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> Can anyone explain the deep nostalgia and longing for old DOS era software, and in particular VGA text mode interfaces? Nowadays, our computers have instant

by cesarb 3y ago

> Can anyone explain the deep nostalgia and longing for old DOS era software, and in particular VGA text mode interfaces? Nowadays, our computers have instant access to an uncountable amount of storage, information, and software through the Internet, and even local storage is enormous. Back then, the world was much smaller; the software and data you had in your small hard disk and boxes of floppy disks (and perhaps tape, etc.) was all that you had, and you didn't have a constantly online network to distract you with an unlimited fire hose of nonstop information. That led to a closer relationship between you and the software on your computer. You had time to explore each and every corner of the software, and to read its manual (be it in the form of an online help or a paper book) from cover to cover. The software stayed the same; there was no automatic online update, no security scare blaming you for staying on a release that's more than a day old. You knew your software and hardware limitations, and adapted to them; they would stay the same until you bought more hardware, or new software (which came in colorful physical boxes, that you could put on a shelf). We have gained much since, but lost some of that sense of wonder, of making the most of memory and storage measured in megabytes or even kilobytes, processors with speeds measured in megahertz or even kilohertz, and displays with few lines and columns of characters and little color.

JamesAdir 3y ago
You wrote it beautifully and if I can add - software then was a tool. Like a good old hammer. You only bought a new one when needed, or a different type for a new task. Today, software is a service.
bombcar 3y ago
I remember spending hours and hours without sleep on a 386 with no Internet; various games and programming and references - there wasn’t enough time. Now if my Internet goes down my $$$$ M1 Pro might as well be a freaking paperweight; there’s absolutely nothing to do.
kcartlidge 3y ago
Exactly this. I still use WordPerfect 4.2 (DOS) and DataEase 4.5 (DOS) on a reasonably frequent basis and am much more productive. Even went as far as knocking up a simple WP4-to-Markdown converter in Go to keep the process workable. Incidentally I'm also into retro games (Spectrum, CPC, MAME, DOS) for pretty much the same reasons. In particular the memory/nostalgia is so strong because, as you put it, "the world was much smaller; the software and data you had ... was all that you had". Those games took long enough to load and were expensive enough (for a kid) to acquire that when they finally launched I stuck with them and got value from them. Modern games are (tens of?) thousands of times larger yet they are lost in a sea of content.

by cesarb 3y ago

JamesAdir 3y ago

You wrote it beautifully and if I can add - software then was a tool. Like a good old hammer. You only bought a new one when needed, or a different type for a new task. Today, software is a service.

bombcar 3y ago

I remember spending hours and hours without sleep on a 386 with no Internet; various games and programming and references - there wasn’t enough time. Now if my Internet goes down my $$$$ M1 Pro might as well be a freaking paperweight; there’s absolutely nothing to do.

kcartlidge 3y ago

Exactly this. I still use WordPerfect 4.2 (DOS) and DataEase 4.5 (DOS) on a reasonably frequent basis and am much more productive. Even went as far as knocking up a simple WP4-to-Markdown converter in Go to keep the process workable. Incidentally I'm also into retro games (Spectrum, CPC, MAME, DOS) for pretty much the same reasons. In particular the memory/nostalgia is so strong because, as you put it, "the world was much smaller; the software and data you had ... was all that you had". Those games took long enough to load and were expensive enough (for a kid) to acquire that when they finally launched I stuck with them and got value from them. Modern games are (tens of?) thousands of times larger yet they are lost in a sea of content.