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Just gave someone a computer

Terry Yager said:
While not opposed to new tech for the sake of opposing it, I do oppose mindless consumerism of a society with a throw-away mentality manipulated by the propaganda machine of Madison Ave. into believing that having the newest & shiniest somehow makes you a better person than the next guy.

--T
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I'm not the religious type, but can I get an AMEN?
 
And a big AMEN from me. I come from a generation when portable radios were hi-tech so I might be suspect. My over-fastest CPU is a 700mhz P3. I prefer computers which I can actually know what all the DLLs do. I drive a great 1981 Chrysler Cordoba and still marvel at the cruise control. I have an 8-track player I installed in it to play my considerable collection which are throwaways to most, and work well except for a few where the synthetic rubber has degenerated. My house was built in 1901 and will likely outlast most of the recently-built slap-togethers with inferial materials. I'm on pension and so don't have a lot of ready cash. I throw away litle and follow my parent's necessary credo from the "dirty thirties". I have a garden , grow my own vegetables, and preserve them for the winters. Am I being "superior" in my attitudes to the present generation of Western society ? Likely. I consider myself of the 2nd world where most people don't have the income or mindset of the 1'st with their frantic aquivativeness in a world dominated by psychological systems geared to tie one to a slavish need to work and consume. The cone-heads of SNL. The young Malaysian or Phillipine girls who labor long hours in slave-like conditions with their "small nimble fingers" are fueling the obesity of our NA gamer-kids.

One of the considerations of our retro-computing must be a rejection of senseless technical progress. The amounts of money spent on designing games or better ppocessors to play them could wipe out AIDs in Africa, solve world hunger problems, and even eliminate child poverty in our society. Of course the large corporations would suffer, and eliminating Million dollar pay-offs to executives would reduce the gap between rich and poor. Paris Hilton might have to rewear her clothse, but it would be a better world for most.

Lawrence
 
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I checked in with the girl I gave the machine to, and something unexpected happened- she has something to do other than work and put up with her roommate. She actually seemed happier. I didn't think it was gonna be any kind of therapeutic. She told me that she's started writing down the stories that she tells the kids she watches, and has made a hobby of just messing around with the computer in general. Just an update.

Nathan
 
Druid6900 said:
Nathan,

Regardless of what this thread has devolved into, you've done a good thing. You made someone a little happier. Well done.
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Yep, you have certainly done a great thing. Nothing like knowing you have changed the life of another. It's OT but:
Last year I bought a portable FM/AM 8-track player off a 70 year old man, who was married. He had no clue it was an 8-track player, and had long ago trashed his 8-tracks. 10 minutes later, I returned with my Big Band era 8-track, and he called out his wife. The song that played was the one that had played at the dance they met at, and right there in the garage, the two of them danced together to Glenn Miller and his orchestra. Nothing quite like making two people smile.

--Ryan
 
Micom, I sure like your point-of-view. I'm in the 30 something set, squarely between the "we" and "me" generations. I'm revolted by some of the crap that is pushed down the throat of the American consumer, as yet one more "necessity".

I hope that some day I can, as you do, and as my parents did, keep a garden and provide some of these important things for myself. A few years back I bought a flat of strawberries and made jam, just like my mother used to. I got some raised eyebrows, but it was marvelous to have food that wasn't comprised of ingredients I can't pronounce. I've recently started making my own bread, too.

I think my basic rejection of technology for the sake of technology is what led me into the vintage computers area. Not that it was a conscious decision, but it feels to me like most of the country bought a bill of goods: in order to be normal and happy, you have to have the latest and greatest--a mantra I wholly reject. I don't really feel that most computer applications have gotten better (especially under windows), just different, and sometimes more difficult. So, I'm happy with my 15 year old PCs, my 10 year old AS/400 and all the trappings that go with them. They still work as well as they did when they were new, and it was good enough then.

Now that I've rambled off topic, we return to our regularly scheduled programming...
 
I'm just glad to know that I'm not the only anti-consumerism type around here, although I suspect that most vintage computer collectors have a bit of that spirit in 'em.

--T
 
Yzzerdd said:
Yep, you have certainly done a great thing. Nothing like knowing you have changed the life of another. It's OT but:
Last year I bought a portable FM/AM 8-track player off a 70 year old man, who was married. He had no clue it was an 8-track player, and had long ago trashed his 8-tracks. 10 minutes later, I returned with my Big Band era 8-track, and he called out his wife. The song that played was the one that had played at the dance they met at, and right there in the garage, the two of them danced together to Glenn Miller and his orchestra. Nothing quite like making two people smile.

--Ryan
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Lemme guess...In The Mood? (It's my favorite Glen Miller tune). Being a fan of big band swing, etc sounds strange to some folks of my generation, but the more I hear of music from that era, the more I realize that our parents were nowhere near as square as we thought they were.

--T
 
Yep, you guessed it right! Some people look at me funny when I play big band music, but people like my mom find it entriguing someone of my age would even like that stuff.

--Ryan
 
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