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I really dislike titles of this form ("I love to do X, and so should you"). It might not be the most rational response, but I intuitively refuse to let some art

by krylon 6y ago

I really dislike titles of this form ("I love to do X, and so should you"). It might not be the most rational response, but I intuitively refuse to let some article in some magazine tell me what I should or should not do, let alone "love". Just to be clear, I find the history of computing fascinating, and I have a big soft spot for old-school hardware. My heart still skips a beat when I hear a modem/fax screeching, and every time I visit my doctor who still uses a dot matrix printer, I smile when it does its thing.

jolmg 6y ago
> who still uses a dot matrix printer, I smile when it does its thing. They're sold brand new on Amazon. Oki Data is still alive and kicking. There's also new-ish fax machine models from the major printer companies.
- the_only_law 6y ago
  No freaking way, a lot of these even still have rs232 and parallel interfaces. I’ve been needing an rs232 printer to go with some of my retro protocol analyzers.
- lsllc 6y ago
  My Dad would bring home piles of the in-between pages from the 130 column fanfold that would separate reports & print jobs from the dot matrix printers (the ones with horizontal green stripes on one side). That stuff was great for sketching, notes, projects, even placemats. I'd buy loose 130 column fanfold "scrap" paper if that was a product!
  - zxspectrum1982 6y ago
    This? https://www.amazon.com/Sparco-Computer-Paper-Plain-Inches/dp/B0008GRICO https://www.amazon.com/Sparco-Computer-Paper-Plain-Inches/dp...
    - lsllc 6y ago
      This is the paper: https://www.pdp8.net/images/greenbar.shtml https://www.pdp8.net/images/greenbar.shtml The 132 column dot matrix printers often used to have the sprocket drive _above_ the print head. So in order to get your report off the printer, you'd have to form feed a couple of times so you could tear off the report. This left you with reports & printouts that started with 1-2 blank pages, so it was common to remove those and put them in the pile of "scrap paper" (which was what my Dad used to bring home for us kids!).
dan_hawkins 6y ago
It's a very common response. Such a suggestion ("you should/have to do this") takes away some degree of freedom of choice from you so automatic response is to resist that. Same reason why people loath situations like "let me show you this youtube."

by krylon 6y ago

jolmg 6y ago

> who still uses a dot matrix printer, I smile when it does its thing. They're sold brand new on Amazon. Oki Data is still alive and kicking. There's also new-ish fax machine models from the major printer companies.

the_only_law 6y ago
No freaking way, a lot of these even still have rs232 and parallel interfaces. I’ve been needing an rs232 printer to go with some of my retro protocol analyzers.
lsllc 6y ago
My Dad would bring home piles of the in-between pages from the 130 column fanfold that would separate reports & print jobs from the dot matrix printers (the ones with horizontal green stripes on one side). That stuff was great for sketching, notes, projects, even placemats. I'd buy loose 130 column fanfold "scrap" paper if that was a product!
- zxspectrum1982 6y ago
  This? https://www.amazon.com/Sparco-Computer-Paper-Plain-Inches/dp/B0008GRICO https://www.amazon.com/Sparco-Computer-Paper-Plain-Inches/dp...
  - lsllc 6y ago
    This is the paper: https://www.pdp8.net/images/greenbar.shtml https://www.pdp8.net/images/greenbar.shtml The 132 column dot matrix printers often used to have the sprocket drive _above_ the print head. So in order to get your report off the printer, you'd have to form feed a couple of times so you could tear off the report. This left you with reports & printouts that started with 1-2 blank pages, so it was common to remove those and put them in the pile of "scrap paper" (which was what my Dad used to bring home for us kids!).

dan_hawkins 6y ago

It's a very common response. Such a suggestion ("you should/have to do this") takes away some degree of freedom of choice from you so automatic response is to resist that. Same reason why people loath situations like "let me show you this youtube."