I remember going to many local Computer Fairs in the 90's. But would they work today?? The online stores cater for just about everything nowdays. Mind you, can you actually beat picking some piece of new tech in your hands and looking at for real Rather than just seeing a photograph on a webpage I bought my firsrt PC from a Computer Fair, a desktop 386 I took it apart, cleaned it, and put it back together again. Yes it still worked, why did I do this? Because I wanted to know what all parts were and how they fitted together, and it was a challenge lol...
I would think so, some people who are new to PC building go go there to buy used parts and put together their own. Maybe go for advice, meet new people. Although as you mention the internet has become much more integrated. You'd be surely to find people like me around there. There is always more to a book than its cover.
I would like to attend one but I think they would not be as big as they were back then. PC building has returned to a small niche community, however it is possible that if those shows were to happen again then the retro PC gaming community could build back up.
I'm not 100% certain what that is, but I think actual brick and mortar locations can still be viable, especially for smaller parts. I went to Micro Center last week because I needed a splunger and didn't want to wait a week for it to come here.
Nah, if people even decide to get out of the house, they don't want to get out of the car. These type of events have died out considering now so many can do their research online and buy online. It's cheaper than using gas or a bus fare to go to these events.
It's much easier to build a PC now, then it was in the 90's. Even if you do need help, 90% of the time the internet and YouTube can help you. I built my first PC when I was 12 and it was thanks to LinusTechTips and Tek Syndicate.
I last went to one end of the 90's. Since mid 00's i've been using ebay and other sites, no interest in computer fairs anymore. Same as everyone else here, I guess.
They do still exist for sure, sort of. I watch a bloke called UXWbill on youtube and when he goes to HAM events he always comes back with various amounts of shite despite it mainly being a Ham radio fair. The reason they went down the pan is dishonesty. The general rule of thumb at a car boot sale is unless you can test it there, don't buy it because if its fucked you cant return it. Unless it's obscenely cheap and you wouldn't give a monkeys if it didn't work.
That's not a computer fair, @Cyantist. A computer fair is held indoors, in a hall. It's a load of traders (often Asians) selling computer parts. Brand new. With warranty. They are all traders - a lot of them have shops or a website, too. There was usually a guy in the corner who would test something for you if you really wanted.. for, say, a fiver. The Croydon one is still going: http://www.britishcomputerfairs.com/ as is the Stratford one, albeit only one day a week: http://www.stratfordcomputerfair.net/ - that's the one I often frequented. There were some dodgy traders there back in the day - PlayStation chipping, copied Video Discs... all sorts! Are they viable? Yes and no. They haven't been viable for a long time for many traders. You have to buy in bulk to compete with the big boys online, and then you'll have a whole load of dead stock that devalues fast. I wouldn't want to do them any more. Attending can be OK, though. I haven't been to one since my friend died 4 or 5 years ago who was big on them, and used to take me to them.
I used to go occasionally to computer fairs, they had loads of computer boards of course, plus a lot of dodgy software and certainly dodgy album copies crammed with "compilations" of MP3's. The ones I went to back in the day were in Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth.
