5 Jun
2024
5 Jun
'24
10:03 a.m.
On 05/06/2024 16:37, Sellam Abraham via cctalk wrote:
*snip*
You mentioned that an Altair 8800 and even a subscription to Popular
Electronics was too much for your 9 year old self, but the TRS-80 wasn't?
Perhaps I misinterpreted.
At any rate, it matters not: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PERSONAL COMPUTER.
There, I've done it.
You can all move on with living again. You Are Welcome.
Sellam
To quote a popular Australian childrens show, "It's just monkeys singing
songs, mate", meaning "There's no reason to over think it"
The argument as to what defines a personal computer is as nuanced and
varied as "what defines a retro computer". No-one will ever agree,
because no-one has exactly the same opinions on what defines such a
thing. There is literally no way for everyone to nail down a precise
definition, because everyone's definitions are different. Attempting to
justify your position is ultimately pointless, because you will never
get a majority to agree with your position.
To spin things round to a personal opinion of mine (not related to the
"Personal Computer" argument here), i'm of the opinion that the
"minicomputer" never died. Modern multicore x86 servers with attached
iSCSI SANs and ultra high speed connectivity are topologically similar
to a PDP-11 with a bunch of RL02's serving a room full of VT220's. But
then there's a lot of people who would scoff at the comparison. But
that's my opinion.
As someone once said "Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one, and
they all stink."
Josh Rice