Nostalgia... Quite a strange phenomenon. I could never understand why I should yearn for the past. If speaking of vintage computers, I think now is the best time to experience that golden era. You have enough space, time, money and knowledge to play with almost all possible hardware and software of that era. What a wonderful time to live in!

And regarding a future nostalgia. Many things change over time, but one thing stays the same - a human nature. So I guess it will be pretty the same kind of nostalgia as today. Nothing special.

I already feel nostalgic for my first "proper gaming pc" wich i build in an Aerocool case.
It was called "Aerocool Aeroengine". Thats a proper name 😁
I think it was the first series of these cases, and aerocool is still selling a variation of this case today...
Before that i had to cut windows in my computers by myself 😁

If i remember right it must have been the time when i built my core2duo e6400 system in around 2006.
This was the first "cool case" i remember buying.

Damn... thats already 18 years ago... 🧓

DerBaum wrote on 2024-01-17, 19:43:

I already feel nostalgic for my first "proper gaming pc" wich i build in an Aerocool case. It was called "Aerocool Aeroengine". […]
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I already feel nostalgic for my first "proper gaming pc" wich i build in an Aerocool case.
It was called "Aerocool Aeroengine". Thats a proper name 😁
I think it was the first series of these cases, and aerocool is still selling a variation of this case today...
Before that i had to cut windows in my computers by myself 😁

If i remember right it must have been the time when i built my core2duo e6400 system in around 2006.
This was the first "cool case" i remember buying.

aerocool-aeroengine.jpg

Damn... thats already 18 years ago... 🧓

My last desktop was a plain beige box with an Intel Pentium 4 processor inside. Since then - only laptops. I completely missed the era of those space shuttles with blinking bells and whistles. 😄

@ThinkpadIL Thank you for your reply! 😃

It makes sense to me, but simultaneously I feel very nostalgic for times I wasn't even born yet.
Or rather, these times were something I can more relate to.

Personally, the current times are the worst of my life (until now), not just because of technology.
I felt home the most somewhere in the 90s.

It was the fading 20th century, when cold war ended and the wall fell.
It was a time when me and my friends could still image that world peace might be a possibility. Seriously, it was real. For a short moment.

At the time, international cooperation was at its height. ISS was being constructed, Euro currency was underway etc.
There was a feeling of togetherness. The 21th century was ahead, there was a feeling of euphoria.

Also, technology was still optional, not forced.
Kids could play outside, not every piece of ground had been given a dedicated purpose yet.

Like, a meadow was just a meadow. Kids, tens, people of all ages could play ball games, or play catch, do a somersault, people could do a picnic. Someone could fly a kite..

That's pretty much a memory of the past millennium, maybe. Nowadays, everything is being regulated. Bureaucracy everywhere.

And everyone has a "camera" with internet access to instantly shame someone publicly.
So you're always beeing afraid of being caught to do something not socially being accepted.

In an emergency, hypothetical speaking, you can't even pee behind a tree or bush anymore, because someone with a smartphone might catch you and tell you it's being forbidden.
Then makes a picture "of what you've done" and calls the police. Or something like that. Thank you, 21th century. 😂

But that's another story, it's rather off-topic.
I've always been optimist. Maybe I'll live long enough to see better times again. There are always highs and lows, after all. 😃

Edit:@ThinkpadIL I enjoy your optimism, you're reminding me of someone I used to be.
Please keep it up, you're doing well. 🙂👍

Edit: @DerBaum Cool. I've found those Plexiglas windows always pretty/useful.
You could see what's going on inside, see smoke or stuck fans. A PCI POST card could be left installed, too.

Jo22 wrote on 2024-01-17, 20:06:

@ThinkpadIL Thank you for your reply! 😃 […]
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@ThinkpadIL Thank you for your reply! 😃

It makes sense to me, but simultaneously I feel very nostalgic for times I wasn't even born yet.
Or rather, these times were something I can more relate to.

Personally, the current times are the worst of my life (until now), not just because of technology.
I felt home the most somewhere in the 90s.

It was the fading 20th century, when cold war ended and the wall fell.
It was a time when me and my friends could still image that world peace might be a possibility. Seriously, it was real. For a short moment.

At the time, international cooperation was at its height. ISS was being constructed, Euro currency was underway etc.
There was a feeling of togetherness. The 21th century was ahead, there was a feeling of euphoria.

Also, technology was still optional, not forced.
Kids could play outside, not every piece of ground had been given a dedicated purpose yet.

Like, a meadow was just a meadow. Kids, tens, people of all ages could play ball games, or play catch, do a somersault, people could do a picnic. Someone could fly a kite..

That's pretty much a memory of the past millennium, maybe. Nowadays, everything is being regulated. Bureaucracy everywhere.

And everyone has a "camera" with internet access to instantly shame someone publicly.
So you're always beeing afraid of being caught to do something not socially being accepted.

In an emergency, hypothetical speaking, you can't even pee behind a tree or bush anymore, because someone with a smartphone might catch you and tell you it's being forbidden.
Then makes a picture "of what you've done" and calls the police. Or something like that. Thank you, 21th century. 😂

But that's another story, it's rather off-topic.
I've always been optimist. Maybe I'll live long enough to see better times again. There are always highs and lows, after all. 😃

In that regard i think the newer generations will have the exact same thing going on.
Since i can remember our rights have been reduced and things got more expensive, services got shut off, and politicians have been corrupt. That trend will not stop, so all generations will have the same nostalgia for the "good old times" even if the older generations remember "even better" times...

DerBaum wrote on 2024-01-17, 20:23:

In that regard i think the newer generations will have the exact same thing going on.
Since i can remember our rights have been reduced and things got more expensive, services got shut off, and politicians have been corrupt.
That trend will not stop, so all generations will have the same nostalgia for the "good old times" even if the older generations remember "even better" times...

To look at it this way is not wrong, though I think that the late 20th century was special in several ways.
That's how it seems to be to the people, at least. They still hang on to music from a certain era (60s-90s, mainly 70s/80s).
We saw things like advent of microelectronics, home computers, music/video players, international communication, begin of space travel.
These were unversally outstanding things, rather than a matter of personal preference.

That being said, it's not easy to discuss these things, because someone can always throw in a "but..".
Personally, I don't have the feel that the past was universally better, either.
To a few others and me the 90s were a special time frame, simply, for a couple of reasons.
The Great Depression and WW2 of the early 20th century certainly weren't happy times that anyone feels nostalgic for.

Edit: But it's true that thinking about such things makes sense. Questioning things, like questioning my point-of-view, too.
By looking back through the eyes of others (here: our future people), we may see ourselves more clearly.
I for one find it highly fascinating to see things from other perspectives in a while, even if they may prove me wrong.
By thinking in different ways, we may be able to not end up like (or become) the people our parents had warned us about.

Damn you made me think about listening Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia 🤣

I suspect that the word "computer" may not have too long a life. For the generation born after the 2020s, their lives and work may revolve around AI.When they get old, they may miss their complete mobile phones, applications, and games, including chatgpt.Studying hardware components will not be their pleasure.
Those who really love hardware and like to mess with it are the young people in the 1980s and 1990s. That was the golden age of truly studying computers, and it will never return.Because as the degree of integration becomes higher and higher, the word computer, especially PC, is no longer a bottleneck affecting the development of the times.
I think this is the value of vogons. It will not only become a witness and memory of the IT era, but also become a valuable archive management of the development of computer hardware.
It will become an intangible cultural heritage：）

Kids will one day have nostalgia for the PS5 and Switch.

Jo22 wrote on 2024-01-17, 20:06:

(...) […]
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(...)

Personally, the current times are the worst of my life (until now), not just because of technology.
I felt home the most somewhere in the 90s.

It was the fading 20th century, when cold war ended and the wall fell.
It was a time when me and my friends could still image that world peace might be a possibility. Seriously, it was real. For a short moment.

At the time, international cooperation was at its height. ISS was being constructed, Euro currency was underway etc.
There was a feeling of togetherness. The 21th century was ahead, there was a feeling of euphoria.

Also, technology was still optional, not forced.
Kids could play outside, not every piece of ground had been given a dedicated purpose yet.

Like, a meadow was just a meadow. Kids, tens, people of all ages could play ball games, or play catch, do a somersault, people could do a picnic. Someone could fly a kite..

That's pretty much a memory of the past millennium, maybe. Nowadays, everything is being regulated. Bureaucracy everywhere.
(...)

This ^^^^
I feel exactly the same 🙁
In Poland, this is often quoted with the phrase "To se ne vrati, pane Havranek." <- Although it is in Czech(?)/Slovak(?), it is understandable enough for Poles.
Our languages are quite similar. Sorry for offtopic...

Hello again. The end of the year is near. A few more weeks and it's 2025! 🙂
This got me thinking - it's going to be 2025. We've already made it a quarter of the way through the 21st century! Yay!

And in another 25 years it'll be 2050. I wonder what the world will look like then.
Will there be flying cars or hyperloops or colonies in space? Will we get another Star Wars remaster? 😉
Or will everything basically stay the same?

The thought is strange, but still familiar. I mean, just like there have been reruns of Star Trek (TOS) for ages, there will also be reruns of DS9 or Babylon 5.

But somehow it feels strange to watch DS9 or B5 and realize that these shows are almost 60 years old.

I mean, the 90s were never "old school" or conservative like the 1960s.
They were modern, open-minded, fresh and wild. A bit like the 80s before that.

Sitting there and thinking about it in 2050 must feel strange, I imagine.

Also in terms of hobbies. Will reading comics in paper form be as old-fashioned as listening to music played by a gramophone?

Will there be kids playing with an NES (or NES Mini) on a vintage OLED TV?

And will there still be fans of DOS and Windows 98SE?
- PC/XT era DOS hardware can already be easily built from scratch.

The idea that there will be kids tinkering around with Windows 98SE VMs in 2050 feels somehow strange, but familiar at the same time.

Will they have Winamp installed and listen to historical MP3 files?

Will they play online games within the Windows 98SE VM?
- If so, what workarounds do they need to use to integrate SMB v1.0 into a SMB ~v27.0 network? 😉

I find it fascinating to dream about how it will be.
I mean, looking back, there are still fans of black and white TVs from the 50s or an Atari 2600 from the 70s.

Even young people, teenagers and children still play NES and SNES games today.
Either through emulation or by using vintage hardware or by using clone consoles (which are still in production). So it's not an old people's thing. Gamers are gamers.

Still, it will feel strange that such an old technology still works somewhere in the world.
In the early 90s, the entire microcomputer software library was 20 years old at most.

In 2050, we will be able to look back on 80 years old software.
CP/M from 1976 will be 74 years old then.

Children in 2050 must also wonder about old systems like the C64 and think it's ancient.

To them it might feel as old as the gramophone or the Titanic does to us.

Perhaps they'll try to imagine the days of their great-great-great-grandfather.

They might see a worn-out C64 behind glass in a museum, just as we might see a replica of Graham Bell's/Philipp Reis' telephone or a telegraph key.

And once a month museum staff will demonstrate the workings of one of the last original C64s.

A middle-aged man or woman wearing white gloves will run some demonstration programs on a replica of a black-and-white cathode ray screen.

In the background, projections will show late 20th-century footage of a freshly restored 1980s demo film showing teenagers and adults working on a C64.

The black-and-white screen was specially made in the museum's factory.
Because the complete lack of a screen mask made it possible to recreate a makeshift monochrome screen.

The image will be noisy and distorted, but the children will gather around it and be amazed at what their ancestors worked with.

They will also wonder what strange clothes the people in the projection wore in the late 20th century.

Little do they know that the "shirts" were wool sweaters made of real, natural wool..

You sure the world won't be in flames in the next few years?

I think more or less the same as @DerBaum with the caveat that we have the chance to live out our nostalgia while today everything liked to online accounts with always online DRMs, often games completely replaced with remakes or remasters even for those who already own the original, most of the things the current kids and teens will feel nostalgic about will be lost to time in the next 20 years.

Jo22 wrote on 2024-12-08, 17:00:

Will there be flying cars or hyperloops or colonies in space? Will we get another Star Wars remaster? 😉
Or will everything basically stay the same?

Hyperloops, almost certainly not. Hyperloops are pretty much bullshit. Sound nice and possible to make it, but boundlessly impractical. Flying cars are exponentially more so. Space colonies, in 25 years, not likely. Maybe some permanently manned research stations on the Moon and a handful of space hotels on the orbit.

Jo22 wrote on 2024-12-08, 17:00:

Children in 2050 must also wonder about old systems like the C64 and think it's ancient.

I think children already do that nowdays. C64 is so old, some children are already twice removed from the era it was relevant. I mean if someone was born when the C64 was discontinued and had a child at the age of 25, that kid starts elementary school right around now.

Huh, my current desktop's case looks pretty plain compared to Lenovo Erazer X700's or Aerocool AeroEngine, wouldn't think latter existed in 2006.

It's Aerocool V-Touch Pro.

Was talking to my 8 year son only yesterday in the car and 2 things came up.

Even though I've thought him my parents land line number in case of emergencies, useful as public telephones are now free in Australia.
He still can't understand not having mobile phones. "but what if no one is home"

and having to watch scheduled TV rather than streaming services that you can call up anytime on demand.

25 years isn't that long. My parents are still mostly doing things the same way as 25 years ago, they just have more time now their retired and kids have grown up.
My grandparents probably wouldn't recognise the world so much if still alive though. Never used mobile phones, internet, electric cars, etc.
Like you said for us 25 years will feel the same but different, it'll be our parents that are starting to feel it's a different world.

RandomStranger wrote on 2024-12-08, 18:06:

Jo22 wrote on 2024-12-08, 17:00:

Will there be flying cars or hyperloops or colonies in space? Will we get another Star Wars remaster? 😉
Or will everything basically stay the same?

Hyperloops, almost certainly not. Hyperloops are pretty much bullshit. Sound nice and possible to make it, but boundlessly impractical. Flying cars are exponentially more so. Space colonies, in 25 years, not likely. Maybe some permanently manned research stations on the Moon and a handful of space hotels on the orbit.

I hope for small colonies on space rocks, at least.

There are asteroids and other rocks in size of a few hundred metres to a few kilometres that are not far away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-Earth_object

There was even a rock in moon orbit for a while, 2024 PT5.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_PT5

RandomStranger wrote on 2024-12-08, 18:06:

Jo22 wrote on 2024-12-08, 17:00:

Children in 2050 must also wonder about old systems like the C64 and think it's ancient.

I think children already do that nowdays. C64 is so old, some children are already twice removed from the era it was relevant. I mean if someone was born when the C64 was discontinued and had a child at the age of 25, that kid starts elementary school right around now.

Yes, it surely is old. But in 2050 it must be even older.
I mean, it will be 68 (!) years old by then. Almost 70 years!

- We didn't have experienced this situation before yet: Computing as a whole (real iron) is less than 100 years old!
This will be the very first time that we can look back at something historic, yet fully functional/usable.

That makes the C64 and its cousins more than just a random old retro console - it'll be historic. Ancient.
Especially because it's the fields of computing ("hey, look, a floppy disk from 70 years ago!").

By then it's as ancient as something from hundreds of years ago. Like a historic clock in a clock tower, for example.

It will be ancient enough not only to be shown in a tech museum, but in ordinary school books, too!
Just like first moon landing, Sputnik, the creation of the Gutenberg bible etc.

I mean, okay, 25 years as such aren’t much.. But in computing?
Nowadays you can still buy retro magazines about 8-Bit computers. Will that still be same in 25 years?

People who had owned their C64 when it was new aren’t 90 yet, they can still publish magazine articles. But in 25 years that might be different (generally speaking).

Then these retro magazines would have to be written by the generation of their children or their children's children,
which might still be passionate about things, but are no witnesses of the bygone era.

Nowadays you can get an used C64 at eBay, still.
In 25 or more years, the situation might be drastically different, because the existing units that are already rare might be gone nearly completely.
In the future an used, beaten (but functional) C64 might nolonger sell for, say, 50€ but 2000€. Just like a working Amiga A1000 does today! 😉

In comparison, an C64 might be just as uncommon or antique as tube radios from 1920 are today.
Yes, you can still find them in the corner of a barn or in the attic of a 90 year old granny. But it's not something that's ready to use. It needs restoration and patience (the C64 often has a broken PLA).

Edit: To be fair, though, I can see why there's not too much excitement about the matter.
Those of us who are into building those PCs from 2000 onwards will probably see no drastic difference to day. That's okay and understandable.

Looking back at the past 25 years, the PC development had been really stagnating.
There were re-makes and sequels of same games years after years.
Windows XP and 7 had been around for all the time, too, pretty much.
But that's not the case with classic computers from late 20th century, I think.

Edited.

Jo22 wrote on 2024-12-09, 03:57:

I hope for small colonies on space rocks, at least.

colonies of humans? not likely in 25 years i think, there is too much to be done that is not done, also there is too much to be done on earth

perhaps "colonies" of probes evaluating for future robotic mining, but even that seems unlikely

everything to do with space exploration always seem to be much later and much less than when envisioned (except 1960's with single goal of moon landing)

RandomStranger wrote on 2024-12-08, 18:06:

Jo22 wrote on 2024-12-08, 17:00:

Children in 2050 must also wonder about old systems like the C64 and think it's ancient.

I think children already do that nowdays. C64 is so old, some children are already twice removed from the era it was relevant. I mean if someone was born when the C64 was discontinued and had a child at the age of 25, that kid starts elementary school right around now.

Yes, it surely is old. But in 2050 it must be even older.
I mean, it will be 68 (!) years old by then. Almost 70 years!

- We didn't have experienced this situation before yet: Computing as a whole (real iron) is less than 100 years old!
This will be the very first time that we can look back at something historic, yet fully functional/usable.
[/quote]
many historic items are fully functioning still, there are old motors/engines that move bridges and pump water etc even now

i think with example like c64 though it will be seen as an artefact of limited use. we can appreciate a huge steam or diesel engine, even made in 1940, as doing the same as a modern engine would. while a c64 does "computing" in essentially the same way, what it can do is almost nothing compared to computers of today even. it is as if the ancient engine has only 1 hp compared to average engines with 1000+hp, a curiosity and no more

also, for entertainment, will a child of 2050 want to play such a limited 2d game when they can enter into immersive AI driven "interactive movie" type games that we can as yet only imagine? perhaps not.

Looking back at the past 25 years, the PC development had been really stagnating. There were re-makes and sequels of same games […]
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Looking back at the past 25 years, the PC development had been really stagnating.
There were re-makes and sequels of same games years after years.
Windows XP and 7 had been around for all the time, too, pretty much.
But that's not the case with classic computers from late 20th century, I think.

i suppose this is typical of tech as it matures, until something big changes.

consider cars, radical changes in first 20-30 years but then development slowed down decade by decade - sure each was "better" than years before but not by such leaps. and yet lately, evs introduce a radical change and being innovation cycle again

Hi, thanks for the replies. I've chosen the C64 as a symbol, because it had influenced pop culture, life of people, the parent generation. Like music and fashion.
I wasn't thinking about practibility, function or performance.
But if I did, I would have chosen a Ferrari 911 or DMC DeLorean as an example. ;)
But on a second thought, maybe even then the reaction wouldn't be any different, not sure.

Jo22 wrote on 2024-12-09, 16:06:

Hi, thanks for the replies. I've chosen the C64 as a symbol, because it had influenced pop culture, life of people, the parent g […]
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Hi, thanks for the replies. I've chosen the C64 as a symbol, because it had influenced pop culture, life of people, the parent generation. Like music and fashion.
I wasn't thinking about practibility, function or performance.
But if I did, I would have chosen a Ferrari 911 or DMC DeLorean as an example. 😉
But on a second thought, maybe even then the reaction wouldn't be any different, not sure.

i think, to reflect the position in the life cycle of tech, you'd have to pick something like a model T as equivalent car example, 911 is from the 1960's, decades after cars were created and became more commonly available, c64 was near the start of computers being commonly available.

Many things follow the same trends. Popular music was around forever in the sense of music that was popular, but became readily available and more culturally influential in 1940's-50's due to a convergence of tech (vinyl), cheaper mass produced record players, ubiquitous radio and various commercial endeavours that formed "pop music", charts and so on