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1. Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 05:53:18 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

   I've been thinking about old computers again this evening.

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   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 05:53:21 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     Specifically, I've been thinking about productivity software, desktop publishing, music and multimedia software.

     All those computers that *weren't* primarily used for games.

     How were they used? What can they be used for?

     When folks pick up an old computer that is not well suited as a gaming machine, what does it do?

   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 05:53:21 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     What would you do with a Xerox machine, or a PERQ? Or a Lisa?

     A pdp-8 or 10 or 11?

     What would you do with a PS/2 with monochrome graphics on an MCA bus?

     Or a 1st generation 8080 PC with 256k of RAM?

   • Linux Walt Alt (@lnxw37a2) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw37a2@pleroma.soykaf.com)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 05:53:21 UTC Linux Walt Alt (@lnxw37a2) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}

     in reply to
     @ajroach42 I've actually been thinking about that in terms of some of the machines I wanted to buy in the early 1980s, but was too broke to afford. The truth is, I don't have a clue what I would use it for, or whether I would use it at all. This is probably a clue that I'm not ready to buy a retro computer.
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   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:03:17 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     I can do basically everything I do on computers, generally, from DOS or win31/95/98 on a Pentium MMX, including most of the things that require the internet, assuming I'm willing to make some affordances, or cheat with the occasional serial terminal.

     But, by and large, I can do all the things I want to do on an old computer without too much trouble.

   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:03:17 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     The things I *can't* do on a modern computer are not about the computer, they are about the software.

     Some stuff that I want (modern SSH libraries, STL slicers, etc.) don't exist on older OSs. Hell, when was the last time you tried to install a new OS on a 32 bit computer?

     Unless your in BSD land, you basically can't. Void and Puppy "work" but you're missing so much.

   • makeworld (makeworld@sunbeam.city)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:03:17 UTC makeworld

     in reply to

     @ajroach42 Debian should still be perfectly capable on a 32-bit machine, all packages available. It is "The Universal operating system" after all.

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   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:03:18 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     Think of all the laptops and PDAs and palmtops and Word Processors that are out there. These things that *had* purpose, but don't anymore.

     If you come across one, what would you do with it?

   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:03:18 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     I use my Omnibook as a wordprocessor, or specifically as a #zinestation connected to a dot matrix printer.

     I use my mac plus as a development box in hypercard, I was previously using it as an email box.

     I've used my c64 to connect to BBSs.

     I have an amiga that I'm hoping to use as part of a video editing rig.

   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:03:18 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     But these things were useful for so much, and the thing I see talked about the most often is games.

     Games are good, but there's more than games.

   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:03:18 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     The way the modern web works precludes older computers from participating, but that's about the edge of it.

   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:03:34 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     And this isn't one of those "we stopped innovating" things.

     It's worse than that.

     General purpose computing has regressed.

   • Coyote of the Snows (gedvondur@hulvr.com)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:03:34 UTC Coyote of the Snows

     in reply to

     @ajroach42 I have to disagree. I've been using computers since the early 80s, TRS-80, Commodore, IBM, etc. I have nostalgia for these old machines, but.....they sucked at a LOT of things. Rampant proprietary hardware, unreliable software, floppy disks...

     While there is certainly bloatware out there...the productivity tools are just *better* today. I've never lost hours of work with autosave on a modern word processor.

     There is a difference between *can* do a job and being good at it.

   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:04:43 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     (hardware, of course, keeps getting better. But software? All of it is bad and getting worse. Whatever shall we do?)

   • Juha Autero (jautero@climatejustice.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:04:43 UTC Juha Autero

     in reply to

     @ajroach42 I blame Bill Gates. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists

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   • Andrew (bookseller era) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 20-Feb-2022 06:04:55 UTC Andrew (bookseller era)

     in reply to

     • Juha Autero

     @jautero I blame Gates for most things, yeah.

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