New Delhi, Aug. 25 -- Software engineer Josh Dersch loves old computers. He spends countless hours tinkering in his garage, trying to coax decades-old machines back to life. He estimates he owns more than 200 vintage computers and devices in his Seattle home.

"It's always been fascinating to me to see the origins of things," Dersch said. "It's a fun challenge to debug and repair. You can understand the entire system from top to bottom."

Dersch is part of a growing community of vintage computer collectors who are preserving the classic machines that helped launch the digital revolution. While Silicon Valley has since moved on to shaping the future of artificial intelligence, these hardware enthusiasts are intent on saving the Atari, Comm...