4 ms·

It is in the last part, but for me it is that I don't need to lookup or have to deal with what we decided is software dev in 2024. There are no libs: I write ev

It is in the last part, but for me it is that I don't need to lookup or have to deal with what we decided is software dev in 2024. There are no libs: I write everything myself in asm (my preferred is z80 but I can do 68000 amiga stylez). Everything is in my head ; on my msx I write opcodes; not even an assembler needed! Wat is deployment? It already runs! I guess that is indeed cosy and, for people who grew up with the horror that is npm and left-pad, not really understandable, but when they try, it is incredibly liberating. I own most 70-80s systems (I mean brands, even vague east block, russian, hong kong ones; I miss a few but those are just too rare), they all work (I cheat; I can fix them, I do replace quite a lot of capacitors during the decades, but at least with these I can), and they are lovely. Edit; I know I Can do the same thing on my linux machine; just use C and no libs, but for the reasons named in the last paragraph of the article, it doesn't relax me; I don't need more money, yet I cannot detach modern computers from productivity; it helps that with these 40 year old machines you cannot make money. So I do dream of a laptop running on an mcu with an eink screen that has 1 month of battery but no commercial power. And running common lisp at boot as that's all I need anyway. I am close to just forking over 10k to have one custom made, but still hope someone else will do it.

deafpolygon 2y ago
> It is in the last part, but for me it is that I don't need to lookup or have to deal with what we decided is software dev in 2024 You still can. If you wanted to write DOS software and games, you can still write them. Nothing is stopping you. I don't own much of the old hardware because: - I don't have space - I don't want to maintain them But I like emulators and will use them when I can. > So I do dream of a laptop running on an mcu with an eink screen that has 1 month of battery but no commercial power. Look into emulators that run on e-ink devices. Most run Android of some sort and can emulate systems of the yesteryear. You don't need to spend 10k.
- anonzzzies 2y ago
  Yes, but no battery life. I run openmsx on a boox but it drains pretty fast. But yes, I see the point; I can pack one in a 3d printed case with keyboard and a stack of batteries I guess. I have a few toughbooks I don't use anymore; that has a nice enough case really for this. Just a disaster of a keyboard :)
  - mseepgood 2y ago
    Why battery? Back then, computers were always connected to the power grid.
    - anonzzzies 2y ago
      Sure, but that's one thing I don't like about that time. I am not trying to make a retro computer; I already have retro computers from that time that need a socket. I want to have something I would feel 'cosy' about but modern in some ways (notably; portable, workable in sunlight and long, very long battery life).
AndrewOMartin 2y ago
This is a nice comment and speaks to the notion that every medium has its own characteristic feel even is not "better" by some metric (e.g. vinyl vs CDs, vs cassettes, vs live radio, vs mp3, etc.). A similar feeling of immediacy without any intervening concerns is hacking away at a Processing [https://processing.org/ https://processing.org/] sketch. In some sense it's the complete opposite of retro computing, but it engenders similar experiences. Such as a programming novice typing in a few numbers and being amazed that they've immediately made something interactive and colorful, and temptingly close to being called a game.
thih9 2y ago
> for people who grew up with the horror that is npm and left-pad For those missing context: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npm_left-pad_incident https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npm_left-pad_incident
jll29 2y ago
> So I do dream of a laptop running on an mcu with an eink screen that has 1 month of battery but no commercial power. And running common lisp at boot as that's all I need anyway. I am close to just forking over 10k to have one custom made, but still hope someone else will do it. I share that dream (and have written a few times about it in comments on HN). In case you find one, or go ahead with having one built, let me know. I might put in 10k as well. Specs: - low-energy CPU, no GPU - e-Ink display b/w or gray - very good keyboard (ThinkPad-type quality for intensive writing) - battery life: 2-4 weeks - size: A5 or between A5-A4 - 64 bit OS: Linux or BSD - good text editor (Emacs, Sublime) with mail client (VM), GCC/Clang++ - weight: 700-900 g - EDIT: icing on the cake: "no boot mode" that fires up a shell prompt in <2s, e.g. based on starting an OS instance that had a snapshot taken _after_ booting up, to give you the same feel of the Cosy Computing home computers of the 1980s. - because it's possible (hey, my washing machine and dishwasher don't need to boot either!).
- rochav 2y ago
  As someone who loves reading and uses e-readers a lot (physical books feel cooler though), the experience of typing with an e-ink display doesn't seem enjoyable, I imagine it would have quite the delas. Have you guys coded in e-ink and it is actually okay? (I want my intuition to be wrong about this so much, because that does sound appealing)
  - packetlost 2y ago
    I'd take a sharp LCD display over ePaper tbh. They look almost as nice but can run at way higher refresh rates. I agree that ePaper probably isn't quite there for refresh rate for me to want to type on it
- universa1 2y ago
  Hmm... You might be able to build one out of a remarkable [1], as that runs linux, has support for external keyboard and might only be lacking in the battery life department, when actively used. [1] remarkable.com
  - 2y ago
eterps 2y ago
> So I do dream of a laptop running on an mcu with an eink screen that has 1 month of battery but no commercial power. And running common lisp at boot as that's all I need anyway. I am close to just forking over 10k to have one custom made, but still hope someone else will do it. Same, but with Project Oberon on bare metal. CP/M would be a nice option too.

deafpolygon 2y ago

> It is in the last part, but for me it is that I don't need to lookup or have to deal with what we decided is software dev in 2024 You still can. If you wanted to write DOS software and games, you can still write them. Nothing is stopping you. I don't own much of the old hardware because: - I don't have space - I don't want to maintain them But I like emulators and will use them when I can. > So I do dream of a laptop running on an mcu with an eink screen that has 1 month of battery but no commercial power. Look into emulators that run on e-ink devices. Most run Android of some sort and can emulate systems of the yesteryear. You don't need to spend 10k.

anonzzzies 2y ago
Yes, but no battery life. I run openmsx on a boox but it drains pretty fast. But yes, I see the point; I can pack one in a 3d printed case with keyboard and a stack of batteries I guess. I have a few toughbooks I don't use anymore; that has a nice enough case really for this. Just a disaster of a keyboard :)
- mseepgood 2y ago
  Why battery? Back then, computers were always connected to the power grid.
  - anonzzzies 2y ago
    Sure, but that's one thing I don't like about that time. I am not trying to make a retro computer; I already have retro computers from that time that need a socket. I want to have something I would feel 'cosy' about but modern in some ways (notably; portable, workable in sunlight and long, very long battery life).

AndrewOMartin 2y ago

This is a nice comment and speaks to the notion that every medium has its own characteristic feel even is not "better" by some metric (e.g. vinyl vs CDs, vs cassettes, vs live radio, vs mp3, etc.). A similar feeling of immediacy without any intervening concerns is hacking away at a Processing [https://processing.org/ https://processing.org/] sketch. In some sense it's the complete opposite of retro computing, but it engenders similar experiences. Such as a programming novice typing in a few numbers and being amazed that they've immediately made something interactive and colorful, and temptingly close to being called a game.

thih9 2y ago

> for people who grew up with the horror that is npm and left-pad For those missing context: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npm_left-pad_incident https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npm_left-pad_incident

jll29 2y ago

> So I do dream of a laptop running on an mcu with an eink screen that has 1 month of battery but no commercial power. And running common lisp at boot as that's all I need anyway. I am close to just forking over 10k to have one custom made, but still hope someone else will do it. I share that dream (and have written a few times about it in comments on HN). In case you find one, or go ahead with having one built, let me know. I might put in 10k as well. Specs: - low-energy CPU, no GPU - e-Ink display b/w or gray - very good keyboard (ThinkPad-type quality for intensive writing) - battery life: 2-4 weeks - size: A5 or between A5-A4 - 64 bit OS: Linux or BSD - good text editor (Emacs, Sublime) with mail client (VM), GCC/Clang++ - weight: 700-900 g - EDIT: icing on the cake: "no boot mode" that fires up a shell prompt in <2s, e.g. based on starting an OS instance that had a snapshot taken _after_ booting up, to give you the same feel of the Cosy Computing home computers of the 1980s. - because it's possible (hey, my washing machine and dishwasher don't need to boot either!).

rochav 2y ago
As someone who loves reading and uses e-readers a lot (physical books feel cooler though), the experience of typing with an e-ink display doesn't seem enjoyable, I imagine it would have quite the delas. Have you guys coded in e-ink and it is actually okay? (I want my intuition to be wrong about this so much, because that does sound appealing)
- packetlost 2y ago
  I'd take a sharp LCD display over ePaper tbh. They look almost as nice but can run at way higher refresh rates. I agree that ePaper probably isn't quite there for refresh rate for me to want to type on it
universa1 2y ago
Hmm... You might be able to build one out of a remarkable [1], as that runs linux, has support for external keyboard and might only be lacking in the battery life department, when actively used. [1] remarkable.com
- 2y ago

eterps 2y ago