+wood_jl Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Only trouble is that as both Windows grows and becomes less-optimized through patches, and the anti-virus database grows exponentially, your stuff becomes relatively slower, all the time. Otherwise, a PIII/500Mhz wouldn't seem so slow now you think the system's hung when it's not. I wonder what the size of a fully patched/updated XP is now, vs. when it came out in 2001? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'm doing my part by not upgrading. Shit...man... M$ Word and Notepad, and Outlook and Office, and Photoshop and Paintshop, and Orbiter and X-plane and classic gaming works fine on what I have now. But because it is a 7 year old system should I replace it? It still boots in under 30 seconds, gets decent fps, doesn't crash, doesn't have a learning curve(anymore). And it gets 3 hours battery life on a 5 year old battery. Is there REALLY REALLY a need to replace it? I don't believe so. It is performing its original intended function with aplomb. And in some ways better (through optimization over the years) than when it was new. And notepad hasn't worn out or anything either. This is somewhat off-topic, but since you mentioned Microsoft Office: I'm very familiar with the newest Office applications (I teach them at my university in one of my introductory classes), but for most people, I don't think there have been any worthwhile features added to Office since Office '97. There seems to be an "80/20 rule" for Office: about 20% of the population needs advanced features such as VBA and the Office API, which pretty much require the latest versions of Microsoft Office. The other 80% would be just as well off saving their money and sticking with an older version: they've all been extensively patched, and any remaining glitches are pretty well-known. OpenOffice is another viable alternative, but there are certain things that it doesn't do as well as Office (such as label printing), and it's such a bloated bastard that it's frustratingly slow if your hardware isn't fairly new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) Only trouble is that as both Windows grows and becomes less-optimized through patches, and the anti-virus database grows exponentially, your stuff becomes relatively slower, all the time. Otherwise, a PIII/500Mhz wouldn't seem so slow now you think the system's hung when it's not. I wonder what the size of a fully patched/updated XP is now, vs. when it came out in 2001? It's about 2gigs bigger, maybe 2.5, depending. The exact sizes, that can vary depending on the hardware configs. Surprisingly, I've only manually patched my main working os with about 20KB articles or so. And each was to solve a specific problem. Otherwise leave stuff alone. So my main system is still pretty old by current standards. Yet I can still breeze through PhotoShop5 or surf the net just fine. I don't do the anti-virus thing and lacking security patches except for the most essential sure saves a lot bloat and allows my os to maintain original speed. Some enhancements disk optimizations (but only a few) have contributed to that. And I tightly control start-up programs and run about 30 or so tasks. Several of which are for extra hardware I have. Freewheeling baby! I wish, though, I didn't need the .net packages. There's so many of them, and a select few apps I sparingly use, each, want a different version. But that's on another system. Edited July 21, 2011 by Keatah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BydoEmpire Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'm doing my part by not upgrading. Shit...man... M$ Word and Notepad, and Outlook and Office, and Photoshop and Paintshop, and Orbiter and X-plane and classic gaming works fine on what I have now. But because it is a 7 year old system should I replace it? It still boots in under 30 seconds, gets decent fps, doesn't crash, doesn't have a learning curve(anymore). And it gets 3 hours battery life on a 5 year old battery. Is there REALLY REALLY a need to replace it? I don't believe so. It is performing its original intended function with aplomb. And in some ways better (through optimization over the years) than when it was new. And notepad hasn't worn out or anything either. This is somewhat off-topic, but since you mentioned Microsoft Office: I'm very familiar with the newest Office applications (I teach them at my university in one of my introductory classes), but for most people, I don't think there have been any worthwhile features added to Office since Office '97. There seems to be an "80/20 rule" for Office: about 20% of the population needs advanced features such as VBA and the Office API, which pretty much require the latest versions of Microsoft Office. The other 80% would be just as well off saving their money and sticking with an older version: they've all been extensively patched, and any remaining glitches are pretty well-known. OpenOffice is another viable alternative, but there are certain things that it doesn't do as well as Office (such as label printing), and it's such a bloated bastard that it's frustratingly slow if your hardware isn't fairly new. Yeah, my wife complains with every new version of Office apps that she has to go and relearn where everything is and how it all works. I started using OpenOffice on my studio Mac (because MS won't let me run the same install of office apps on both of our computers at the same time) and it's been pretty solid so far. Haven't really explored it other than the spreadhseet but I'm definitely happy with it as a casual user. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BydoEmpire Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 OHH GAWWWDDD YESS YESS Yessss yessss!!!! That so-called "obsolete" technology is only obsolete because someone, namely advertisers and marketing drones, tell you it is!!!! I can't emphasize this enough. emphasize this enough. emphasize this enough.Can't EMPHASIZE this ENOUGH-a-NUFF!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5DCwN28y8o&feature=player_embedded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiliteZoner Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Up until fairly recently a lot of bank ATM's were running Windows 3.1. Is the post office still using Atari Falcons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiliteZoner Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 I'm doing my part by not upgrading. Shit...man... M$ Word and Notepad, and Outlook and Office, and Photoshop and Paintshop, and Orbiter and X-plane and classic gaming works fine on what I have now. But because it is a 7 year old system should I replace it? It still boots in under 30 seconds, gets decent fps, doesn't crash, doesn't have a learning curve(anymore). And it gets 3 hours battery life on a 5 year old battery. Is there REALLY REALLY a need to replace it? I don't believe so. It is performing its original intended function with aplomb. And in some ways better (through optimization over the years) than when it was new. And notepad hasn't worn out or anything either. This is somewhat off-topic, but since you mentioned Microsoft Office: I'm very familiar with the newest Office applications (I teach them at my university in one of my introductory classes), but for most people, I don't think there have been any worthwhile features added to Office since Office '97. There seems to be an "80/20 rule" for Office: about 20% of the population needs advanced features such as VBA and the Office API, which pretty much require the latest versions of Microsoft Office. The other 80% would be just as well off saving their money and sticking with an older version: they've all been extensively patched, and any remaining glitches are pretty well-known. OpenOffice is another viable alternative, but there are certain things that it doesn't do as well as Office (such as label printing), and it's such a bloated bastard that it's frustratingly slow if your hardware isn't fairly new. Yeah, my wife complains with every new version of Office apps that she has to go and relearn where everything is and how it all works. I started using OpenOffice on my studio Mac (because MS won't let me run the same install of office apps on both of our computers at the same time) and it's been pretty solid so far. Haven't really explored it other than the spreadhseet but I'm definitely happy with it as a casual user. I have had nothing but bad luck trying OpenOffice. Now granted, I've not tried the latest version. I ran into issues with compatibility with Power Point and Excel spreadsheets. The latest versions of MS Office 2007 onward are pretty solid once you get used to those blasted ribbon menus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Supermarket chain Tops here uses OS/2 Warp on their ATMs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmetal88 Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 What I thought was hilarious when I was working at Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy was, when I saw one of the registers boot at the time, it booted up Linux then started a virtual machine with Windows 95 on it to run the POS system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jr. Pac Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Some old CRT computers at my school made around 1997. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Some old CRT computers at my school made around 1997. I was building those computers for schools in 1997. I feel old all of a sudden ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McVenco Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I've encountered quite a lot of old equipment still being in use the last few years. I worked at a paint shop some 5 years ago where they had some MS-DOS machine (I think it was a 286) running a paintmixing machine. And very recently, someone asked for help on a Dutch Amiga forum which I frequent - he works at a bowling alley where they have one Amiga 1200 for every bowling lane to run the scoring system - they've got about 12 of them I guess and they've probably been running daily for some 15 years or so. And then there's of course the hundreds, thousands of old matrixprinters to print on carbonpaper (or whatever the official english name is - I think you know what I mean ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 (edited) I've encountered quite a lot of old equipment still being in use the last few years. I worked at a paint shop some 5 years ago where they had some MS-DOS machine (I think it was a 286) running a paintmixing machine. And very recently, someone asked for help on a Dutch Amiga forum which I frequent - he works at a bowling alley where they have one Amiga 1200 for every bowling lane to run the scoring system - they've got about 12 of them I guess and they've probably been running daily for some 15 years or so. And then there's of course the hundreds, thousands of old matrixprinters to print on carbonpaper (or whatever the official english name is - I think you know what I mean ) Dot Matrix on carbon-copy. I still have 3 of mine from back in the day. I also still have my kim-1 and studio II. As far as the oldest computers?? My friend has one of those airline reservation terminal things going in the family room. Edited September 3, 2011 by Keatah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstone Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 I visited a local recording studio a while back, they were still using an Apple IIe to run some sort of spectrum analysis software. They had an old TV setting in front of the mixing console. Off to the side was their 24-track 2" tape deck and, next to that, was a modern computer running ProTools and one of those little 24-track hard drive recorders. Spent about an hour talking with the engineer about their mix of old and new technology. As of 2005, my old high school was still using Apple IIe's in the physics lab. They had all sorts of little instruments that would patch in to them. I was dumb and donated my Apple IIGS Woz edition to use. Hopefully they haven't thrown it away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonoidTentacle Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I'm not sure what the computer was, but I work for an automotive group. Up until a few years ago you could see the exact same computers we'd use in advertisements for the company in magazines... printed in 1987. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potatohead Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 While it's far from ancient, I still use my Palm IIIxe. As long as it keeps working, I see no reason to replace it. Over the last year I've found myself really enjoying the retro-simplicity of the interface. It runs for months off of 2 AAA batteries. Admittedly, I get a lot of strange looks from people when I use it in public I get similarly strange looks when I use my Tandy 102 in public. I just love the simplicity and the immediacy of it: it's a portable computer designed primarily for writing, and it's got a very clean and unobtrusive interface that makes it so easy to turn it on and start typing almost instantaneously. It uses a battery-backed "RAM disk" for storage, so everything you write is automatically saved the instant you type it, and its serial interface makes it possible to connect it to just about any computer ever made, even through a USB adapter (which I carry in my bag with it). Plus, it gives me nearly forty hours on four rechargeable AA batteries, something that modern netbooks can't come close to. Yeah, I have one too, and will use it for notes and such sometimes. Love it, and I know exactly what you mean. it's just quick, functional, and damn cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Yeah, I have one too, and will use it for notes and such sometimes. Love it, and I know exactly what you mean. it's just quick, functional, and damn cool. I was using my 102 to take notes during a faculty meeting the other week, and one of the professors snapped open his phone afterward to take pictures of it. I really wonder why there aren't more devices like it on the market today (and "netbooks" are not adequate substitutes, in my opinion). With system-on-a-chip (SoC) technology, you could integrate everything in that machine into a single chip--along with a lot more memory--and you'd have a simple, inexpensive note-taking device that requires almost no power. The closest I've seen is the QuickPAD Pro, but the company that made it doesn't seem to exist anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
31336haxx0r Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 OHH GAWWWDDD YESS YESS Yessss yessss!!!! That so-called "obsolete" technology is only obsolete because someone, namely advertisers and marketing drones, tell you it is!!!! I can't emphasize this enough. emphasize this enough. emphasize this enough.Can't EMPHASIZE this ENOUGH-a-NUFF!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5DCwN28y8o&feature=player_embedded Awesome video! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 I get the same looks when I whipped out my TI-59 at the grocery store to add up some tedious-to-do-in-the-head prices. Old tech is definitely cool. As retrogamers, it's standard stuff to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fibrewire Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 (edited) Sometimes i still use my TI Avigo, because i have some games on it. It was my first pda. likewise, and if you still have your docking cradle then here are some Avigo 10 links http://www.ti.com/avigo/ http://home.online.nl/edwin.blink/avigo/index.htm http://www.markus-heller.com/index2.htm http://home.germany.net/101-277568/ Edited August 18, 2014 by fibrewire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I learned something new today... It appears if you edit the last post in a old message it revives the thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 No, that message was posted today, and then edited a few minutes later. Look at the very top of your screencap. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 No, that message was posted today, and then edited a few minutes later. Look at the very top of your screencap. You're right! How the heck did I miss that? It was by design! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 To the OP: was a breath of fresh air to NOT read: "what's the oldest computer you seen"... Staying on topic, the oldest computers I've seen running lately are the ones in my home -ha! Model III and a TI-99/4A. And up until the mid 2000's at least, Sears still used these ancient terminal things for their inter-corporate communications, logistics and inventory system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 While I haven't seen them other than in photos or video, I'd say the computers that control US missile silos. They have 8" floppy disks and have not been upgraded to new designs because they are reliable and resistant to EMP. One of these missile silos is on my family's farm about 1/4 mile from the house. http://tech-beta.slashdot.org/story/14/04/29/1256250/us-nuclear-missile-silos-use-safe-secure-8-floppy-disks http://www.cbsnews.com/news/whos-minding-the-nuclear-weapons/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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