The Lure of Retro Computing
What's the best computer you ever owned? Step aside with your Core Duo, son, and make some room for the gentleman who wants to tell you about his Commodore 64 . Or Sinclair ZX . Or DEC Terminal .Retro computing is hotter than ever, attracting the interest of a whole new generation who takes interest in the machines of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. You may have missed the Retro Computing Fair in East Philadelphia last month, but that doesn't mean you're out of luck. Roswell, Georgia is hosting a Vintage Computing Festival next month, and museums dedicated to classic hardware are springing up everywhere, like this one in Ramsgate, UK. Most of them are the product of their passionate founders who have opened up their personal collections.
Can't make it anywhere? It's still not too late to play some classic Commodore 64 games courtesy of a Raspberry Pi and some clever emulation.
That's the thing about bits. Eight of 'em should've been enough for anybody.
(*1) The original Z80 took 4 ticks for even the most basic instructions, more unless paired with fast RAM. The R800 in the turbo R can do them in 1 tick. So it's a lot faster than what the clock speed would suggest. For an 8-bit machine, that is.
While I still have it wired up, I must admit that I only really start it when doing research for the openMSX emulator. If I want to play old games, I do it in the emulator: it is just more convenient with save states, reverse, cheats etc.