Geek With Social Skills is a retro technology and vintage computing YouTube channel focused on classic computers, gaming systems, upgrades, restorations, and tech nostalgia from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
"I asked for a car, I got a computer. How's that for being born under a bad sign?" - Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Geek With Social Skills grew out of a lifelong interest in technology, classic computers, retro gaming, and the golden era of consumer electronics. As a lifelong tech geek and Gen X Grown Up, I've been into computers since the late 1970s, and that experience continues to shape the channel today.
Here is the official Geek With Social Skills channel introduction video:
The channel focuses on the machines, upgrades, games, repairs, vintage media, music, and memories that defined personal computing and home entertainment from the 1970s through the early 2000s. Rather than simply collecting hardware, the goal is to explore how these systems, software, and media were actually used, maintained, and enjoyed.
Music is part of that experience as well, including rock, metal, alternative, and electronic styles from the era.
My interest in computers started in elementary school during the late 1970s, where I first used Apple II and Apple II Plus systems in the classroom. By 1983, our school had upgraded to the Apple IIe, giving me even more hands-on experience during the early days of personal computing.
That same year, Christmas 1983 changed everything when my grandparents gave me a Commodore 64. At a time when Apple computers were still extremely expensive for many families, the Commodore 64 brought home computing to the masses, just as Commodore founder Jack Tramiel famously said: "Computers for the masses, not the classes."
Throughout my early school years, the Commodore 64 became more than just a gaming system. I used it for homework, reports, programming experiments, bulletin board systems, and countless hours exploring what computers could do. It was my introduction to the idea that computers were not just machines, but creative tools.
As technology evolved, I eventually moved into the IBM PC world with an 8088-based system, followed later by a 286 PC. From there, the journey continued through DOS, Windows, upgrades, custom builds, gaming systems, and decades of ever-changing technology that still inspires the channel today.
That lifelong connection to classic computers and vintage technology is what Geek With Social Skills is all about, and it continues to shape the content on the channel today: preserving, using, repairing, upgrading, and remembering the systems that defined an entire generation of computer users.
While computers played a huge role in my early years, they were only part of growing up in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. It was a time of riding bikes until the streetlights came on. Weekends meant shopping malls and arcades. Evenings were spent with friends at beach bonfires and backyard gatherings.
Music was always in the background, whether it was rock, metal, new wave, or early electronic sounds shaping the atmosphere of the time. Bands like Boston, Queensryche, Metallica, Van Halen, Depeche Mode, Devo, and Howard Jones were part of the soundtrack, along with countless others that defined the era.
Movies and television were just as influential, with classics like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, WarGames, TRON, Sneakers, Real Genius, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Sci-fi staples from the era, including Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, along with action films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Terminator, helped define the time.
Early cable TV, drive-in movie theaters, VHS rentals, and late-night TV all added to the experience of discovering new content before everything was instantly available.
This was a hands-on, analog world where entertainment, technology, and social life all blended together. That same mix of music, media, and real-world experiences continues to shape Geek With Social Skills today, connecting the technology of the past with the memories that came with it.
Because back then, we didn't just use technology... we lived through it.
Explore hands-on videos featuring systems like the Commodore 64, Apple IIe, Commodore PET, Tandy computers, DOS PCs, vintage laptops, and classic game consoles. Some videos focus on restorations and repairs, while others dive into upgrades, demos, gameplay, accessories, and the history behind the hardware.
My original Commodore 64 is still part of my collection today and runs like a champ decades later. It represents where this journey started and reflects the hands-on approach behind the channel: using, testing, repairing, and understanding these systems the way they were meant to be experienced, not just displayed.
From the days of Pong, Atari 2600 (VCS), NES, and Vectrex to modern systems like the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One, I've been gaming across generations. That perspective connects past and present technology in a way that feels both nostalgic and relevant.
Whether testing an Apple II video upgrade, restoring a classic display, exploring a Commodore system, installing a Gotek drive, or revisiting a piece of forgotten tech history, the channel is built around a simple idea: old technology still has stories to tell.
If you enjoy retro computers, vintage gaming, classic tech history, and physical media like VHS tapes, records, toys, and collectibles, Geek With Social Skills is about reliving every glorious beep, click, and pixel along the way.
New videos are posted on YouTube, with additional content available in the video archive and the Media & Collectibles section here on the site.