Modern Apps on Old Machines

Let's not forget that old machines were, in their day, designed to be used by *mainstream* users. So, let's look at the people who would -- nowadays -- use old machines. 1) Newbies/inexperienced users. Are these people willing to put up inadequate documentation, unbelievably klunky software with *no* tech support? No -- no more than they were willing to when the machines were new. 2) Power users? most would laugh at the idea of using a "relic". They would be no more caught dead with one than a photographic toy-boy would with a point-and-shoot camera (altho' many pros, with nothing to prove, use P&S's as cheap backup cameras. Don't tell anyone <g>) 3) People who love it? few and far between. Sure, you can do e-mail, use lynx to check out the web on an XT (I cheat...I use a 386SX lap top with a 2400 baud modem). Using an old machine to perform routine tasks -- tasks for which the machines were originally designed and sold -- in no way ennobles the person who does so...it's just a hobby, rife with the same inconveniences that plague any undertaking. Most people have some sort of hobby, (altho' usually not as technical) and go through the same inconveniences we do, working with their love. I do a fair amount of photographic retouching on my P-133. I need large amounts of disk space (up to 30 MB per), memory, processing speed -- otherwise, I just can't do it. (I can't just go have a cup of coffee.) I do publication and page layout, and WSYWIG is an enormous convenience. (sure, LaTeX on the VAX gives me nice output. Give me Microsoft Publisher to get work done a lot faster...I have to feed my family.) As an engineer, I used to do finite element analysis on rubber products. Running on a 486-50 (the fastest available at the time) a single job would run overnight. Try *that* on a PDP-11! The point? (He finally gets to one!)Many tasks can be accomplished easily on an XT running 1-2-3 or QEDIT -- sure. But, many jobs are now possible to do on a garden-variety PC (mac) which were impossible to perform on older machines.