On 5/8/2020 12:04 PM, Dean Notarnicola wrote:
However, consider that, over time, it may matter less and less as a larger volume of old media gets archived. Maybe it’s ok that these devices are somewhat ephemeral. Just food for thought.
If I accept that proposition, Dean: vintage computing may matter less and less, as a larger volume of information and actual computers get archived in collections and on Web pages. Maybe it's OK that everything is ephemeral - including you and me. That's called "carrying an argument to its logical conclusions". Or to extreme conclusions, you decide. The weaker response, is that many people have decided that floppy diskettes are so obsolete, one should simply archive their contents and avoid their use. In that case, the fact that archival mechanisms come and go - these various microcontrollers - doesn't matter either. One finds a means to archive or recover; one does the recovery; one moves on. I have a few Web pages, about the efforts needed to "archive", and then recover and put to use, various inconvenient floppy disk formats; such as M2FM or MMFM and Intel Multibus system disks. Eventually, the recovery was performed by *actual period hardware and Intel systems*. Your mileage may vary, regarding your favorite vintage systems. Again, I call out the difference between vintage computing as acts of preservation; and modern computing as an "ephemeral" activity where only the data persists (if that). So let's run emulators and go home, job done. (shrug) It's a matter of choices and consequences. Regards, Herb Johnson
On Fri, May 8, 2020 at 11:45 AM Herb Johnson wrote:
This reply is long, because I'm arguing in opposition, and that means I have to make a case about, and explain about. But I'll save some people, some time. I"m going to fuss about these microcontrollers becoming obsolete. If you don't care about that, save time and stop reading here.
-- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT info