4 ms·

I seriously expected minis and mainframes to be "old computers," not PCs from the 90s!

vkaku 3y ago
If I do this exercise 30 years from now it will get there.
arp242 3y ago
Not even that; the CPU they use is from 2004. Socket 478 wasn't introduced until 2001. And they're using a SATA SSD! Then again ... this is 20 years old. In 2004 20 years ago was 1984, and computers from 1984 were definitely seen as "old computers" in 2004. On the other hand, a lot more changed from 1984-2004 than from 2004-2023. Windows XP is conceptually the same as Windows 10, macOS, or GNOME today, even though details between implementations differ, and a Pentium 4 is essentially the same as a modern CPU, except slower. A C64, DOS, or old Unix machine was conceptually quite different to Windows XP, and the capabilities of these machines were radically different from a P4. "Age" and "old" is not really about years, but more about concepts. This reminds me, around the same time I got a Sun SPARCstation from the early 90s for free, and I was doing the guy a favour by taking it off his hands. With inflation and EU import tax the price of this machine must have been €15-€20k, easily. And I got it for free with keyboard and (huge!) monitor, and everything. I don't think anyone is giving away 10 year old high-end workstations today; they're perfectly functional (my i5 midrange laptop is 6 years old).
- jdblair 3y ago
  ...and my own age!
- ACS_Solver 3y ago
  > Then again ... this is 20 years old. In 2004 20 years ago was 1984, and computers from 1984 were definitely seen as "old computers" in 2004. > On the other hand, a lot more changed from 1984-2004 than from 2004-2023. Windows XP is conceptually the same as Windows 10, macOS, or GNOME today, even though details between implementations differ, and a Pentium 4 is essentially the same as a modern CPU, except slower. This is also my takeaway here. I'm pretty sure that someone who first used a computer with a typical 2023 setup, Win10 and all, would pretty easily figure out a typical 2004 PC with Windows XP, Internet Explorer or early Firefox, etc. But going back even ten years from 2004 is more different, you'd be on Windows 3.1, which looks quite different and requires familiarity with different workflows. 1984 is radically different as the typical machines were all CLI/TUI and required machine-specific knowledge to work on, you couldn't just figure it out by looking at it.
- fortran77 3y ago
  I just sold a 2010 supermicro Mobo on eBay with a 6 core Xeon and 8GB of ECC memory. It sold for $1.99. And I had to list it twice.
  - vkaku 3y ago
    That's a steal!
ChoHag 3y ago
[dead]

If I do this exercise 30 years from now it will get there.

Not even that; the CPU they use is from 2004. Socket 478 wasn't introduced until 2001. And they're using a SATA SSD! Then again ... this is 20 years old. In 2004 20 years ago was 1984, and computers from 1984 were definitely seen as "old computers" in 2004. On the other hand, a lot more changed from 1984-2004 than from 2004-2023. Windows XP is conceptually the same as Windows 10, macOS, or GNOME today, even though details between implementations differ, and a Pentium 4 is essentially the same as a modern CPU, except slower. A C64, DOS, or old Unix machine was conceptually quite different to Windows XP, and the capabilities of these machines were radically different from a P4. "Age" and "old" is not really about years, but more about concepts. This reminds me, around the same time I got a Sun SPARCstation from the early 90s for free, and I was doing the guy a favour by taking it off his hands. With inflation and EU import tax the price of this machine must have been €15-€20k, easily. And I got it for free with keyboard and (huge!) monitor, and everything. I don't think anyone is giving away 10 year old high-end workstations today; they're perfectly functional (my i5 midrange laptop is 6 years old).

jdblair 3y ago
...and my own age!
ACS_Solver 3y ago
> Then again ... this is 20 years old. In 2004 20 years ago was 1984, and computers from 1984 were definitely seen as "old computers" in 2004. > On the other hand, a lot more changed from 1984-2004 than from 2004-2023. Windows XP is conceptually the same as Windows 10, macOS, or GNOME today, even though details between implementations differ, and a Pentium 4 is essentially the same as a modern CPU, except slower. This is also my takeaway here. I'm pretty sure that someone who first used a computer with a typical 2023 setup, Win10 and all, would pretty easily figure out a typical 2004 PC with Windows XP, Internet Explorer or early Firefox, etc. But going back even ten years from 2004 is more different, you'd be on Windows 3.1, which looks quite different and requires familiarity with different workflows. 1984 is radically different as the typical machines were all CLI/TUI and required machine-specific knowledge to work on, you couldn't just figure it out by looking at it.
fortran77 3y ago
I just sold a 2010 supermicro Mobo on eBay with a 6 core Xeon and 8GB of ECC memory. It sold for $1.99. And I had to list it twice.
- vkaku 3y ago
  That's a steal!

ChoHag 3y ago

[dead]