True nostalgia, right into my veins 🤣 I'd totally forgotten the PC compatibility boards were a thing. I was one of the peasants who couldn't afford them, so had to make do with an actual PC-compatible machine. But eventually we got an Apple ][+, which was dope af, then a C64, and I finally lived my dream by getting a secondhand Amiga 500, which I used to play nothing but Karateka.
While I have a Mac SE/30 maxed out with 128GB of RAM that I recently recapped so it would not die in a sea of acid, owning a piece of Spider Web hardware used by Mr. Vogel would be pretty darn cool. Considering I wasn't old enough to have a checking account to purchase Blades of Exile, I had to beg my mother to write and mail a check and wait fervently as the floppy disks journeyed from Seattle to the sleepy town of Snohomish. I do agree, ridding the home of things that don't bring any use can be cathartic. It's about the journey moreso than the objects themselves.
Old technology like this can be interesting to read about or watch a youtube video on (cheers to LGR), but actually having to store, or, worse, maintain it yourself...? Best leave that to the retro enthusiasts.
Now, for legitimate technical support reasons, having older systems around at least lives in the same dimension as sense. If you’re selling something and claiming to support it on ye olde system x, then yeah, you better be able to back that up with actual support.
That said, once hardware has been EoL’ed, better to just backup anything relevant on a given system to an external data store and save yourself the space. Even an HDD’s worth floppies is going to take up far less room than a whole dang tower. But if finding the time and motivation to do that were easy, well… this post probably wouldn’t be a thing.
I never had space for old computers, so all my machines so far went to lower-income friends of family or relatives. The only thing I kept is ZX Spectrum (or, rather, a 256K clone called "Profi"), though I'm unsure of its current location: it was originally stored in my grandma's flat, but we rented it out after her death.
On the other hand, I still hoard data from my old PCs: there are some folders on my huge multi-Tb storage HDD where my first programs written in QuickBasic 4.5 are kept (including a full-featured image editor - my biggest success in those times, it even had built-in scripting language which operated on every pixel of image, and a help system), as well as my father's files from the time when we were sharing a computer, and he used it sometimes, writing meticulous Assembly code to control something related to satellite antennas (I remember how he counted CPU tacts each command took, because each program loop had to finish inside its allotted time).
There are saved games from 90's and 00's somewhere there, too, in case I want to resume playing Rex Nebular, or Aces Over Pacific some time soon :)
And another point of pride: a loooong text file, where I recorded my thoughts about every game on "500 games" CD I got off a flea market in early 00's (most of those games were from early 90's, so they were small, and you could fit a lot of them on a CD in still have space from a folder full of cheats and walkthroughs; in fact, this CD was a reduced version of "700 games" I found later on the net).
The nostalgia! Not too long ago, I gave away the collection of ancient hardware too — even made a nice web site of it, at https://apple-vintage.denisdefreyne.com/. I can’t say it was entirely painless, but they honestly were just collecting dust. And besides, there’s not just the cloud, but you can emulate old Mac OS versions in a freaking web browser (https://infinitemac.org/)!!!
Do I worry I’ve lost some of my old creations on the ancient hard drives I no longer have? Maybe a little. But I probably remember those old creations and being much better than they actually were.
Also: I believe it was the Performa 6200 (from the site I listed) on which I played the Exile III demo. I was too young to understand the concept of “purchasing software” so it took a MUCH longer time to play the full game (as the remastered remaster), but I remember EXACTLY where the demo ended!
I made it a point to ask the recyclers if they could sell them for anything. The answer was an emphatic no. The only things that seemed like they might have value were an XBox 360 and a really good projector that needs a repair.
I read these religiously. The man can write unlike most.
True nostalgia, right into my veins 🤣 I'd totally forgotten the PC compatibility boards were a thing. I was one of the peasants who couldn't afford them, so had to make do with an actual PC-compatible machine. But eventually we got an Apple ][+, which was dope af, then a C64, and I finally lived my dream by getting a secondhand Amiga 500, which I used to play nothing but Karateka.
I hear all this. Everytime I get rid of a pile of old stuff I become convinced I threw away Mickey Mantle’s rookie card.
Finished Escape from the Pit yesterday! Terrific game. Thanks man
This was a delightful read and a fun blast to the past. Thank you for sharing this with us :)
While I have a Mac SE/30 maxed out with 128GB of RAM that I recently recapped so it would not die in a sea of acid, owning a piece of Spider Web hardware used by Mr. Vogel would be pretty darn cool. Considering I wasn't old enough to have a checking account to purchase Blades of Exile, I had to beg my mother to write and mail a check and wait fervently as the floppy disks journeyed from Seattle to the sleepy town of Snohomish. I do agree, ridding the home of things that don't bring any use can be cathartic. It's about the journey moreso than the objects themselves.
My inlaws have a demons of stupidity coffee cup, so we approve this computer sticker.
It was a very silly thing, but I write games. A certain amount of silliness is to be maintained.
Old technology like this can be interesting to read about or watch a youtube video on (cheers to LGR), but actually having to store, or, worse, maintain it yourself...? Best leave that to the retro enthusiasts.
Now, for legitimate technical support reasons, having older systems around at least lives in the same dimension as sense. If you’re selling something and claiming to support it on ye olde system x, then yeah, you better be able to back that up with actual support.
That said, once hardware has been EoL’ed, better to just backup anything relevant on a given system to an external data store and save yourself the space. Even an HDD’s worth floppies is going to take up far less room than a whole dang tower. But if finding the time and motivation to do that were easy, well… this post probably wouldn’t be a thing.
I never had space for old computers, so all my machines so far went to lower-income friends of family or relatives. The only thing I kept is ZX Spectrum (or, rather, a 256K clone called "Profi"), though I'm unsure of its current location: it was originally stored in my grandma's flat, but we rented it out after her death.
On the other hand, I still hoard data from my old PCs: there are some folders on my huge multi-Tb storage HDD where my first programs written in QuickBasic 4.5 are kept (including a full-featured image editor - my biggest success in those times, it even had built-in scripting language which operated on every pixel of image, and a help system), as well as my father's files from the time when we were sharing a computer, and he used it sometimes, writing meticulous Assembly code to control something related to satellite antennas (I remember how he counted CPU tacts each command took, because each program loop had to finish inside its allotted time).
There are saved games from 90's and 00's somewhere there, too, in case I want to resume playing Rex Nebular, or Aces Over Pacific some time soon :)
And another point of pride: a loooong text file, where I recorded my thoughts about every game on "500 games" CD I got off a flea market in early 00's (most of those games were from early 90's, so they were small, and you could fit a lot of them on a CD in still have space from a folder full of cheats and walkthroughs; in fact, this CD was a reduced version of "700 games" I found later on the net).
The nostalgia! Not too long ago, I gave away the collection of ancient hardware too — even made a nice web site of it, at https://apple-vintage.denisdefreyne.com/. I can’t say it was entirely painless, but they honestly were just collecting dust. And besides, there’s not just the cloud, but you can emulate old Mac OS versions in a freaking web browser (https://infinitemac.org/)!!!
Do I worry I’ve lost some of my old creations on the ancient hard drives I no longer have? Maybe a little. But I probably remember those old creations and being much better than they actually were.
Also: I believe it was the Performa 6200 (from the site I listed) on which I played the Exile III demo. I was too young to understand the concept of “purchasing software” so it took a MUCH longer time to play the full game (as the remastered remaster), but I remember EXACTLY where the demo ended!
Are you sure the PowerMac 6100 from 1994 had only 48 KB of RAM? That cant really be...?
Are you sure the PowerMac 6100 from 1994 had only 48 KB of RAM? That cant really be...?
Are you sure the PowerMac 6100 from 1994 had only 48 KB of RAM? That cant really be...?
Wow, I saw a bunch of machines like this selling for decent cash at the recent Vintage Computer Fest. Gave them away for free, you say?
I made it a point to ask the recyclers if they could sell them for anything. The answer was an emphatic no. The only things that seemed like they might have value were an XBox 360 and a really good projector that needs a repair.