So, here I am, sitting at this archaic Tandy machine, wondering what I'm gonna do next.
It's a Tandy 2800HD, a 286 based laptop with a monochrome blue EGA display and a migraine-inducing whine. Not exactly a powerhouse, with it's PC speaker sound, cramped keyboard, and blurry display.
Oddly enough, I'm having the time of my life!
I'm stocking its cavernous 40 meg hard drive with all the tools I'll need. All the tiny COM, EXE, and BAT files I've learned to love in my 13 years of playing with MS-DOS. Programs like NO, SWEEP, and TOUCH; my old stand-bys in the world of DOS. The programs that have made my life easier, more so than Windows ever could. So, what am I gonna do with all this? Well, for starters, designing this webpage...
Yup, you heard it, I designed this particular intro page on a 286 laptop (although it has been through several web page editors over the last few years). And I almost feel like I'm overindulging, taking the easy way out. I almost feel spoiled by using DOS 6.2's EDIT program... I could just as easily have fired up my Tandy 1500 laptop... the one with the blue monochrome CGA display and no HD... The one running MS-DOS 3.3 on a 1.44 floppy drive... And EDLIN as my only editing program... Or screw EDLIN...it takes up valuable floppy space I'll need for text files. No, I can always use the COPY command... You know, use COPY CON: to copy the text into a text file. But, I'm not THAT obsessive.
Nah, on second thought, I think I'll stick with the 2800HD machine.
I'm getting comfortable with it.
In fact, I've gotten to like it!
And that, my friends, is what it's all about. It's about making a computer do whatever you want, and having fun doing it. I have never given up on my old hardware. I know full well that it'll be there when I need it. I know I can make it all work, and I know it'll work well. You don't NEED a powerful PC to write a letter or report, any IBM-XT, Amiga 500, or Commodore 64 with a dot-matrix printer will do just fine. You don't NEED Windows, Linux or Mac OS X to keep an address book or mailing list, any machine can do it. Those five or ten dollar computers you laughingly pass up at garage sales can do it all and more.
Remember, everything was state-of-the-art once!
This is where we come in.
We're here to show the world that the old systems still matter. They're still a cheap, viable option, they can still do their job, and do it just as well as a newer machine. Unless of course you're trying to play and/or rip DVDs, in which case, well, you'd be out of luck. Stick around. You may just learn something. Even if it's only a history lesson.
Conceited
Jerk
10/21/2002 (updated 08/27/05)