John, Same here, I prefer to use the original hardware and software media, etc. I also prefer to read documentation from paper I'm holding in my hands, but then this is my preference for reading generally.
For me, modern emulators and storage devices are an acceptable exception for software development. I still like to write software for the Apple ][ for fun and street cred, and it just makes the process much quicker and easier, and it especially makes it easy to transfer disk images onto the internet to share projects with others. With regards specifically to modern solid state storage devices, I don't think I'm losing any of the vintage computing experience by using them rather than clunky old hard disks that one runs the risk of having crash on them at any moment due to their age. Not that the modern storage devices are impervious to crash or malfunction, but it's on the "much less likely" side of the scale. Plus, they're much faster, and they offer a convenience that only adds to the experience (like being able to make backups of important data quickly and easily, not to mention being able to keep the back-ups off-site by uploading to The Cloud). But when I want to run an old game or something, I pull out the disk from my collection and play it on the real hardware. In that regard, the emulators cannot compare. Sellam On Mon, Jan 23, 2023 at 1:18 PM js--- via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > On 1/23/2023 2:28 PM, Chris via cctalk wrote: @ Mike Stein > > > > Not everything is criticism. I only corrected a rather obtuse notion > about people replacing mechanical drives with solid state ones. Everyone > would love to use their original equipment if it was practical. I for 1 > have NO luck with floppy disks. Is it my part of the country? Could be. > > > Would a few people here be willing to share their approaches to their > collection? > > I'll start. I've collected a variety of mainly DEC, HP, and Apple > machines, and have restored or repaired them slowly over time. However, > as they fail from now on, I will *not* be doing modern upgrades or > repairs. As they die, so shall they be retired or given away. > > For me, it's the experience of the original sights, sounds, feels, and > yes, emotions of the original hardware that's the inspiration. So, > floppy and tape drives all the way for me, as well as original hard > drives (Mike, I'm right there with you on the IMIs :). Emulators > just don't provide what I'm looking for. > > - John > Frederick, Maryland > > >
