OldCat wrote:Fourthly, I personally (and I suspect some others too) like seeing cool old hardware, even if it is somebody else's hands - both on aesthetic and informational level. This way I've found out about some components and computers that I have never come across before. Case in point: first Compaq Deskpro with its beige-black plastics - I so want this one to sit on my desk one day.
What about CD-ROMs (or, occasionally, music CDs) that, until I ran across them, had little to no existence on the web because nobody wanted them when they were new and that hasn't changed in the intervening years?
(eg. I'm responsible for several of the entries on MobyGames and MusicBrainz where, prior to my putting them up, the only mention of said items on the web (or at least, on the English web) was a barely-more-than-a-title listing on Amazon Marketplace or the UPC database and/or an oh-so-90s personal webpage that mentions them.)
For example, a terrible shovelware Tetris clone that just happens to have a worthwhile Redbook Audio track (which doesn't play in the game because the game uses Amiga Modules for BGM) that someone else uploaded to YouTube or the CD-ROM re-release of the more popular of the songs from a Canadian show from the early 1960s through the early 1970s that was instrumental in popularizing the folk song "Farewell to Nova Scotia".
liqmat wrote:ssokolow wrote:A fellow fan of The 8-Bit Guy, I'm guessing?
I don't follow any particular trends or personalities to be honest, but I am all for sharing knowledge. That's the whole point to this hobby IMO. So if the 8-bit Guy is offering that, I'm all for it.
I should probably have clarified since I have a very loose relationship with the term "fan".
The last time I allowed myself the risk of becoming that emotionally-invested in a person or brand was back before high school, so, when I said "fellow fan", it was really just a sloppy way of saying "fellow enjoyer of content produced by".
The 8-Bit Guy puts a very satisfying amount of work into his restorations and a satisfying amount of detail into his videos about them.
liqmat wrote:
I will tell you what I am a fan of is the Living Computers: Museum + Labs in Seattle and founded by Paul Allen. The key attraction to this place is 1.) visitors can interact with many of the maintained and functioning vintage hardware and 2.) an entire replica data center with functioning vintage mainframes and servers for you to walk through. I also am trying to help The Strong in Rochester, NY build up their vintage computer collection as well as I find and restore systems. The Strong has one of the world's largest video game, game prototypes and game design document collections. They have an entire research wing where you can schedule an appointment, study their collection and use appropriate vintage hardware. An amazing place really.
They sound amazing. Definitely both places I'd love to visit, some day, if the U.S. ever gets their health care and gun violence problems sufficiently solved and I gain a budget sufficient for international travel. (I have a very risk-averse personality.)
MMaximus wrote:I've been watching his videos occasionally and found them generally well-made and interesting. However I have to admit I started liking him a bit less when I stumbled on the video he made about his gun 😵
I haven't seen that video but, given that he lives in Texas, I kind of suspected that. I enjoy him for the content he produces and try to adopt a "live and let live" attitude toward anything objectionable which doesn't leak across the border.
If I were judging people like that, the number of Americans who weren't "worrying people to avoid and disapprove of" for something or other would be miniscule. (Or even Europeans, for that matter, given that religious faith, by definition, doesn't really fit the definition of "a worldview rooted in logic, reason, and empirical evidence".)
Internet Archive: My Uploads
My Blog: Retrocomputing Resources
My Rose-Coloured-Glasses Builds
I also try to announce retro-relevant stuff on on Mastodon.