What Classic Computer are All About - A Lovers View

From: Richard A. Cini, Jr. <rcini_at_msn.com>
Date: Fri Jul 11 08:52:28 1997

Allison: >>Seriously I've put may posts here anout the history and lineages
of many of the old machines. I collect, but I admit is has to make some sense
to
me as in useful or have some specific linkage to my place in this
>>history.

        This is so true. In fact, this is how I started collecting. Admittedly, I
don't remember many of the early computers; I was too young to remember any of
it first-hand. When the Altair came out, I was 8; Bill Gates was 20. I only
got to "know" Gary Kildall and Ed Roberts through the books that I read as
background for my MBA business case on Microsoft and the computer software
industry. Back then, I used the Commodores. In high school, I used {shudder}
the Mac (and understood that better). In college, I used PCs, but didn't
understand the architecture.

        I started collecting Commodores because this is the machine that I grew-up
on. Then, it snowballed. The Tandy Model 1; Model 100; Datamaster; Apple IIs.
Now, almost anything. Since I'm behind the knowledge power curve, I have a lot
of catching-up to do!

        I love hearing about other people's hauls. It inspires me. It makes me want
to take back more room in the basement than what was alotted to me by "the
boss."

        It's about the elegant simplicity of design; the basic, nuts-and-bolts
usefulness. It's about runnung an OS and an application in 4k of RAM. It's all
about preserving the early computer history, so that people like me, people on
the fringes of early computers, people who know nothing about where their P233
came from, can see what it was like in the stone-age of computing.

        Just my $0.02.

-------------------------------------------------
Rich Cini/WUGNET
 e-mail: rcini_at_msn.com
 - ClubWin Charter Member (6)
 - MCPS Windows 95/Netowrking
Received on Fri Jul 11 1997 - 08:52:28 BST