17 Jul
2003
17 Jul
'03
11:37 a.m.
Hopefully this isn't too off-topic, but a thought
just occured to me
about computers that some may, or may not, want to collect in the
future, which aren't classics yet. It seems that many of the newer
It does worry me that there's not a single microcomputer system made
today that I actually want to own....
computers have been designed with uncollectability, as
well as a high
degree of user-annoyance, in mind. Somehow, either some marketing
idiots, or clueless enginers, got the idea to design computer
equipment that's unstackable due to its rounded-off shape... the iMacs
This is a problem, albeit a minor one (you can always fit shelves, etc
round the stupidly-shaped machines so as to put other things on top). I
do wonder, actually, if the shape is designed to prevent the user from
stacking stuff on top of the machine and blocking the cooling vents, etc.
More of a problem is that modern machines are plain unrepairable. Spares
are unavailable even now (when the machine is in production -- you try
getting an ASIC for an Imac or similar...), so %deity knows what it'll be
like in 10 years time. Technical manuals don't exist. The chances of
being able to keep these machines running is minimal :-(
-tony