Retro Nostalgia

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Aslanna
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Retro Nostalgia

Post by Aslanna »

Stolen from another thread...
Winnow wrote: August 31, 2020, 2:33 amThe Commodore 1541 Hard Drive used 5.25 inch double sided floppys that could hold a whopping 664 "blocks" which was ....165kb of data. It took about 30 minutes to fill up that 165kb using my modem. It was a step up from the original cassette tape drive I had been using!

/nerdvoice Actually.. The 1541 was a floppy drive not a hard drive!

Before PC I didn't really have any experience with dialup. While I had a Commodore 64 and a 300 baud modem I lived in the boonies so any dialup service would have incurred Long Distance charges. Which aren't a thing any longer. So it's not something I used.

I guess my first modem would have been a 2400 then I jumped to the 14.4 HST (Dual Standard.. Still have!). US Robotics for the win... I think after that I did 28.8 (an AT&T Paradyne I got for free.. which I no longer have) and then a US Robotics 56k (which I still have). At that point I had hybrid cable modem internet which relied on dialup for the upstream and cable for downstream. No clue on the speed but that's what I started playing EQ on.

As far as old hardware goes for some reason I have started to collect old Commodore computers. No idea why. So far I have a C64, C64C, C128, C128D, and a Commodore plus/4. I've also been assembling an Amiga 1200 although I have a few more components to go. I think I'm pretty much done spending money on that collection though. An SX64 would be neat but I can do without it.

Also I have most of my old PC hardware so I tried getting my AMD 386/40 (suck it, Intel!) with a massive 4MB RAM running again. I was able to do so but I was not able to install OS/2 on there like I had done originally as it kept hanging up during the install. Before OS/2 I was running QEMM/DesqView but I didn't feel like going back that far as I don't even have DesqView any longer but I do have my OS/2 disks.

I did eventually set up a Pentium 2 on a Tyan Tsunami motherboard running OS/2. Pentium 2.. With the CPU on a card! Who remembers that failed experiment? Or even Tyan? I think they may still be around but they might only be doing enterprise hardware at this point.
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Re: Retro Nostalgia

Post by Winnow »

Aslanna wrote: October 5, 2022, 7:55 pm Stolen from another thread...

/nerdvoice Actually.. The 1541 was a floppy drive not a hard drive!

As far as old hardware goes for some reason I have started to collect old Commodore computers. No idea why. So far I have a C64, C64C, C128, C128D, and a Commodore plus/4. I've also been assembling an Amiga 1200 although I have a few more components to go. I think I'm pretty much done spending money on that collection though. An SX64 would be neat but I can do without it.

Also I have most of my old PC hardware so I tried getting my AMD 386/40 (suck it, Intel!) with a massive 4MB RAM running again. I was able to do so but I was not able to install OS/2 on there like I had done originally as it kept hanging up during the install. Before OS/2 I was running QEMM/DesqView but I didn't feel like going back that far as I don't even have DesqView any longer but I do have my OS/2 disks.

I did eventually set up a Pentium 2 on a Tyan Tsunami motherboard running OS/2. Pentium 2.. With the CPU on a card! Who remembers that failed experiment? Or even Tyan? I think they may still be around but they might only be doing enterprise hardware at this point.
My bad, 1541 definitely was a floppy drive! I'm about to go a little off topic but still nostalgic! I do remember OS/2!

That's cool about collecting old commodore hardware. At some point back in college my my mom asked me if she could sell my c-64 and it's peripherals (along with a ton of pirated games/software!), she sold it in a thift shop or something. Next to my comic collection I sold in the mid 80's that would now be worth around $100K I regret that for nostalgia purposes. The only old hardware I have is my original Mac Plus 9 inch screen I got in 1987 and it's (at the time) $500 40MB external drive. I used it in college but hated it. It was horrible for porn. C-64 was even worse but did have some out there on the BBSs.

Things changed in early 1990's (cant remember exact timeline) when I switched to PC 486, and then Pentiums, etc. I also knew enough to not use AOL from my old BBS Pirating/Phreaking days with the C-64 and used Netcom which had "true" internet access as opposed to AOL's tailored service. It's the same service Kevin Mitnick used during his hacking spree. It also gained me access to the usenet and I download my first high res porn picture which took like 20-30 mins to download one picture but was amazing quality (probably 320 res or something lol)

By the time EverQuest rolled around I moved to a location that had the new Cox cable internet service, it was just in time for the 1999 EQ Beta 3 and 4 tests.

As for PCs and other hardware, I'm most proud of the earlier days when hacking/pirating was fun and challenging. I hacked everything I could.

C-64

I can't remember what inspired my father to buy me and my brother a C-64/Tape Drive, Monitor and then shortly later a 1541 Floppy Drive. It changed my life and while not expensive, it wasn't "cheap" just to do that back then on a whim. I'm thinking I may have asked for it after seeing Wizardy (or a game similar to it) on my brothers friend's computer which was an Apple I think. We were all into D&D back then and seeing the little sprites going through dungeons was amazing. I was already pretty introverted reading comics/fantasy novels etc but after getting the C-64 became more so. I'm very good at being social and was voted "most friendly" in high school but that was just because I know how to be social, not because I wanted to be. It took me a long time to figure out that all that social stuff wasn't important. Anyway, my brother didn't have much interest in computers so it became mine.

In the early days It was phreaking with sprint/metro codes to call long distance for free so I could access Bulletin Board Systems. While not "hacking" It was also fun to hex edit C-64 games to put my Pirate BBS phone number in the game intro. Working with the old BBS software was great. My BBS CPU Headquarters (Central Pirating Unit) ran late at night on my land line where others could upload/download games and software. Back then, you had to pack up all your stuff, computer/monitor/floppy drive and haul it over then clone disks etc. Earlier in 1983 in school I became friends with the class president that was also into C-64 stuff and he introduced me to quite a bit on the software side of things like cloning software, hex editors, bbs software etc.

Also notable on the C-64 I've probably mentioned elsewhere on the forum, I met my first girlfriend in high school (before I left for Switzerland my Senior year) indirectly through the BBS. I met a guy via a BBS that was from across town, had just gotten my driver's license so after he and his girlfriend visited my home to trade software (I know right, what's with these computer nerds having girlfriends, kinda breaks the stereotype!) I visited his home and my future girlfriend was there at the small party. That friend (an actual genius) also introduced me to programming and I wrote my first programs. The one I was proud of was a D&D character generator program that you could create your D&D characters with random rolls and various options and settings. I didnt stick with programming though.

My great computer/girlfriend life was quickly disrupted when my father got a job in Sardinia Italy and I had to head off to a private school in Switzerland which was a blast but I lost a truly great girlfriend in the process and also was jolted away from computers for a full year.

Returning a year later in 1986, I resumed my BBS/Pirating. I also briefly had a part time college job at a B.Dalton Software Etc, store in the local Mall. As part of my perks, I was able to check out any piece of software I wanted and we'd just shrink wrap it up to sell after brought back (was legit process actually back then) but of course, I would copy the software at home so I had access to pretty much any c-64 software/games I wanted.

After deciding to switch schools to Arizona State University in 1988 I picked up the Mac Plus (before I was using the C-64 for some school work) As previously mentioned, I wasn't a fan of the Mac and got an early Amiga model for awhile for gaming. I also briefly worked at the Software counter at the ASU bookstore and was able to access PC/MAC apps for awhile. My job was to help faculty and students with their software needs and also did some desktop publishing for store Ads etc. I think I used Quark Express back then. I just looked, that software is still around.

Cable Box

Not sure if this really counts but I also had hacked cable boxes in the early days that unscrambled all the channels.

Consoles and DirectTV

Sometime in the 90's when DirecTV was available, I really wanted it. I lived in an apartment and no way to actually put the dish outside so I found a window facing the right direction and set the dish up inside (yes it works behind glass). Back then you had to have a land line for DirecTV so they could be sure they knew your location (also needed for NFL Ticket blackout restrictions etc late) I bought an emulator card from Canada that allows you to either directly emulate a DirecTV access card or program the asic chip on an existing DirecTV card. The early security wasn't great with DirecTV and initially I would just download software to my PC then use the emulator to hack the DirecTV card giving me full access to every channel on the service. Every once in awhile they'd send a "bullet" that would knock out the hacked cards but initially you could just reprogram them with updates. Later they could brick your card so that's when I had to directly use the emulator attached by wires to my PC and insert it directly into the DirecTV box and emulate the access card completely so nothing could be bricked. Fun times.

I hacked the PS2, original Xbox, Xbox 360, and PS3. Xbox was the most fun because it was most PC like OS. PS2 was mostly just to play pirated downloaded games, you'd stick a DVD in it to program it then swap it out for the pirated game. Not much fun there. The Xbox you could customize and add music players etc. Xbox 360 was challenging for my version I had to cross wires, short circuit the DVD player to force the updates etc.

Thinking back on my PC history. While I did enjoy some early games, I think the most fun for me was challenging myself to figure out how I could hack/pirate something. I remember using a war dialer in the early days (called phone numbers all night searching for the screeching BBS tones) and found a law firm BBS that I was able to log into. I never had any bad intentions, it was just cool to be able to do it. In the early PC days, it was was more challenging to get pirated games and software using FTPs and people setting up folders in cryptic locations inside trash bins etc, that would only last until the sysop discovered them on whatever company's server they were on. Nowadays you can get everything under the sun, games, movies, TV shows apps etc for free with a little work or super fast and easy if you know the right file sharing service to sub to.

I suppose the bottom line is I'd rather spend hours and hours figuring out how to get something, possibly even paying more than it is that I'm trying to access, because the "fun" part is the challenge, not the end result.

I've built my own PCs since the start of EverQuest. Proudest thing I've done in the repair category was fixing my own Samsung TV soldering and replacing some capacitors. I had a long post about that on VV about that back then that may or not exist anymore.

The Mentality of a hacker written in 1986 was perfect for the exact time I was growing up and doing these things.

Code: Select all

                       \/\The Conscience of a Hacker/\/

                                      by

                               +++The Mentor+++

                          Written on January 8, 1986
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

        Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers.  "Teenager
Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering"...
        Damn kids.  They're all alike.

        But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain,
ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker?  Did you ever wonder what
made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him?
        I am a hacker, enter my world...
        Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm smarter than most of
the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me...
        Damn underachiever.  They're all alike.

        I'm in junior high or high school.  I've listened to teachers explain
for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction.  I understand it.  "No, Ms.
Smith, I didn't show my work.  I did it in my head..."
        Damn kid.  Probably copied it.  They're all alike.

        I made a discovery today.  I found a computer.  Wait a second, this is
cool.  It does what I want it to.  If it makes a mistake, it's because I
screwed it up.  Not because it doesn't like me...
                Or feels threatened by me...
                Or thinks I'm a smart ass...
                Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here...
        Damn kid.  All he does is play games.  They're all alike.

        And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing through
the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic pulse is
sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought... a board is
found.
        "This is it... this is where I belong..."
        I know everyone here... even if I've never met them, never talked to
them, may never hear from them again... I know you all...
        Damn kid.  Tying up the phone line again.  They're all alike...

        You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at
school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip
through were pre-chewed and tasteless.  We've been dominated by sadists, or
ignored by the apathetic.  The few that had something to teach found us will-
ing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.

        This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the
beauty of the baud.  We make use of a service already existing without paying
for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and
you call us criminals.  We explore... and you call us criminals.  We seek
after knowledge... and you call us criminals.  We exist without skin color,
without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals.
You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us
and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals.

        Yes, I am a criminal.  My crime is that of curiosity.  My crime is
that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like.
My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me
for.

        I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto.  You may stop this individual,
but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike.

                               +++The Mentor+++
The movie Hackers from 1995 will remain my favorite movie even if it is corny because it brings back so many memories.
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Winnow
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Re: Retro Nostalgia

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5 years before EverQuest!

This lady/show nailed it in their predictions especially with her Neflix like demo. I was one of those 20 million she mentions that were on the internet in 1994!

Wish I could remember exactly when I first connected. In 1991 I was working for Insight (Hard Drives International). Back in those days no internet so if you remember there was the MASSIVE monthly magazine/catalog called Computer Shopper. It was like the size of a phone book that everyone advertised in.

We had the internet when I started working at Motorola starting around 1994 or 1995 but I had it before that at home.

Internet is one of those things (along with cell phone tech iphone etc) that improves at such a steady pace that you don't notice how much of a change until you jump bad 5 years 10 years 20 years etc. Streaming video felt like it took forever to arrive but now it's taken for granted.
1990: Tim Berners-Lee, a scientist at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, develops HyperText Markup Language (HTML). This technology continues to have a large impact on how we navigate and view the internet today.

1991: CERN introduces the World Wide Web to the public.

1992: The first audio and video are distributed over the internet. The phrase "surfing the internet" is popularized.

1993: The number of websites reaches 600 and the White House and United Nations go online. Marc Andreesen develops the Mosaic Web browser at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. The number of computers connected to NSFNET grows from 2,000 in 1985 to more than 2 million in 1993. The National Science Foundation leads an effort to outline a new internet architecture that would support the burgeoning commercial use of the network.

1994: Netscape Communications is born. Microsoft creates a Web browser for Windows 95.

1994: Yahoo! is created by Jerry Yang and David Filo, two electrical engineering graduate students at Stanford University. The site was originally called "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web." The company was later incorporated in March 1995.

1995: Compuserve, America Online and Prodigy begin to provide internet access. Amazon.com, Craigslist and eBay go live. The original NSFNET backbone is decommissioned as the internet’s transformation to a commercial enterprise is largely completed.
Hehe only 600 websites in 1993. I remember using Yahoo in the early days. It was literally a directory tree. Click on "sports" and you'd get a few sports sites etc. Alta Vista came along later and was basically like Google before Google with it's searches.
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Re: Retro Nostalgia

Post by seebs397 »

This is great. I ran Mac tech support for advertising in 1994 for Dillard's and had my first glimpse into the Internet. I t was brought up to the C-Level that we could sell items online. Bringing this up to a company that owns the land the anchor stores at each mal its on - well, it went over like a fart in church.

Great stuff. l
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Re: Retro Nostalgia

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I'm not sure I remember my path... But I'll try. Years mentioned are more an approximation as I can't remember that far back!

My first 'game system' was a hand-me-down Pong type system, probably in 1982, from a friend when they upgraded to an Atari 2600. (They also had a VIC-20 before that. Or maybe after I do not remember. I think it was after, though)

Then not long after that, in 1983 when Texas Instruments was engaged in a price war with Commodore and TI-99/4A's were practically being given away when TI left the computer market my Mom bought one of those. Which seemed to stop working when I brought it through an x-ray machine at the airport. No real memories of that other than we were poor and my mother, even if the computer was cheap, had to sacrifice to afford it. That probably is what led me on my path and to where I am now so I definitely appreciated that although she has passed on now and I never got around to telling her that.

After that I think it was an Atari 2600 for a couple years and then a Commodore 64 probably the Christmas of 1985. Initially I started out with not even a tape drive so I had no storage. I had a few cartridges but it was mostly just messing around until I got a 1541 floppy drive. There were a few people in school that had the C64 so games were shared quite liberally.

During this time our school also had the a decent computer curriculum and this is where I used my first Mac. I wasn't really a fan. We also had an IBM System/36, which was interesting, as well as probably 20 5250 terminals (IBM PCs running terminal software, basically) to connect to that as well as a dozen standalone IBM PCs and a dozen Apple ][s. Looking back on it I think we were quite well equipped considering it was a public school in a town of 12,000 people. I remember people using Print Shop on the school computers and those poor dot matrix printers screaming for hours printing out those banners.. Until the school put the kibosh on that.

Anyway, the C64 was my primary home computer until my stepfather bought a 286 in 1989 or maybe early 1990. That particular 286 was huge and it had a 2-slot CGA card.. CGA.. 2 slots! Crazy. I used that for awhile until the first computer I put together, a 384/40 in 1990. A bit before that is when I started visiting BBS's on a 2400bps modem and eventually got the USR HST 14.4k Dual Standard in 1991 for a stupid crazy amount of money. At least for me anyway at the time. Not really a great investment looking back on that. Anyway, I definitely racked up some quite high phone bills (many hundreds of dollars) during that time as I was visiting many BBS's and downloading all the software I could find. My stepfather was not happy once the phone bills showed up so that was a whole thing.

With the 386/40 I was running DOS, eventually setting it up with QEMM/Desqview for rudimentary multitasking but when OS/2 2.1 came out in 1993 I switched to that and thought it was great. I ran that for a few years until it became obvious IBM didn't know how to market it and Widows 95 came out and took over. I do not believe I ever ran Windows 95 though I think I started with Windows 98. But maybe not as that timeline doesn't quite add up. I do not think I was running OS/2 from 1993 until 1998 but I guess it could be possible.

After that nothing too interesting.. Pentium 1.. Pentium 3.. Then an AMD Athlon and after that I can't really recall them all and am too lazy to go look what they were. I definitely do miss the earlier days although newer hardware has made many things easier. Who remembers messing with IRQs and DMAs when setting up a sound card? Good times...

Console-wise, after the Atari 2600, I didn't get back to those until the Xbox 360 was hacked and I had a few of those. I didn't care for it much though and when a friend at work with a PS3 said they'd let me borrow all their games I bought one of those (the first slim redesign not the terrible ugly super-slim version later) and have been in the PlayStation ecosystem ever since having bought a PS4, PS4 Pro, and finally a PS5. I did buy a PS2 slim during my PS3 years and hacked it (Free MCBoot!) although it didn't keep my interest too much. At that time I think PS2 emulators were already a thing and did decently when playing games.

For the most part hacking consoles doesn't interest me these days as I have the income to buy whatever games I want and the hassle is so much less and I would rather spend my time elsewhere.

As far as the internet goes.. I'm not sure the timeline. We did have a local BBS on FidoNet so that was my first experience with Usenet newgroups. I used a program called SLMR (Silly Little Mail Reader) to retrieve/read posts, respond to those with posts of my own, then pack them up and send them back. This was using Qmodem to connect to BBS's. Qmodem was great! Doing a Google search now I see posts of mine dated 1992 so I guess I can say I was (sorta) on the internet in 1992.

A bit after that SLIP/PPP accounts started being a thing so that's when I got on the internet for real. I want to say Netcom was my first provider but I really have no idea. Sadly there wasn't much of a reason to visit BBS's after that especially since I moved to another state and they would have all been long distance calls. I do miss that time period though. Everything was so simple when it was BBSes. Now you got shitty 'social media' messing everything up.
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Re: Retro Nostalgia

Post by Winnow »

Nice history!
Aslanna wrote: November 22, 2022, 1:36 am
My first 'game system' was a hand-me-down Pong type system, probably in 1982, from a friend when they upgraded to an Atari 2600. (They also had a VIC-20 before that. Or maybe after I do not remember. I think it was after, though)
"Ultra Pong" was the "pong" game console we had before getting the Atari 2600. Ultrapong was 1977, then we got the Atari 2600 sometime between 1978-79. I know at least one of my friends had one as well and we traded cartridges.

Image

I found a picture of Ultra Pong if it doesn't "red x" like most images these days.

Image

We may have had Super Pong instead of Ultra Pong. I can't remember.
Aslanna wrote: November 22, 2022, 1:36 am Then not long after that, in 1983 when Texas Instruments was engaged in a price war with Commodore and TI-99/4A's were practically being given away when TI left the computer market my Mom bought one of those. Which seemed to stop working when I brought it through an x-ray machine at the airport. No real memories of that other than we were poor and my mother, even if the computer was cheap, had to sacrifice to afford it. That probably is what led me on my path and to where I am now so I definitely appreciated that although she has passed on now and I never got around to telling her that.
My father passed away in 2018 and I'm not sure if I ever fully thanked him for buying that C-64 and peripherals. My mom thought I spent too much time on it. Neither had a clue what I was doing on it back then though.

Sucks to hear about the x-ray machine. We weren't poor or rich, my dad was an officer in the Air Force, flew F4s Vietnam Era, but if something like that happened to our PC it wouldn't have been great and I probably wouldn't have gotten a replacement quickly.
Aslanna wrote: November 22, 2022, 1:36 am I do miss that time period though. Everything was so simple when it was BBSes. Now you got shitty 'social media' messing everything up.
It was an amazing time. I told my story about meeting new friends from the BBS. I have to say my early PC/BBS years experience was the exact opposite of the stereotyping of the day. My mom thought I was shutting out the world while that was far from what was happening.

While going to school in Switzerland my senior year of high school was an incredible experience and a great education, I do wonder what my life would be like now if I had stayed where I was in the states. The "grass is always greener" doesn't really apply here. School in Las Vegas bored me. I didn't study and was still in honors classes which only shows how bad the system was there. In Switzerland there were 8 students per class usually seated in a U shape around the instructor and every exam I took there was a written exam. No fill in the dots tests so I had to at least give an effort and with so few students per class you couldn't snooze in the back of the room. Every one of my instructors was a graduate from an Ivy League school. That said, the PC class was a joke. Six Apple IIs not connected to anything. I didn't learn a thing regarding PCs and the school only had one phone with an operator to send the call to the dorm if someone needed to reach you so no one had personal PCs. We all had Sony Walkman cassette players.

I strayed a little from the topic but it pertains to the path taken regarding PCs. The overall education I received was better but regarding PCs, my C-64/BBS friend from across town went on to receive a masters from Stanford University in Computer Science and then wrote satellite guidance programs for the US military so hanging around him my senior year certainly would have boosted my PC influences early on.
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Re: Retro Nostalgia

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Winnow wrote: December 2, 2022, 9:13 am My father passed away in 2018 and I'm not sure if I ever fully thanked him for buying that C-64 and peripherals. My mom thought I spent too much time on it. Neither had a clue what I was doing on it back then though.

It's funny because my mother was terrible at basically anything electronics related. It might be cliché to say but she actually did struggle with the VCR clock incessantly blinking 12:00. But even at that time of buying me the TI/99-4A she knew computers were the future and it was a path I should pursue so I didn't have as hard of a life as she had.
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Re: Retro Nostalgia

Post by Winnow »

Here's a good recent video on my generation gamer finding an original Commodore 64 and hooking it up.



C-64 and floppy drive are same that I had (I had Commodore version of the 1541 not Tandy though) Whatever color I had, I think the darker color, all my peripherals matched in color. The box it came in was exactly the same as the one he shows in the video.

Only thing missing is the color monitor.
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Re: Retro Nostalgia

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So many inaccuracies in that video..

First off, the title. The C64 was generally referred to as a Home Computer and not a 'PC'. PC was most always used when referencing IBM (and clone) computers.

I don't know why he says "Tandy model" as Tandy was Radio Shack and Radio Shack had nothing to do with Commodore as Tandy were making their own computers. That version of the 1541 was just an earlier one and probably was introduced for use with the VIC-20 (Or maybe even the PET? Not sure!) which might explain the VIC-1541 label on the floppy drive.

Then he talks about a "business type" and a "home version" of the Commodore 64.. What? That is not a thing.

The characters on the keys were always there. However on the 64C they did move them to the top of the keys rather than the front that the original 64 had. That had nothing to do with a "business type" it was just a later model of the case to resemble the C128 design. Regardless the characters were always the same just the position of them on the key changed.

Gorf.. "We think Gorf is Golf". What?! Who doesn't know what Gorf was? At least someone who was around back then.

Not an inaccuracy but Atari 2600 joysticks are actually terrible. Even at the time we knew that. Wico joysticks are where it was at.

He turns it off during loading because he didn't think it was working. Did this guy actually have a Commodore 64 growing up because I find that hard to believe. EVERYONE who had a C64 knows that the 1541 is slow as molasses.

Bard's Tale didn't come with a decoding wheel for copy protection. At least not the first 2 so he's probably referring to Bard's Tale 3 which did use that. This one I can see happening as it was awhile ago.

Not sure the point of comparing it to a Switch. It's a 40 year old system. Toasters these days are more powerful than a C64 so it's a useless comparison.

I get it was supposed to be a fun video and not to be taken that seriously so it's whatever but it's things like that that made me stop watching his videos awhile ago.


For actual advice I'd say anyone who is interested in messing around with a C64 should just get an emulator like VICE and try that first. That he supposedly spent $700 on that setup he had was crazy but sadly believable with the stupid prices of retro computers/gaming systems these days.

If you want to go with actual hardware I would probably not get a 1541, other than for nostalgia reasons, since those original floppies are getting old and even blank ones I don't think they still produce. I know 3.5" they stopped making many years ago so I can't imagine 5.25" disks are still being manufactured. I know you can buy 'new' ones online but just because they haven't been opened or used doesn't mean they are new.
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Winnow
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Re: Retro Nostalgia

Post by Winnow »

Aslanna wrote: March 8, 2023, 2:46 pm So many inaccuracies in that video..
First off, the title. The C64 was generally referred to as a Home Computer and not a 'PC'. PC was most always used when referencing IBM (and clone) computers.

I don't know why he says "Tandy model" as Tandy was Radio Shack and Radio Shack had nothing to do with Commodore as Tandy were making their own computers. That version of the 1541 was just an earlier one and probably was introduced for use with the VIC-20 (Or maybe even the PET? Not sure!) which might explain the VIC-1541 label on the floppy drive.
Very true about PC almost always referring an IBM/Clone back then.

As for Tandy model, I'm not sure on that but I know my 1541 didnt have as much writing on the front of it. Im guessing my floppy and actual computer were the darker color.

Nice job picking the video apart : )

I had an Atari 2600 so those are the joysticks I used. I had no idea on any other quality back then, just figured they were all the same.

If you think the 1541 was slow (it was) the tape drive was ridiculously slow!

I had A LOT of games for the C-64 since I pirated them all. I've mentioned this elsewhere but when I ran my BBS i had 4 1541 floppies connected and always had three drives full of the latest games and 1 empty drive when I went to bed at night. Other "pirates" would call up my BBS and upload something I didn't have to the empty drive then download games off my other 3 floppies. The next morning I'd rotate out the oldest of the 3 floppy games and stick the uploaded games into that floppy drive and then add a new empty floppy. I remember being on the honor system. I don't think I ever implemented a credit system where you had to upload to download.

Besides Ultima III, I remember liking Jumpman Junior, Summer Olympics, Archon (a cool chess type game), Elite (space trading game), Ghosts and Goblins...oh man nm too many to list

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_C ... E2%80%93M) A-M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_C ... E2%80%93Z) N-Z

Fast Hackem was my go to disk copier

https://www.c64copyprotection.com/wp-co ... m-1985.jpg

I actually used my C-64 in college in 1986/1987. When I transferred to Arizona State in 1988 is when I got my MAC Plus. I had a horrible dot matrix printer which my college professors hated getting essays on.

Image

That's close to my setup. I even had that same disk holder but I had lots of disk holders.
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Aslanna
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Re: Retro Nostalgia

Post by Aslanna »

Jumpman Jr I actually had the cartridge for so I played that a lot. It’s one of the ones I still occasionally play now. Ultimate Wizard is another.

I can’t really remember all the ones I liked but I did play Summer (and Winter) Games from Epyx a lot but never could get into Archon.

I did play a bunch of RPGs though. Questron (by SSI) was the first one I ever played (and beat!). I also have great memories of beating Bards Tale. I even have all the dungeons mapped on graph paper. I should get those scanned at some point.

I saw a SX-64 in super good condition for $500 but I decided against buying it. It would be cool to have but would I ever mess with it much? Probably not. Know when to say when!

And I guess one ‘correction’ on the C64 being a “personal computer”. The 64C badge does say Personal Computer but who were they kidding. It was a home computer and everyone at the time knew PC to be IBM and compatibles.
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