View source for West Coast Computer Faire

{{Short description|Annual computer industry expo in San Francisco, California from 1977 to 1991}}
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox recurring event
| name               = West Coast Computer Faire
| native_name        = 
| native_name_lang   = 
| logo               = 
| logo_caption       = 
| image              = [[File:Grahamauditorium.jpg|250px]]<!-- Moscone Center, San Francisco (2013).JPG -->
| caption            = Civic Auditorium ({{circa}} 2008)<!-- Moscone Center, San Francisco (2013) -->
| status             = Defunct
| genre              = Conference, exhibition
| date               = <!--"dates=" also works, but do not use both-->
| begins             = 
| ends               = 
| frequency          = Annually
| venue              = 
| location           = [[San Francisco]], [[California]], United States
| coordinates        = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LON|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} -->
| country            = 
| years_active       = 
| first              = {{Start date|1977|04|16}}
| founder_name       = 
| last               = 1991<!-- Date of most recent event; if the event will not be held again, use {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} -->
| participants       = 
| attendance         = 
| activity           = 
| patron             = 
| organised          = <!--"organized=" also works-->
| filing             = <!-- Filing status -->
| people             = 
| member             = 
| website            = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| footnotes          = 
}}
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 fair was held in 1977 and was organized by [[Jim Warren (computer specialist)|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 Inc.]] 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 Warren sold the show, it had a few more good years, and then declined rapidly.{{According to whom|date=September 2022}}

==History==
The first fair took place on April 15–17, 1977,<ref>{{Cite web |editor-last=Warren |editor-first=Jim |editor-link=Jim Warren (computer specialist) |title=Proceedings of the First West Coast Computer Faire 1977 |url=https://bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/Proceedings_of_the_First_West_Coast_Computer_Faire_1977.pdf |access-date=November 21, 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=February 14, 1977 |title=The First West Coast Computer Faire |pages=6 |work=Silicon Gulch Gazette |publisher=The Computer Faire |url=https://bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/SiliconGulchGazette/SGG_vol_00_1977.pdf |access-date=November 21, 2022}}</ref> in [[San Francisco Civic Auditorium]], and saw the debut of the [[Commodore PET]], presented by [[Chuck Peddle]], and the [[Apple II]],<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1977-04/page/n11 |title=A Nybble on the Apple |author=Helmers, Carl |date=April 1977 |magazine=BYTE |access-date=22 October 2018}}</ref> presented by then-22-year-old [[Steve Jobs]] and 26-year-old [[Steve Wozniak]]. At the exhibition, Jobs introduced the Apple II to [[Japan]]ese textile maker Toshio Mizushima, who became the first authorized Apple dealer in Japan.<ref>[[Walter Isaacson]]: ''Steve Jobs'', Chapter Six – "The Apple II" pp. 144. Simon & Schuster (October 24, 2011) {{ISBN|1-4516-4855-3}}</ref><ref>Christopher Roberts: ''Second to none: American companies in Japan'' pp. 60. Tokyo, Japan : Charles E. Tuttle Company (September 24th, 1986) {{ISBN|0517562863}}</ref><!-- this was previously linked to http://www.openbook.tv/book2/2_chapter1.htm; however the whole domain was "parked" as of November 2007. In March 2009, the domain was listed as "on sale", so one may presume that it was abandoned -->Other visitors included Tomio Gotō who developed the [[TK-80]] and [[PC-8001]], and [[Kazuhiko Nishi]] who produced the [[MSX]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000055/card365.html|title=パソコン創世記|last=富田|first=倫生|publisher=旺文社|year=1985|isbn=978-4010098974|language=ja|trans-title=The Book of Personal Computer Genesis|via=[[Aozora Bunko]]}}</ref> There were about 180 exhibitors, among them [[Intel]], [[Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems|MITS]], and [[Digital Research]].

When the first fair opened, almost twice as many people arrived as Warren anticipated, and thousands of people were waiting to get into the auditorium. More than 12,000 people visited the fair.

{{blockquote|As Jim Warren later recalled: “We had these lines running all around the fucking building and nobody was irritated. Nobody was pushy. We didn’t know what we were doing and the exhibitors didn’t know what they were doing and the attendees didn’t know what was going on, but everybody was excited and congenial and undemanding and it was a tremendous turn-on. People just stood and talked—‘Oh, you’ve got an [[Altair 8800|Altair]]? Far out!’ ‘You solved this problem?’ And nobody was irritated.” ... The first Computer Faire was to the hardware hackers an event comparable to [[Woodstock]] in the movement of the sixties. Like the concert at Max Yasgur’s farm, this was both a cultural vindication and a signal that the movement had gotten so big that it no longer belonged to its progenitors.|source=[[Steven Levy]] (1984). [[Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution|title-link=Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution|last=Levy|first=Steven|publisher=[[O'Reilly Media]]|year=2010|edition=25th Anniversary|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hackersheroescom00levy_989/page/n242 225], 227|author-link=Steven Levy}}</ref>|sign=}}

The 2nd West Coast Computer Faire was held March 3–5, 1978,<ref>{{Cite web |editor-last=Warren |editor-first=Jim |editor-link=Jim Warren (computer specialist) |title=Proceedings of the Second West Coast Computer Faire 1978 |url=https://bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/Proceedings_of_the_Second_West_Coast_Computer_Faire_1978.pdf |access-date=November 21, 2022}}</ref> at what was then the [[San Jose Civic|San Jose Convention Center]]. This event had the first-ever micro[[computer chess]] tournament, won by ''[[Sargon (chess)|Sargon]]''.

The 3rd West Coast Computer Faire was held on November 3–5, 1978, at the [[Los Angeles Convention Center]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 25, 1978 |title=Silicon Gulch Gazette |volume=3 |pages=1 |publisher=Computer Faire |issue=1 |url=https://bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/SiliconGulchGazette/SGG_vol_03.pdf |access-date=November 21, 2022}}</ref>

The 4th West Coast Computer Faire<ref>{{Cite news |title=4th West Coast Computer Faire |volume=4 |pages= |work=Silicon Gulch Gazette |publisher=Computer Faire |issue=1 |url=https://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/SiliconGulchGazette/14_04-01.pdf |access-date=November 21, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=4th West Coast Computer Faire |pages= |work=Silicon Gulch Gazette |publisher=Computer Faire |url=https://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/SiliconGulchGazette/17_04-02.pdf |access-date=November 21, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Silicon Gulch Gazette |publisher=Computer Faire |url=https://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/SiliconGulchGazette/18a_04-03.pdf |access-date=November 21, 2022}}</ref> returned to San Francisco in May 1979 at [[Brooks Hall]] and Civic Auditorium. [[Dan Bricklin]] demonstrated [[VisiCalc]], the first [[spreadsheet]] program for personal computers.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1979-08/page/n153 |title=Editorial: Returning to the Tower of Babel, or... Some Notes About LISP, Languages and Other Topics |author=Helmers, Carl |date=August 1979 |magazine=BYTE |pages=6; 154–158 |access-date=22 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Current |first1=Michael D. |title=A History of WCI Games / Atari / Atari Games / Atari Holdings |url=https://mcurrent.name/atarihistory/wci_games.html#1979 |website=mcurrent.name |quote=May 11–13: At the 4th West Coast Computer Faire, held in San Francisco's Civic Auditorium & Brooks Hall, in a booth as elaborate as those seen at Consumer Electronics Shows, Atari demonstrated its new 400 and 800 series computers.}}</ref>

At the 5th West Coast Computer Faire, held in March 1980, [[Microsoft]] announced their first hardware product, the [[Z-80 SoftCard]], which gave the Apple II [[CP/M]] capabilities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=19a_05-01 |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/SiliconGulchGazette/19a_05-01.pdf |access-date=February 3, 2024 |website=bitsavers.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=19b_05-02 |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/SiliconGulchGazette/19b_05-02.pdf |website=bitsavers.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=20_05-03 |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/SiliconGulchGazette/20_05-03.pdf |website=bitsavers.org}}</ref>{{Pages needed|date=November 2022}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Budge |first=Joe |date=1980 |title=Appletivites at the West Coast Computer Faire |pages=91–92 |work=Compute. |publisher=[[Small System Services]] |issue=4 |url=https://archive.org/details/1980-05-compute-magazine/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater&q=z-80 |access-date=November 21, 2022}}</ref>

The 6th West Coast Computer Faire was held on April 3–5, 1981, notable for being the venue where [[Adam Osborne]] introduced the [[Osborne 1]].

[[File:Computer Gaming World issue 2.3 (page 22 7th West Cost Computer Faire).jpg|thumb|The 7th West Coast Computer Faire, as printed in issue 2.3 of [[Computer Gaming World]]]]

The 7th West Coast Computer Faire saw the introduction of the 5 MB Winchester [[disk drive]] for [[IBM Personal Computer|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. — {{Not a typo|I|t's [sic]}} Impact on the MicroComputer Industry'' <!-- sic; do not "correct" typos, capitalization, or punctuation --><!--you really need a valid citation/reference to make such a 'request', in the meantime have applied a template -->
 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 (computer scientist)|Bob Wallace]] ("Quicksoft") introduced "[[PC-Write]]").

The 8th West Coast Computer Faire was held March 18–20, 1983.

[[File:Moscone Center, San Francisco (2013).JPG|thumb|Moscone Center, San Francisco (2013)]]

Subsequent West Coast Computer Faires were held in [[Moscone Center]] in San Francisco. After the 10th Faire, [[Bruce Webster]] wrote that "Warren sold out just in time. The Faire is shrinking. It may not be dying, but it is no longer the important trade show it was two short years ago. Without the giant booths from IBM, Apple, and AT&T, the Faire would have looked like any other small, local, end-user show. The move to the Moscone Center didn't help that impression; a large chunk of the main floor was unused, adding to the impression of the Faire's shrunken size".<ref name="webster198509">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1985-09/1985_09_BYTE_10-09_Homebrewing#page/n383/mode/2up | title=West Coast Faire, Mac Stuff, and the Amiga | work=BYTE | date=September 1985 | access-date=20 March 2016 | author=Webster, Bruce | pages=401}}</ref>

The 12th West Coast Computer Faire was held in March 1987.<ref>{{cite journal |title=On Your Computer |journal=Kiplinger's Personal Finance |date=March 1987 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwUEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Northeast+Computer+Faire%22+%22West+Coast+Computer+Faire%22&pg=PA108 |access-date=7 March 2021 |publisher=Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. |language=en}}</ref>

The 16th West Coast Computer Faire was held from May 30 to June 2, 1991, at Moscone Center.

== West Coast IBM PC Faire, SF ==
First West Coast IBM PC Faire, August 26–28, 1983 in San Francisco, CA, was presented by Computer Faire, Inc., Redwood City, CA.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 1983 |title=The 1st West Coast IBM PC Faire |pages= |work=Business Systems Journal |issue=40 |editor-last=Warren |editor-first=Jim |editor-link=Jim Warren (computer specialist) |url=https://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/SiliconGulchGazette/40_Aug83.pdf |access-date=November 21, 2022}}</ref>

== Personal Computer Faire, SF ==
Third Personal Computer Faire September 5–7, 1985 in San Francisco, CA was presented by Computer Faire, Inc., Newton, MA.<ref name="PC_Tech_Journal_vol03_n08">{{cite journal |title=Calendar |journal=PC Tech Journal |date=1985 |volume=3 |issue=8 |url=https://archive.org/details/PC_Tech_Journal_vol03_n08 |access-date=7 March 2021 |language=english}}</ref>

Fourth Personal Computer Faire, in San Francisco, was presented September 25–27, 1986, by The Interface Group, Needham, Mass.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Calendar |journal=Computerworld |date=15 September 1986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3x5MTRcPlsC&dq=%22Personal+Computer+Faire%22+%22interface+group%22&pg=PA80 |access-date=7 March 2021 |publisher=IDG Enterprise |language=en |quote=Fourth Personal Computer Faire San Francisco, Sept. 25-27. Contact: The Interface Group, Registration Department, 300 First Ave., Needham, Mass. 02194.}}</ref><ref name="Allan-2001-HistoryofPC">{{cite book |last1=Allan |first1=Roy A. |title=A History Of The Personal Computer : The People and the Technology |date=2001 |publisher=Allan Publishing |location=London, Ontario, Canada |isbn=0-9689108-3-1 |edition=1st |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofPC |access-date=7 March 2021 |quote=Personal Computing magazine sponsored three shows called the Personal Computer Show! in 1977. The First Western Show was in Los Angeles in March, The First Eastern Show was in Philadelphia in April/May and The First New England Show was in Boston in June... COMDEX was a show organized by a company called The Interface Group Inc., which was founded by Sheldon Adelson in 1973. COMDEX is an acronym for COMputer Dealers' EXposition. The show is oriented to computer manufacturers, dealers and distributors. The first show was held in December 1979. COMDEX has become one of the largest computer shows in the world. It holds two major shows a year. In winter the show is in Las Vegas and in the spring it is in another major city such as Atlanta, Chicago or Toronto.}}</ref>

==Northeast Computer Faire==
The Northeast Computer Faire in Boston, was presented by Computer Faire Inc., Newton, Mass., a subsidiary of Prentice-Hall.<ref name="Plug Pulled on Computer Show">{{cite news |last1=Rivera |first1=Nancy |title=Plug Pulled on Computer Show |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-05-19-fi-9477-story.html |access-date=7 March 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=19 May 1985 |quote=The exhibition for personal and business computer users was to have been held last Thursday, Friday and Saturday but “the way things are going with the computer industry at this time, 1985 was not the time to hold a new computer show,” said David Small, a spokesman for Computer Faire Inc. The Newton, Mass.-based company, a subsidiary of Prentice-Hall, stages computer shows on both coasts.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=CALENDAR |journal=[[PC Tech Journal]] |date=1985 |volume=3 |issue=8 |url=https://archive.org/details/PC_Tech_Journal_vol03_n08 |language=english}}<!-- https://archive.org/stream/PC_Tech_Journal_vol03_n08/PC_Tech_Journal_vol03_n08_djvu.txt --></ref>

The Eighth Northeast Computer Faire, September 26–29, 1985, Bayside Exposition Center. Boston. MA. was presented by Computer Faire Inc., Newton, MA.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Computers and Space |journal=Byte Magazine |date=July 1985 |volume=10 |issue=7 |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1985-07 |access-date=7 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="PC_Tech_Journal_vol03_n08"/>

The 11th Northeast Computer Faire'','' which ran October 27-29, 1988, was presented by '''The Interface Group''' and [[Boston Computer Society]] in Boston.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 25, 1988 |title=Giant Wave Heading Straight For Boston! |volume=108 |pages=20 |work=The Tech |issue=43 |url=https://tech.mit.edu/V108/PDF/V108-N43.pdf |access-date=November 21, 2022}}</ref>

==Southern California Computer Faire==
Southern California Computer Faire was presented by Computer Faire Inc., Newton, Mass., a subsidiary of Prentice-Hall.<ref name="Plug Pulled on Computer Show"/><!-- http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/400954581/ -->

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Media coverage===
* {{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1976-12 |title=The First West Coast Computer Faire |date=December 1976 |magazine=BYTE |page=[https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1976-12/page/n96 95] |access-date=22 October 2018}}
* {{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1977-07 |title=Random Observations and Conversations at the First West Coast Computer Faire |author=Willard, Lawrence F |date=July 1977 |magazine=BYTE |pages=[https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1977-07/page/n26 25]–30 |access-date=22 October 2018}}
* {{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1978-07-rescan |title=The Second West Coast Computer Faire |author=Morgan, Chris |date=July 1978 |magazine=BYTE |pages=[https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1978-07-rescan/page/n17 16]–20 |access-date=22 October 2018}}
* {{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1980-07 |title=The 1980 West Coast Computer Faire: A Watershed Year for Personal Computing |author=Morgan, Chris |date=July 1980 |magazine=BYTE |pages=[https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1980-07/page/n47 46]–48 |access-date=22 October 2018}}
* {{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-06 |title=Editorial: West Coast Computer Faire Report |author=Morgan, Chris |date=June 1982 |magazine=BYTE |pages=[https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-06/page/n250 6]–22 |access-date=22 October 2018}}
* {{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-07 |title=Computers for Humanity: An observer comments on the Seventh West Coast Computer Faire |author=Pournelle, Jerry |date=July 1982 |magazine=BYTE |pages=[https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-07/page/n382 392]–400 |access-date=22 October 2018}}
* {{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-06-rescan |title=The User Goes to the Faire |author=Pournelle, Jerry |date=June 1983 |magazine=BYTE |pages=[https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-06-rescan/page/n307 306]–310; 315–334 |access-date=22 October 2018}}
* {{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_09-07_1984-07_Computers_and_Video |title=The West Coast Faire |author=Pournelle, Jerry |date=July 1984 |magazine=BYTE |pages=[https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_09-07_1984-07_Computers_and_Video/page/n141 136]–137; 376–382 |access-date=22 October 2018}}
* {{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_10-09_1985-09_10th_Anniversary_Issue |title=According to Webster: West Coast Faire, Mac Stuff, and the Amiga |author=Webster, Bruce |date=September 1985 |magazine=BYTE |pages=[https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_10-09_1985-09_10th_Anniversary_Issue/page/n404 401]–407 |access-date=22 October 2018}}

==External links==
* [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/computerFaire/SiliconGulchGazette/ Silicon Gulch Gazette]
* [http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc3/showpage.php?page=98 Original article about the first fair by David H. Ahl] in ''The Best of Creative Computing Volume 3'' (1980)
* [http://worldcat.org/isbn/0973864907 On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore] (2005) Variant Press. Mentions the WCCF and the debut of the Commodore PET and Apple II.

[[Category:1977 establishments in California]]
[[Category:1991 disestablishments in California]]
[[Category:Annual events in California]]
[[Category:Computer conferences]]
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1977]]
[[Category:Organized events in San Francisco]]
[[Category:History of computing]]
[[Category:Recurring events established in 1977]]
[[Category:Recurring events disestablished in 1991]]