Computer Listing

From: Fredrik Ekman <ekman_at_lysator.liu.se>
Date: Thu Mar 20 05:59:06 1997

On Wed, 19 Mar 1997, DAVID L. ORMAND wrote:
> If you feel that a seperate list is
> still a good idea, BMG, but I'd like to see a list of "history" Web
> sites and how good you think they are.

Your suggestion is good, but for at least three reasons cannot replace a
"complete" list.

Firstly, the various web sites are all in different formats, making it
difficult to make comparisons. Perhaps you cannot even find the
information you are interested in. If we make our own list, we can decide
together what information we need and put it together in a standardized
way. This would also facilitate sorting. Say that I want to know what
micros with at least 64K RAM existed before the C64 was released. I wish
you good luck if you want to hunt this information down on the web sites
and present it in a uniform fashion.

Secondly, not all systems are covered by the web sites. I challenge you to
find a page about the Sord M5. I double challenge you to find one about
the Sord IS-11. Not everyone has the possibility to add a new site about
his favourite computer, but sending an addition to a list maintainer is
rather straightforward. (As an aside, I am currently working on a Sord M5
home page. No plans for the IS-11 yet, though.)

Thirdly (and in my opinion most importantly) you can never say for sure
what web sites are still there tomorrow. Maintainers move and take their
pages with them, or they may decide that they no longer have the time or
resources to keep it up, or the archives may be reorganized and all links
end up in void, or an ISP may go belly-up, or...

The Internet's swiftly changing structure is a double-edged sword.

In short, one thing may not exclude the other. Both suggestions have their
advantages and disadvantages.

  /F
Received on Thu Mar 20 1997 - 05:59:06 GMT