Story

While I have plenty of past (and passed) loved ones (particularly a Sanyo 178^Hkg luggable /**had to leave that typo in lol**/) my "best" computer must be a relatively new eMachine 10 inch notebook. The little guy refused to stay dead (I killed it once by disassembling it and cleaning out some of the "goop" but after two weeks it came back to life). Of course the fan is long gone because I smoke two packs a day (and so does it) but it don't mind :D

Currently it's running the newest Mint and I use it primarily for small & rough Inkscape work. If it ever does die I'll still keep it.

What has this got to do with true retro computing? My point would be that a lot of the love for the old ones came from the fact that they were relatively accessible i.e. cheap, and "good enough". They could be a bit hit and miss but when they hit it was love :) "Making do" has plenty of charm on its own and there are still new-ish computers (not just awesome Raspberries & similar) that carry a lot of the retro legacy in spirit.

By the way I wonder how many used "butterfly keyboard" ThinkPads are still alive and well? Never used them but they looked damn sexy from a distance. I find it "easy" to love small laptops but perhaps it's that old Sanyo* forever leaving its mark on me :)

* I even changed the fuses on that thing several times! Fuses!!! Like those you can find in a dimmer lol! And my beard is only slightly gray.