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Old computers never die - their users do! We should definitely not be throwing away old computers. They're just as useful as they were when they were assemble

by mmjaa 9y ago

Old computers never die - their users do! We should definitely not be throwing away old computers. They're just as useful as they were when they were assembled, and can be tasked to do all sorts of things we haven't even thought about yet. I'm a huge fan of retro computing (Oric-1 Atmos, FTW!) and there is nothing more satisfying than to sit down and download a fresh new app, built this year, to run on a system built 30 years ago. I think this is a feeling that must persist, somehow, so I encourage everyone and anyone who has an old computer in their attic to dig it out, boot it up, and keep it running. Even if you can't find a use for it, there are a million other people out there who could. Give it to the kids and let them learn computing in the most distraction-free environment you can give them... my kids learned computing at the 8-bit level and its already put them way ahead of the iPhone-addicted peers. Sure, the Oric may not have the latest and greatest titles, but at least my kids know how to put a picture together with nothing but a few characters, an editor, and an understanding of hexadecimal ..

noxToken 9y ago
> Sure, the Oric may not have the latest and greatest titles, but at least my kids know how to put a picture together with nothing but a few characters, an editor, and an understanding of hexadecimal Some kids don't want nor will ever care to put their time to use by programming on an 8-bit architecture. Some won't even care to do it on current gen architecture, and that should be alright. I could be misreading your tone (hope I am), but some people value experience rather than creation. Creators are not superior to consumers. Putting down others, especially children, because they'd rather play some shovelware mobile release than create something is distasteful. We may be technically inclined, but we aren't gods.
- 9889095r3jh 9y ago
  Na, creators are superior. There's nothing wrong with kids playing dumb mobile games. But they gotta spend some time making something. I don't care if it's a video game, a short film, or a bird house. When you're making things, you're learning. And when you're passively consuming, you may not be. With games like Minecraft, kids today have no excuse. They can be making things and playing a game at the same time.
- mmjaa 9y ago
  Sorry but I just don't agree with you. Seeing kids doing nothing but blowing up pixels on their computers is a real tragedy. So many better things they could be doing, but because of the consumer culture you espouse, they just won't get there. And its not like the motivation to dig further is just going to happen with the kids intrinsically - after all, these new platforms don't ship with compilers onboard, nor tools necessary to start digging, even though they're more than capable of supporting such tools, architecturally.. People valuing experience rather than creation is one thing; not knowing the first thing about how to create new software, because the vendors discourage that participation in order to drag attention into a profitable endeavour - this is another thing entirely. I'm hopeful that the attitude will change, but as you have demonstrated, its going to be a long haul ..

by mmjaa 9y ago

noxToken 9y ago

> Sure, the Oric may not have the latest and greatest titles, but at least my kids know how to put a picture together with nothing but a few characters, an editor, and an understanding of hexadecimal Some kids don't want nor will ever care to put their time to use by programming on an 8-bit architecture. Some won't even care to do it on current gen architecture, and that should be alright. I could be misreading your tone (hope I am), but some people value experience rather than creation. Creators are not superior to consumers. Putting down others, especially children, because they'd rather play some shovelware mobile release than create something is distasteful. We may be technically inclined, but we aren't gods.

9889095r3jh 9y ago
Na, creators are superior. There's nothing wrong with kids playing dumb mobile games. But they gotta spend some time making something. I don't care if it's a video game, a short film, or a bird house. When you're making things, you're learning. And when you're passively consuming, you may not be. With games like Minecraft, kids today have no excuse. They can be making things and playing a game at the same time.
mmjaa 9y ago
Sorry but I just don't agree with you. Seeing kids doing nothing but blowing up pixels on their computers is a real tragedy. So many better things they could be doing, but because of the consumer culture you espouse, they just won't get there. And its not like the motivation to dig further is just going to happen with the kids intrinsically - after all, these new platforms don't ship with compilers onboard, nor tools necessary to start digging, even though they're more than capable of supporting such tools, architecturally.. People valuing experience rather than creation is one thing; not knowing the first thing about how to create new software, because the vendors discourage that participation in order to drag attention into a profitable endeavour - this is another thing entirely. I'm hopeful that the attitude will change, but as you have demonstrated, its going to be a long haul ..