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14yr old who loves vintage computers

Y

Yzzerdd

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2006
Messages
1,292
Location
Boston, MA
So am I the only 14yr old(15 in may) who likes vintage computers? I ask because all the teens and tweens think it is so odd that I actually buy stuff that isn't made in '07 and doesn't cost $850(aka, new computers). I just don't understand how someone COULDN"T like vintage stuff(beggining of time through 1996). I still use a Dot-Matix printer, because it is cheap, and gets the job done(and inkjet won't work on my vintage items). I haven't met anyone who was under 35 who liked vintage computers(speak now or forever hold your peace). It's my point of view vintage computers can do EVERY thing a new computer can, but without all the bells and whistles. I am one of the few who never saw the 80's but can't get enough of it(perhaps because I have owned the AT&T 6300 I talk about so much about since I was 2). Anyway, this outta give ya something to chat about :)
 
Hmm, even my mother says "What in the world do you do with that old computer sh*t?". As has been pointed out thousands of times, even a 486/50 is usually fast enough to handle most people's demanding word processing needs. It's only the modern multimedia crud that demands a 2 Ghz processor, and that's only because Windows etc. has become so overbloated.
 
The only thing I hanker after from the 80's is the computers and some of the music. Even then, a lot of it was pants.

My mum doesn't care what I collect as long as it is arranged neatly and dust-free. She would probably do her nut if I dragged a mini system home but such is life.

I know how you feel, I was 14 when I came to this forum too. My friends think I'm mad. "What can you use it for?" Is the usual incredulous response, even up to a pentium 3.
 
I usually use my machines for gaming. Hell, that's probably why my vintage videogame collection outweighs my vintage computer collection! (see site in sig for details) EDIT: Wow, I guess I should really update my site!

It sucks today's machines are packaged with so much unnecissary pre-packaged crap installed! The way I run things, I can get WoW TBC running smoothly on my Centrino Duo lappy w/ 1GB of RAM (shared w/ video chipset), with the pagefile disabled! Actually, I've never tried running it w/o the pagefile...note to self: try doing that whilst avoiding crashing.

It's all the crap like Windows Messenger & iTunes Helper & the Adobe speedlauncher (!?) that really suck up CPU power, take up RAM, & make startup & shutdown 1453409123743X slower!
 
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Ah yes...vintage computers...

I was actually below the age of ten when I got my first vintage computer. An old Apple I my dad got from my uncle. My father questioned my sanity when I rather used ye olde computereth than our "new" macintosh (I took the pleasure of smashing that thing to bits with an oversized ball peen when pa upgraded). I lost Apple I in the attice a while ago, but when watching a certain flash movie on the internet, it once again sparked my interest in vintage comps. So you COULD say I am an under 14 vintage lover considering I USE to love them...but hey....
 
Intel/Windows

Intel/Windows

My father once said a wise phrase to me. He said
"Intel giveth, Windows taketh away." What he means by that is, Intel gave us fast processors(2.00GHz) and when Windows saw that, they made programs that needed a 3.00GHz processor. We would have been fine with a 150MHz pentium processor, and would likely still be widely be using them(outside of Vintage Computists and the poor) if Windows wouldn't be so power hungry. I for one am fine using a Pentium 1 processor for home and gaming use. Doom 1-2 was AWESOME! Don't get me wrong, these new games are great too, but I think civilization could of lived with Doom, Duke Nuke 'em, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Now the people using Pentium 2 and below are completely left in the dust becasuse of "The Revolution" and soon it will be no better for those with PIII. By the way Tandy(post above me), I have been using my AT&T 6300 since the age of two, when my ex-stepfather aqurired it from the place he worked, AT&T.
 
I"m 17 and I have a small collection of vintage computers. And even converted my 2nd closet in my room into a display for all of them. All my friends/family think I'm nuts :)
 
I'm only 24, I started when I was 19, everybody around me was laughing and thinking me a fool, now I've proved to my little circle of friends and family that about 90% of what the computer industry says is complete and utter hype anymore. Even though I have a PIII now, I still find it more fun to play some of the older games on actual old hardware, that old hardware had character and quality to match. The new stuff is like the new 9 LB supermodels, all style, no substance, and only last a few years anyway.

At least now it's only the mainstream that does not get it though. Only a handful of people I talk to dislike the idea of collecting old machines, and most of those, for some oddball reason, have been network administrator types, which I guess are understandably upset that their overseers are'nt upgrading to faster servers with better quality hardware, so of course they're pissed. I've seen a LOT of whitebox desktops, but I've never seen any new whitebox servers in use in business, about 95-100% of it all now is leased Dell stuff. Everything else is 7-10 year old IBM stuff.

As far as my collection, I always have at least 2 at my desk working, if more the 3rd is usually a laptop of some kind. Most of my laptops lounge under the futon when not being messed with in cases, except my main laptop that goes everywhere. The 286 and 8088 stay cooped up in the corner ready for some games, and the Mac SE lives ever-presently at my bar, and then there's the game consoles, all live under the TV, and the games are in storage systems, or in the closet. Surprisingly, it's not that noticeable that I have a lot of computers, I usually hear more from visitors about the guitar collection I have.
 
I think it is less correct to say that I started collecting old computers than it is to say that I started hating modern ones. After 486, I really lost interest in PCs. I think it's great that everyone can afford to buy a computer, but I am pretty pissed off about how mainstream computing has ruined my world. I sit in my dungeon on top of my pile of ISA cards and Sierra Online boxes plotting my revenge! I think I started visiting used computer shops when I was about 14. It's a weird hobby. Don't expect to win too many friends with it. It's a pretty "anti-social" thing to do, but hey...it's fun to me.
 
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Agreed

Agreed

Glad i'm not the only one fighting the technology revolution. I still watch TV on my 1980something Zenith Space Command(custom series). At any rate, I still use High Speed FIOS internet, and do have a new system or two, for the internet, and games such as The Sims and Return to Castle Wolfenstein. I'm glad I'm not the only anti-social person here. Although, I am very social on this website, because I am chatting with people who understand what I am about. No one else in this county have a clue about the letters of the Binary Alphabet(which I know and understand).
 
Well actually, the word "anti-social" as I found out from experience is not a good one to use to describe yourself. One of the dictionary definitions for the word implies that you manipulate people. I guess it's because America thinks that introverted people are evil and plotting against them. Anyway, if you want to be politically correct you should describe yourself as "reserved".
 
I'm also a 14 year old that loves old computers. :D I have tons of old Macs lying around, half of which are about as old as me or older. I use a 1.5 year old Acer laptop for modern things, along with my Beige PowerMac G3. The Acer won't have as much to do if I get the iMac G3 slotloader I'm getting this weekend to work.

I only have one PC that's from before the Pentium era, and it's an old AST Power/Exec 4/33SL with a 386.

My whole collection is here if anyone's interested:
http://mr680x0.googlepages.com
 
bbcmicro said:
"What can you use it for?" Is the usual incredulous response, even up to a pentium 3.
Click to expand...

Heh, so I apparently have 2 vintage computers: A Compaq portable and a PIII 1GHz :p

btw, I'm 14 and I like vintage computers... my collection so far is just the one Compaq (not counting the PIII) but my sister's boyfriend is planning on giving me an old IBM 286 (IBM AT I would assume, but he doesn't remember) and some other 386 :) *thinks about finally being able to play TANK and F-19 outside of DOSbox*
 
I started early too.

I started early too.

I got interested in computers at 17. Back in those days you either built your own or used a time-share terminal in school. I read "Popular Science" and got hooked. I figured one day I'd have my own. Now my son has the "bug" since he's been 14. BTW I still have my first computer, a TRS-80 Model I. It still works after almost 30 years!

Rick Ethridge
Omaha, NE USA
 
I was 11 when i got hooked, banged away on a teletype in a cupboard at school. Made a keyboard interface for a tape punch when I was 12, in bed with tonsillitis, the matrix was made using second-hand OA91 diodes, soldered into veroboard (stripboard) through a piece of punched tape, punched in the order of the keys on the keyboard, to give me the right codes.
Lord knows what the keyboard was off, it was ancient even then, and had ball bearings in a tube that stopped you pressing more than one key at a time.
i wish i could re-visit that cupboard, it had wonders galore.
 
I thought I was on the young end of things...

I thought I was on the young end of things...

At 37. Afterall, I was only 8 when the TRS-80 model I came out. My parents bought one only a year or two later and I was completely hooked.
 
Young enthusiests

Young enthusiests

I too am a retro computer collecter, and Im only 16. I started when I was 13 or so, with various older game systems, then when I was 14 with my Commodore 64. Since then, I wear a C64 hat to school every day, and I have even brought it in to my computer science class twice. Yes, I get the same crap from other kids... you are not alone!
 
Excuse me, but ... a C64 hat? :-D Not even in the 1980's, when I decorated my art class folder with a matrix print-out of a 1541 diskdrive, I would have considered wearing a C64 hat or cap, even if it had been allowed. I regularly drew pictures of my Commodore computer(s) though. My big brother bought his VIC-20 when I was eight years old, and I was allowed to buy it from him at approx 10 years old, followed by taking over his C64.
 
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