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Dutch legend has been running his campsite since 1986 using an Atari ST:
If there's one thing YouTuber Viktor Bart likes, it's retro computers: his channel is dedicated to videos about building old machines, their functions, cool oddities, and just generally the joy of these beige things. Even Mr. Bart, however, was surprised by what he found in Koningsbosch, in the Dutch province of Limburg: a campsite that's been run since 1986 on an Atari ST.
[Ed note: Is there anybody here who has an Atari ST? Please share your experience in the comments.
I bought its predecessor, an Atari 800, in 1980. Even got an expansion cartridge to boost memory from the on-board 8 KB RAM. Yes, I spent countless hours playing Star Raiders. It was not as capable as the Atari ST, but it was a fun system that booted up instantly!]
(Score: 2) by looorg on Monday October 04 2021, @04:49PM (6 children)
If it was just about that then yes there are usually always things that are better from that point of view, if the emulation is proper etc. Sometimes there are differences.
That said a large part of the old hardware is nostalgia and quite frankly the Pi doesn't induce nostalgic feelings when using, at least not in me. That said I am aware that it might be a bit of hypocrisy involved in getting then various kits to "enhance the experience" so to speak instead of sitting there say inserting floppies or playing tapes instead of just pushing a button and skipping the whole load time that was the previous norm. But it's super convenient to have like a cartridge with an SD card in it that can more or less contain every piece of software ever written for the platform in question etc.
In some regard it's kind of messed up cause the machine can now do things it couldn't when it was current or do things that was very much out of my reach (money and access vise) back in the day.
So yes a lot of it is nostalgia, other things (for me) is that I like the old machine cause in some regard I can actually follow what is happening and that I know the machine. The newer and more modern it gets the less connected I feel to hardware.
I see it as my dad has his vintage car(s), he likes them. He can work on it and fix all the things etc. He can take it out for a ride when he likes etc. He has a new car to, electric and everything. But he still keeps the Thunderbird around.
I like to have my old computer, I can fix it and do things with it. Inducing warm fuzzy feelz (or sometimes massive levels of annoyance). Something running MAME, UAE or Vice or whatever emulation you want to run doesn't do.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday October 04 2021, @05:08PM (5 children)
My wife likes to curb stomp my warm fuzzy feelings about old technology, that I am never going to use. Also, something like a Raspberry Pi is massively superior in performance, headache reduction, etc. than original hardware.
Most of the nostalgia for me was the software. I like not having to lug around 15 inch monitors that weigh 50 pounds. Unfortunately, there is no Raspberry Pi like x86/x86-64 device, at least not in that price range. I'm not interested in paying $200-$300 for a system that can't play modern games.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by looorg on Monday October 04 2021, @05:45PM (2 children)
Ah you upgraded to far. Girlfriend (or fiance or whatever) thinks all I do is cute and charming (or so I pretend), I fear that the wife upgrade will change all that.
I'm not monitor nostalgic, I don't care for CRT in that regard. I don't miss like having that 50kg of tube on my desk. That said I have fond feelz about for monochrome monitors (monochrome orange > monochrome green > monochrome black/white).
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday October 04 2021, @09:01PM (1 child)
Fiance is when you ask them to marry you and they say yes. In the event that's not happened and there's no wedding planned, still a girlfriend.
Though, in some places (most places?), if you've been living together for X period of time, it's called a "Common Law Marriage". In which case, you may as well be married.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday October 04 2021, @09:06PM
Apparently a woman is called a Fiancée, while a man is a Fiancé. Pronounced the same, but written different. I probably learned that at some point and promptly forgot.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1) by ncc74656 on Monday October 04 2021, @08:20PM (1 child)
There's the Rock Pi X, with an Atom x5-Z8300. With 4 GB RAM, prices start at $65. (1 and 2 GB RAM configurations are also available.) The most expensive configuration is still under $100. I have one running as a Kodi box that (unlike the Raspberry Pi) can play video in a web browser. This makes sites like Rumble and Odysee usable on it, where a Raspberry Pi can only play YouTube, and only with the YouTube plugin for Kodi.
As for "modern games," wouldn't you just use any run-of-the-mill PC for those? Shoehorning them into running on an SBC seems pointless.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday October 04 2021, @08:58PM
Ah, that was in reference to a $200-$300 computer.
The only Rock Pi X in stock that I could see was some random Amazon vendor for $126. E-bay wasn't much better, either. Whereas I can get a $55 Pi 4 4GB shipped from the USA.
This is what I was thinking of when I was thinking x86/x86-64 Single Board Computer. https://shop.udoo.org/en/bolt-boards/ [udoo.org]
Which kind of stretches that definition a bit as the RAM is sold separately, but uses standard RAM sticks.
I did eventually find this thing, though: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N298F2B/ [amazon.com]
Too bad, you have to wire your own power supply and/or buy a breakout board to do so. Which is partly why I've never given it too much thought. I do have a soldering iron now, though.
Something like the UDOO Bolt would be awesome, but again, it's a $300-$400 computer. The go-to example Rock Pi X, I've never actually seen in stock or at the Pi4 price level.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"