30 May
2006
30 May
'06
3:10 p.m.
After a while, when parts and consumables can no
longer be found or
fabricated, old computers, like, say, old motorbikes, are going to
become purely museum pieces, that cannot actually be *run*. They're
already no use - you wouldn't go to work on a 1905 Douglas and you
wouldn't run a PDP-8 to read your email. Doesn't mean they're
valueless. Better to preserve them in their original state in a museum
than to bodge together some hybrid of ancient and modern kit.
To give people the experience of using them, write and emulator & make
it perfect & faithful. That way,m the OS, the software, the data
files, the *feel* of the machine can be kept alive indefinitely.
I was giving this some thought just this morning. At least some of my
systems will be going into the "Historical Resource Center" that I mentioned
in the Library thread. I've always wanted to have these systems where they
can be seen and used by the public, but then I got to thinking. Do I really
want to maintain something like a PDP-11 that is on 24/7 so the public can
play with it? It makes far more sense to have such systems on display, and
just emulate them. Sure people like us will know the difference, and mind
it, but realistically to the general public, does it really matter? At
least to start with, I'll be the only technically oriented person involved,
and I simply do not have the time to maintain old systems for anyone other
than myself (don't really have time to do it for myself).
At the same time, I'm looking into a setup such that the general public can
go into the "Historical Resource Center" and transfer their old media to
modern media. I invision this including 5 1/4" floppies, and 3 1/2"
floppies at a minimum. (I figure at least Commodore, Apple and PC). While
this can be done with a combination of old and new systems, it might be better
to do it with a modern PC and a Catweasel card.
Zane