[@retrocomputing](https://lemmy.sdf.org/c/retrocomputing)

@retrocomputing

Just how old qualifies as retro computing?

7 points · 8 comments · view on lemmy.world

8 Comments

fratermus@lemmy.sdf.org · 12 pts · 3y (1 reply)

most of our discussions here are centered on Jacquard looms

Doombot1@beehaw.org · 3 pts · 3y

Luddite gang

cthulhu@emacs.ch · 5 pts · 3y

@dekkzz76 @retrocomputing Colossus, definitely. Maybe ENIAC ๐Ÿ˜ผ

Fun fact: Actually had a play with the Colossus rebuild at Bletchly Park ๐Ÿ˜Š

cognitivegears@lemmy.sdf.org · 5 pts · 3y

This is a great question with no definitive answer ๐Ÿ™‚ There are a number of ways of looking at it, though the ultimate answer is whatever each person considers retro. A few general ways to look at it include:

  1. whatever was around when you were a kid. Of course, this depends wildly on who you are asking - for me this would include the Tandy Color Computer / Commodore 64 era through 486 PCs (or so.) For other people this could be a little older or much newer of course.

  2. Some fixed definition like (anything before the year 2000 or no PCs etc.) Iโ€™m not a huge fan of this personally as it leaves some people out.

  3. Any computer old enough that a single person could fully understand itโ€™s workings and diagnose/repair problems etc. This generally includes 8 and some 16 bit systems. Iโ€™ve increasingly come to prefer this view because beyond nostalgia it also helps define something that I believe is a significant benefit to these systems.

sqw@lemmy.sdf.org · 3 pts · 3y
jmcunx@lemmy.sdf.org · 1 pts · 3y (1 reply)

Normally I would say anything over 10 years old. But due to how 10 year old computers are fully useable, I am thinking anything with 1 core. Maybe in a few years it could be ones without a TMP2 :)

dekkzz76@emacs.ch · 2 pts · 3y

@jmcunx

i've got a pentium-m thinkpad x32 running debian 12 with msata /root drive & a CF card /home, circa 2006

so it's officially retro ;)

#ThinkPad #PentiumM