios and take requests toconvert
data and discs so that the information could
be read on modern machines.”
One ofhis Teletypemachines appeared in
the 2006 filmThe Hoaxstarring Richard Gere,
while older Apple computers were borrowed
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2006, Ihad brokered the sale ofsix Apple Is,
with the highest price being the equivalent of
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⬆Introduced in late1982, the low-cost HP 9816 featured an integrated monitor

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