Classic Computers vs. Classic Computing

From: Iggy Drougge <optimus_at_canit.se>
Date: Thu Sep 13 23:12:42 2001

Douglas Quebbeman skrev:

[snip snip]

>So, I think the formal name and the charter of this group should
>change to reflect an interest in Class Computing. The only real
>change would be that discussions about the eumlators and simulators
>would no longer be OT unless they drift into details of programming
>the emu/simulators themselves. Additionally, more detailed discussions
>of the Classic Operating Systems would be similarly on-topic.

>I'm not sure how many of you have ever thought about this; but
>now that I've broached the subject, whaddy'all think?

I don't like emulators one bit. I run them every so often, but I really prefer
the original whenever I can. I don't really trust emulations, but that's not
the main point.
What really puts me off emulators is that they're so awfully lame. How can an
emulator be lame? Well, it's not as much the emulators as the crowd
surrounding them. They're usually Win#? kids who know nothing about old
computers, really don't care, and just want games, games, games, all for free.
Since I'm using a computer which is becoming increasingly popular among
emulator kids, I'm always irritated by people who think they can pirate the
operating systems and applications I pay for, just because they may be run
using an emulator. They're like vultures, they want it all, and of course, for
free. And then I find my precious ROMs? on those awful pages run by fourteen-
year-olds with dubious taste, right between the pornography and the Britney
Spears MP3s.
They even emulate systems which require no particular effort to find, and no
considerable funds, either. But I feel that they turn whatever remains there
are of a scene on the emulated machine into some kind of backdrop. There are
millions of kids boasting about their newest rips, while they actually don't
care at all about the system which actually still matters to a lot of people.
Their very presence diminishes the spirit of the platform.
The real users, the hackers which remain, are turned into some kind of quaint
natives which are kept there for the tourists.

However, when it comes to emulating a PDP-10, that is another deal. They don't
interest your average kid, and most users would never have encountered the
actual hardware anyway, even back in the day.
But emulating a C64, apart from as a programming exercise, seems quite
pointless. There are enough C64s out there for all of us.

 ?(Which, among these kids, is not a term for read-only memory, but the
proper nomenclature for pirated games and programs. IOW, a C64 tape image is
called a ROM, so is an Atari disk image.)

-- 
En ligne avec Thor 2.6a.
When cherry tree blooms, people go and walk there, eat dumpling, bring sake
and talk each other such things as "A superb view!" and "Full of spring here",
and they become very happily and cheerful. But this is a lie. People gather
below cherry trees and get drunk, vomit, fight, which are happening since the
old days of Edo period. From long time ago.
THE FULL OF CHERRY BOOLMS, CHAPTER 1
Received on Thu Sep 13 2001 - 23:12:42 BST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Fri Oct 10 2014 - 23:34:25 BST