Random obsolete technologies to reminisce about

claybob · August 24, 2018, 1:47pm

Playing around with Windows 95b caused me to lose my MacOS religion.

ineffablebob · August 28, 2018, 2:59pm

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/08/27/there-are-only-a-handful-of-apple-i-computers-left-one-is-expected-to-fetch-300000/?utm_term=.186219286362

Steve Wozniak was giving it away free.

The Apple co-founder tweaked and soldered computer circuit boards in the mid-1970s from his cubicle at Hewlett-Packard and an apartment in Cupertino, Calif. He shared the design freely, showering enthusiasts in Silicon Valley’s Homebrew Computer Club with gratis innovation.

The members were wowed by the intricacy and beauty of crisp lines and symmetry in Wozniak’s handcrafted, meticulous design. One early club attendee, a local computer enthusiast, made note of the potential as talk of the board surged in the valley.
…
Those computers became the Apple I.

Now, more than 40 years later, one of about 60 surviving machines out of 200 made — and, rarer still, fully functioning and untouched by modifications — will be auctioned Sept. 25. It is expected to fetch upward of $300,000.

BrianRubin · August 28, 2018, 3:08pm

Oh WOW, I’ll have to try this with some old games.

BrianRubin · August 28, 2018, 3:33pm

Well it works on my Macbook, but it’s sluggish. I’ll try it on my PC later.

wisefool · August 29, 2018, 4:51pm

OS2 Warp ran the MOO2 windows version better than Windows did.

Jason_Levine · August 29, 2018, 5:13pm

There’s a little more nostalgia: Games that had both Windows and DOS versions.

ineffablebob · October 10, 2018, 5:58pm

The Internet Archive has put out a C64 emulator. I might have to play with this later, they have Chipwits!

YakAttack · October 10, 2018, 11:12pm

Is the performance better than simply running Win95 in VMWare or VirtualBox?

Anyway, here’s my list of obsolete technologies that I was sad to see go the way of the dodo:

Audiovox Maestro - Running Pocket PC 2002, it was better for gaming than most smart phones because it had actual physical buttons! I played Final Fantasy 6 on this device. I miss it so much. First I had to replace the battery since it wore out and wouldn’t hold a charge, but the replacement battery was not much better. Then I broke the power plug and had to re-solder it, but the case never fit together properly afterward. Then I dropped my bedside lamp on it and broke the screen. Into the trash it went. :( The Maestro supported 2GB compact flash cards! Plenty of space for ROMs.
Windows Phone 8/10 - I love the GUI. Much better than Android. (I’ve never owned an iPhone.) Technically not dead, since phones are still being sold. But new phones are no longer being designed.
MiniDisc - Lots of nostalgia for these. The last ones featured 1GB capacity! Better than CD!