[vcf-midatlantic] IBM PC near-compatibles

[Herb Johnson]

On 10/24/2017 1:08 PM, Ethan wrote:
>> can you point me to an exciting YouTube video of a  PC non-compatible? 
>> What is exciting about a box with a keyboard, and a CGA or VGA or EGA 
>> monitor?
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLnTAYMMLOc    Only has 60K views versus 
> the newer stuff which gets 250K+ quickly IIRC

This video, is about a Kaypro and Osborne "find" on Craigslist. Yeah, 
it's a video about "boxes", stuff in boxes actually. Those are 
familiar-enough computers. Getting one, has some interest, or is at 
least familiar. But that was not really my question. If I stated it 
poorly, my apologies.

My question was "...of a PC near-compatible", not just any vintage 
computer.

As I said, and you quoted:

>> It may be technically interesting if it has advanced graphics or 
>> faster speed (Compaqs draw some interest). It might be visually 
>> interesting if the case styling is unique. Those provide "interesting" 
>> attributes, but videos are not needed for those.

You may be missing my point. Maybe you don't know what I mean by "near 
compatible PC" or what that means.

As I previously said - these are NON-distinctive old kinda-PC's. So they 
are like all the other old PC's - all  boxes with ISA slots (maybe), 
that ran MS-DOS 2 or 3 or whatever. So that makes them "undistinctive" 
"clones", and therefore boring.

But it gets worse. They are NOT clones, they did NOT quite run the same 
way, or support the same software or hardware. In a way, they are losers 
TWICE. ONCE, they got beat by the Tiawan PC clones, and better systems 
from IBM (and Compaq and a few other better-known brands). And they got 
beat AGAIN, because they just didn't run every vintage thing you MIGHT 
want to run TODAY; like memory upgrades, games, commercial software, etc.

It's like a broken clock - which is right twice a day, but useless as a 
timepiece. It's only interesting if the broken clock has a brand, or 
style, or history that makes it interesting.

What makes THESE interesting? And how does a video "show" that, over 
some photo and some text?

YOu said:
> 
> I see the videos as the gateway that the newer crowd is finding out 
> about the retro stuff. - Ethan 

That may be true, in general. Videos are popular. I get that. But in 
particular - given what I just said, about all the things these 
near-compatible PC's are NOT - what's left of interest, to make a video 
about one of THESE worth watching? Or worth creating?

Herb Johnson
retrotechnology.com


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Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA
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