15 Jun
2009
15 Jun
'09
2:06 p.m.
On Jun 13, 2009, at 5:04 PM, Warren Wolfe wrote:
That all depends on what you run them on. Muahhahaa! B-) (I
will run simh on my employer's E10K, just because I can!)
Well
don't get me wrong, I'm not poo-pooing emulators. I use
them all the time. I just don't find them to be a replacement for
real hardware. :)
True enough. They certainly don't WEIGH as much, for instance...
<Grin> So, long story short, while I certainly share the fun
inherent in
the hardware, it simply MUST be a hobby that dies out, unless one
is a museum curator.
Or a preservationist, like many of us here. But I do see, and
agree with, your point.
Software classic computing could be a steadily growing
field, only
needing interest from new people to expand. Do I need to enumerate
the benefits? Shipping a copy of your disk pack to someone in an e-
mail, instead of calling Craters and Freighters, is a huge
advantage, in both time and money.
Well I dunno...Can something truly be called an advantageous
approach when it doesn't accomplish the same goal? You are assuming
that the only point of classic computing is software. That just
isn't so. It boils down to what one is interested in.
There are lots of similar benefits. I'm just
lucky I am *more*
interested in the process of running the software as I used to do,
rather than in climbing into the machines. I cannot afford much of
the latter, in time, money, or space.
Yes, you are lucky that your interests coincide with your
lifestyle's ability to support them. I bought a bigger house, three
times in a row, because I love PDP-11s. (well, that wasn't the ONLY
reason, but it was a big part of each decision)
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL