I think retrocomputing also harkens back to a time when you owned a machine, rather than the other way around. No subscriptions, no advertising, no forced obsolescence.
Yeah. Im kinda retro here too. Im very network oriented so I cannot go back to certain level. But give me P3, 256MB RAM and vioala.. I can run Linux or Win2000 :)
Part of the charm IS the hardware and software are obsolete. Your point about subscriptions and activations are well taken. I am not sure without a hack if you could activate XP today. I know many games are dead and buried as their servers and license managers long went off line.
Mac 128k Users - 40 years on, a dedicated lot : https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240123-the-apple-macint...