Like the venerable air cooled beetle, the coolness factor outpaces its decline of usefulness as time goes on, and in late capitalism, nothing is better than being cool, what do you think will happen to the beige boxes as the years go on? Will they be mostly accessible like vinyls or become the playthings of those like bansky (see porsche 912)

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MotorVixen wrote to All <=-

Like the venerable air cooled beetle, the coolness factor outpaces its decline of usefulness as time goes on, and in late capitalism, nothing
is better than being cool, what do you think will happen to the beige boxes as the years go on? Will they be mostly accessible like vinyls or become the playthings of those like bansky (see porsche 912)

There's a subreddit where people take beige cases and update the internals.
My favorite is a Mac Quadra 700 case with a modern intel motherboard.

I have one beige mouse and a Model M keyboard waiting for a beige box. I'm waiting for someone to upcycle 4:3 VGA LCD monitors by painting the cases beige and charging a premium for them. I'd buy one!

You mention 912s, and I don't know the reference with Banksy (I didn't know anyone knew who he was beyond assuming he was 1/2 of Massive Attack) but
it's interesting to see the 912 in a new light now.

Most of the early 911s have been driven into the ground or restored and
costs have gone through the roof. 912s were driven more gingerly and have survived - and people now say that because of the lower weight and better weight distribution that they handle better than the 911.



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Re: What do you guys think about the rising prices of IBM PC compatibles
By: MotorVixen to All on Thu Mar 04 2021 15:17:56

Like the venerable air cooled beetle, the coolness factor outpaces its decline of usefulness as time goes on, and in late capitalism, nothing is better than being cool, what do you think will happen to the beige boxes as the years go on? Will they be mostly accessible like vinyls or become the playthings of those like bansky (see porsche 912)

Desktops were usurped by the more portable Laptop, and now Laptops are being usurped by the even more portable Tablet and mobile phone. Computers with actual usable keyboards are a thing of the past that pretty much only us fossils will continue to use. If it can't fit in your pocket, then kids today just don't want anything to do with it.

Actual Computer Stores where you can go in and buy any part you need to build or repair a PC are becoming fewer and farther between each day. Already gone from the landscape are Radio Shack stores. I no longer have any stores where I can just walk in pick up electronic components. Commerce has shifted to online, but I don't want to have to wait when I need a part. I want to be able to walk into a store, get what I need, go home, install it. Then if it doesn't work I want to be able to take it back to the store and instantly get my money back or a replacement part. NONE of that can be done with online shopping.
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Re: What do you guys think about the rising prices of IBM PC compatibles
By: Lupine Furmen to MotorVixen on Fri Mar 05 2021 08:52 am

Desktops were usurped by the more portable Laptop, and now Laptops are being usurped by the even more portable Tablet and mobile phone. Computers with actual usable keyboards are a thing of the past that pretty much only us fossils will continue to use. If it can't fit in your pocket, then kids today just don't want anything to do with it.

I'm not sure about that. There are some things you just can't (easily) do with a small device and on-screen keyboard. I learned to touch-type years ago, so I can type fairly fast on a physical keyboard. I don't type so well with an on-screen keyboard. Honestly I don't think there is a good replacement for a real physical keyboard.. Also if you do something like typing a lot of documents or emails, or writing software, photo editing, etc., IMO still nothing beats a computer of some sort with a physical keyboard and a physical screen. It's not just fossils still using those.

That said, I haven't noticed a lot of kids wanting to get into things like making software, photo editing, and that kind of thing. I'd think at least PC gaming would be something fun they'd like, but maybe not. I used to think PCs would make game consoles obsolete (and they're pretty much the same thing these days), but perhaps not.

Nightfox

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Lupine Furmen wrote to MotorVixen <=-

Desktops were usurped by the more portable Laptop, and now Laptops are being usurped by the even more portable Tablet and mobile phone.
Computers with actual usable keyboards are a thing of the past that
pretty much only us fossils will continue to use. If it can't fit in
your pocket, then kids today just don't want anything to do with it.

Yeah, I hear you. My son has a Windows 10 15" laptop with an SSD, 8 GB of
RAM and a Core i7 chip. If I ask him to look something up, he pulls out his phone and generally has a hell of a time effectively searching for
something.

When I ask him why he doesn't use the laptop, he insists that the phone is easier.

Actual Computer Stores where you can go in and buy any part you need to build or repair a PC are becoming fewer and farther between each day.

Oddly enough, I noticed a few of them yesterday, as I drove along surface streets. I think that phone screen replacements have given them a revenue stream.

I do miss the days of being able to custom-build a PC in a shop. My first
new PC was made out of hand-picked parts, and I loved being able to pick everything down to the keyboard.

Already gone from the landscape are Radio Shack stores. I no longer
have any stores where I can just walk in pick up electronic components.

I've been fortunate to have a single electronics supply shop within a couple of miles in the last few places I've lived. I shop there even when they're
not the best deal, to try and keep them going.


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Hello poindexter FORTRAN!

** On Saturday 06.03.21 - 09:25, poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Lupine Furmen:

..My son has a Windows 10 15" laptop with an SSD, 8 GB of
RAM and a Core i7 chip. If I ask him to look something up,
he pulls out his phone and generally has a hell of a time
effectively searching for something.

When I ask him why he doesn't use the laptop, he insists
that the phone is easier.

He *really* means that easier = more convenient. It's harder to
go to or fire-up the laptop to do a menial task. I'll use my
Blackberry phone for a quick-lookup too. But to participate in
something like this echo or a forum, anything without a physical
keyboard would be "harder".


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