General News
7 August, 2026
Microblast marks 20 years in Maryborough
Microblast Computers owners Dale and Vickianne Martin are celebrating two decades of business this month.
Maryborough’s Microblast Computers has marked two decades of business this month.
In the rapidly changing world of electronics, the retail and repair business has been a constant on High Street.
They’ve adapted to a rapidly changing world of technology which has seen science fiction fantasies become everyday realities.
When owners Dale and Vickianne Martin opened their doors tablets were something seen on Star Trek, not in the hands of children.
Computers were still beige and blocky, mobile phones were new, and the first iPhone wouldn’t be released for another year.
Yet Mr Martin, who is an “old school tech”, will fix all these and more.
He’s breathed life back into animatronics, returned music to an electric organ, and fixed a litany of consumer products.
“The technology has changed a lot but physics haven’t,” he said.
Last month Mr Martin had a scale for chicken feed and a jukebox from the 1950s in his workshop.
Both have transistors, which are like electronic switches, that work similarly but have shrunk over time.
“This entire board when I started as a radio and tv mechanic, that would have been a five volt regulator, now the thing is the size of my thumbnail,” he said.
Yet size isn’t what prevents a repair, according to Mr Martin, it’s part availability.
“The older it is the better the [success] rate because the newer stuff we can’t get the components,” he said.
The Martin couple opened Microblast Computers after growing tired of the corporate IT world.
It was their first experience in retail, their “last job”, and one they weren’t wholly prepared for.
“We did discuss other options it’s just we don’t know anything else,” Mr Martin said.
They opened the business planning to “semi retire”, two decades on, that’s yet to happen.
They’ll say they bought a van but it’s not for holidaying.
Instead it’s to transport their expanded range of mobility aids after the local business Mr Mobility closed down.
Mrs Martin said this was an example of them “filling in gaps” the community need.
“If we hadn’t brought the mobility side in here we would of had no-one in town,” she said.
It’s just one recent example of the couple trying to do right by the community in business.
“Word of mouth costs nothing and it also costs everything if you do it wrong,” she said.
It seems they’ve succeeded with their ‘no fix, no cost’ policy and reliance on referrals.
“We’ve had customers with us since almost day dot,” Mrs Martin said.
They’ll be able to keep coming in for years to come with the couple showing no signs of stopping.
“He’s enjoying it, that’s why we’ve been here so long, … and as much as I [complain] about it I love it,” she said.