The Hobby Computer Club (HCC) is a Dutch computer club, now based in Haarlem, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It was established on April 27, 1977 by a small group of people near the town of

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

. It grew to become a nationally significant club of over 200,000 members in 2003.

History

The HCC was inspired by the

Amateur Computer Club The Amateur Computer Club (ACC), founded in 1973, was an early British club "open to all interested in the design, construction or programming of computers as a hobby". Most of its members lived in the United Kingdom. In 1976 an educational journa ...

founded in 1973 by Mike Lord. Dick Barnhoorn became a member of the ACC and after a few years started the HCC in the Netherlands and Belgium (for Dutch/Flemish speakers). In the beginning letters were sent to popular electronics and IT magazines. The initial logo of HCC was an adapted copy of the ACC logo. The first HCC meeting was in a building of the

Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

, at that moment the HCC had 12 members. A small stenciled, A5 size, newsletter was published bimonthly called HCCN (HCC Nieuwsbrief) similar to ACCN (ACC Newsletter). After participating in a large event for technical hobbies in April 1978 membership increased from 200 to over 1000. Soon the HCC had branches in every part of the Netherlands, and through the years the HCC grew to more than 200,000 members. The small newsletter turned into a monthly computer magazine called

Computer!Totaal ''Computer!Totaal'', conveniently abbreviated as ''C!T'', is a Dutch monthly magazine about computers and related subjects. It is the largest computer magazine of the Netherlands. History and profile Originally, ''C!T'' was the newsletter of the ...

. The HCC now also offers a free Internet service to its members, as well as free technical assistance with computer problems. For many decades a big exhibition called the "HCC dagen" (''HCC Days'') was held in

Jaarbeurs The Jaarbeurs (; Dutch for 'Yearly Fair') is an exhibition and convention centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Noted events include the former Space '86, the Hobby Computer Club Days (''HCC Dagen''), and the Mega Record & CD Fair. The venue is a ...

in Utrecht with thousands of attendees. A tradition started in 1977, for showing off the member's activities and giving commercial parties an opportunity to demonstrate new products and sell equipment and software. It was interrupted in 2010 because the commercial parties lost interest as internet was becoming their main sales platform. In 2011 HCC organised a similar event on a much smaller scale than before, HCC!digital.{{cite web , title=HCC!digital website , url=http://www.hccdagen.nl/ , accessdate=17 February 2014 , language=Dutch , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151201163043/http://www.hccdagen.nl/ , archive-date=1 December 2015 , url-status=dead

History

See also