Wed 16 September 2026

This morning, I came across an article which the official Hackaday fediverse account linked yesterday: "Rosy Retrocomputing."

And... no hate. Albert has a good point. As much as I enjoy the rosy-colored glasses myself, there are some real pain points to retrocomputing, or as we called it when I was growing up, "computing." 😄

If you don't believe me, download the original Commodore VIC-20 manual here and pop open the VICE emulator in VIC-20 mode in another window (or run this lightweight emulator in a browser window (source here)). Pretend that this is your only computer, and go through the manual, writing your own software in BASIC. It's a wonderful experience in a lot of ways, and... pretty flipping terrible in many, many others. 😆
(80-column mode? What's that?!? the VIC20 has twenty-two!!! 🤣

But the beauty of retrocomputing isn't how wonderful MS-BASIC was (it was horrible), how much we enjoyed using line numbers (we didn't), or how stable Operating Systems were before memory protection was a thing (they crashed all the time). The beauty of retrocomputing was that our computers were ours. They didn't constantly try to get us to play candy crush, remind us of our Microsoft Points, or goad us into buying more Apple products so we could actually enjoy connecting with our loved ones and our other devices without stupid, mercenary, petty, corporate-imposed limitations.

Computers were rational little digital servants, not doomscrolling enablers, household spies, slop-spewing facsist proxies, or mental-health-injuring existential horror delivery devices. They only did what they were asked, nothing more, nothing less.

Speaking of which, I have a Commodore 64 Ultimate in my home office that I've been meaning to set up for... (mumbles quietly) eight months. Executive dysfunction is a heck of a thing. I'll get around to it, soon, I promise! :D

All retrocomputing-related posts here

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Category: Tech
Tags: ADHD   Beauty   Computing   Hobbies   Humor   Monthly themes   Non-religious post   Retrocomputing