VCF East 2026 - Lee Felsenstein – A Look at Personal Computer History and its Future

Why did personal computers come into existence? What happened to the confident predictions for the future of microprocessors? Why and how did a stratum of ordinary people develop their skills to take control over the direction of the most consequential technology that was headed in a different direction? Lee Felsenstein is an American computer engineer who played a central role in the development of personal computers. He was one of the original members of the Homebrew Computer Club and the designer of the Osborne 1, the first mass-produced portable computer. Before the Osborne, Felsenstein designed the Intel 8080 based Sol-20 computer from Processor Technology, the PennyWhistle modem, and other early "S-100 bus" era designs. His shared-memory alphanumeric video display design, the Processor Technology VDM-1 video display module board, was widely copied and became the basis for the standard display architecture of personal computers. On April 16, 2016, Felsenstein was made a Fellow of the Computer History Museum, "for his influence on the technical and social environment of the early personal computing era." #vcf #vintagecomputerfederation #vintagecomputer #vintagecomputerfestival #homebrewcomputerclub #s100