- i've thought about this from different directions.
i'd love a laptop that i could upgrade. something like the https://www.crowpi.cc/ where every 3-4 years i could replace the old pi and get a newer better one. the current versions are really only made for 1 specific version of pi. and wouldn't fit any clone boards.
or perhaps a vt100 terminal connecting to a rasp pi as a terminal. text only for distraction free work. could even get a z80 cp/m based computer for real old school vibes.
i did look into getting a bbc model b and adding a rasp pi as a second processor. http://www.breakintoprogram.co.uk/hardware/adding-a-pitube-c...
- even if every pi disappeared overnight there are a dozen clones you could drop in as a replacement the day after. in 10-20 years time. you'll be able to find something that can run emulate the os or computer you want.
- Are there though? I’d call those other boards a pi-like but their software stacks are often abandoned shortly after they ship. Unlike the offline by default of the 8-bit era these are going to need updates and support in an ever hostile world - just my thoughts on the subject.
Random : anyone else posting from mobile get their posts duplicated ?
- there are some shoddy clones out there that are abandoned a few months after launch and never get the patches they need. but there are respectable alternatives too. https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-raspberry-pi-alternative/
- Fair enough. Lot of quality SBC boards in that lot. I bought a lot of junk during the dark times when Pi 4 was scarce. Now that Pi4 and Pi5 are ramping up production and available again its hard to choose a less mainstream board. My uncle sent me an N100 board to play with. FAST AF, but man howdy do I feel like it has a shelf life in years at best.
- when they shut down analog tv in the changeover to digital i think i missed teletext the most so i didn't bother buying a new digital tv.
a lot of like minded folks still miss teletext.
and a few sites recreating the experience exist. https://www.nathanmediaservices.co.uk/ceefax/
was great when internet was down still having access to news and weather, tv guides all available on your tv from your remote control.
- the 1542 only had to be faster than tape to succeed :-)
- It was really just an observation. When I would go to my friends house to play Test Drive it always seemed to load up slowly compared to when we played at my house. However, he had the 1701 monitor which was superior to just about every home display in existence. The wait was totally worth it.
I remember people as late as 2002 friends of mine still using one for DVD playback.
- my current oldest is a psion organiser from 1997. 2mb of offline storage. a full qwerty keyboard, word processor, spreadsheets and database in a tiny portable case running off 2 aa batteries. great for storing passwords in an unhackable format :-)
- This one ? Series 5 looks like a sweet device. Original owner or just tasteful . Unhackable? LOL. True story.
- no the previous model. the 3mx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Series_3#Psion_Series_3m...
i prefer the keyboard over the series 5. it can run for over a year on 2 aa lithium batteries at low usage. about an hour per month.
i keep meaning to sort out a rasp pi sidecar so i can use the psion as a terminal to a full linux system for mobile computing but haven't found the time to do so. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/raspberry-pi-psion-sidecar
i describe it as 'unhackable' as it has no connection to the internet. if stolen the password on it will deter most if not all. these days it's simply a matter of time before any device connected to the internet is hacked sadly.
- Magazines. When the internet came on hard copy :-)
- it's one of the very few modern computers that gives me the same techno lust i had in the 1980s when i read monthly computer magazines following the rapid development of home computing at the time. in my tiny flat it's sadly too big for my small desk to share with my main computer.
currently looking at https://ultimatemister.com/product/ultimate-mister-blisster-.../ for something to run my retro 80s software though still casting an envious glance every time i see articles on the spectrum next.
- elite: 'the game that couldn't be written' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC4YLMLar5I
- Have downloaded a few items i used back in 80s and 90s. I use them in dosbox fullscreen for distraction free work. Would love a small sbc that runs dos that i could run them on.
- Should be able to set up QEMU on raspberry pi and get FreeDOS up and going to run DOS applications. Sorry if you already know that and just looking for the hardware …
- DosBox-staging would be a much better (and easier) way than QEMU + FreeDOS
- i feel the pi is overpowered for the minimal system i am looking for. currently the best contender would be https://blog.adafruit.com/2023/02/24/fabgl-makes-an-esp32-an.../
- i don't think it'll ever be a super popular language but i would not describe it as dead.
where it has a future is the rise of 8bit computers for hobbyists. lying between assembler and basic in ease of use it will give very old cpus a much needed boost of speed. i suspect that some of those who take the time to learn the language may bring it with them onto more modern platforms going forth.
- More
I want to hear the fan, the drive head actuate, a monitor thst goes gazong when I power up