Earlier quoted context omitted.
Again! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25638936
One of these times I'm going to get into this bandwagon fast enough to see the original site :P .
Still seems to be down.
The ZX81 Turns 40
81–84 of 84 posts
Re: The ZX81 Turns 40
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
I asked for a TI-99/4A because that's what my best friend had and we would make games and share them with each other. When I think back to the microcomputers of the early 80's, I'm kind of astounded that they sold in the numbers they did. They were pretty useless.
They were imagination amplifiers. The computer itself didn't do much so you had to fill in the gaps by imagining the things it wasn't doing - often guided by some exciting cover art on books and games packaging. You could also expand your imagination by thinking of the things you might do if you worked hard at it, or if it was only slightly bigger/faster/better. Modern computing is the opposite. It does so much it do…
> They were imagination amplifiers.
That's a phrase that's always intrigued me. I think Douglas Engelbart and Ted Nelson said something similar and Steve Jobs is famous for saying computers are bicycles for the mind.
I've always wondered what exactly these people were thinking of when they said that. Maybe I'm just spoiled from having computers within reach for the past 40 years, but I wonder if the phrase still means anything. Do we all have mind bicycles now and so it's just the default state?
Re: The ZX81 Turns 40
#83Re: The ZX81 Turns 40
#84In terms of ROI, the best £69.95 I ever spent (I still have the receipt from WH Smith). It wasn’t the first computer I ever used, but it’s the first one I ever owned at age 9 and it led me down the path that’ll be familiar to many here... I’m glad I still have it, and the Spectrum and Amiga’s that followed. Incredibly, the ZX81 hardware and software scene is still alive. You can get parts for it quite easily, includi…
I asked for a TI-99/4A because that's what my best friend had and we would make games and share them with each other. When I think back to the microcomputers of the early 80's, I'm kind of astounded that they sold in the numbers they did. They were pretty useless.
>pretty useless
Your opinion.
Even the micros of the 70's, not just 80's, were useful. Not just for fun. Even for work. Just do some Googling. And check out recent HN thread about Don Lancaster's sites and work, for just one interesting example. There were many more. Heard of Steve Ciarcia? Jerry Pournelle? BYTE? SCSI? S-100? Z80? 6502? 6809? Acorn? VIC-20? Commodore-64? BBC Micro? Amstrad? Also, without those precursors, you would not even have the h/w and s/w stuff you may consider "useful" today. Because, evolution.