4 ms·
Playing with an Amiga or ZX81 may be fun and in that regard you may be right that emulation is often enough if you just want to consume content and get a bit of
by Renaud 6y ago
Playing with an Amiga or ZX81 may be fun and in that regard you may be right that emulation is often enough if you just want to consume content and get a bit of nostalgia.
However, there is something to be said about having to handle the hardware and fiddle with it, fail at it, troubleshoot it until you get enough of an intimate knowledge that you finally understand what makes everything tick.
Even better, building your own 6502 or Z80 small computer is very eye opening and will give anyone not just the joy of creating something concrete but also give a solid base on which to build an understanding of how all computers actually work.
Ben Eater's[1] (and many others) work is pretty important in that regard.
[1]:https://eater.net/
- stevekemp 6y agoI've enjoyed reading Ben's content, as I slowly work towards building a computer of my own. I managed to get an Arduino to drive a Z80, handling I/O and RAM access. The next step is the tricky one - working out how to design a board and wire everything up standalone. Still I'm in no particular rush, there are many single-board Z80 systems out there and mine will be nothing special if/when I actually get the design completed and assembled.
- Renaud 6y agoKuddos on your journey into building your modern/vintage hybrid! It doesn't need to compare to anything or be special. The only metric should be that it's fun and educational to you to build and hack this together and make it your own. If other find it useful, whether the end-product or the journey, then that should be side-effect of the joy of inventing something for yourself.