Help me HN: I've become obsessed with buying 8 bit computers | Hacker News Reader

Help me HN: I've become obsessed with buying 8 bit computers

When I was a kid in the late 1970s we could not afford a home computer. I spent all my time dreaming about them and reading computer mags.

Now in my 40's I can't stop buying the damn things even though I can't really afford to. I'm still seeking that ultimate high of finding a classic machine with all the optional extras in mint condition.

I dream of getting the time to sit down for a few months and program them in assembler and he the programmer I always wanted to be when I was a kid.

Argh! I seem to be obsessed with the past but in a strange way I find these old 8 bit machines just as interesting as the latest in software development technology.

So many machines. My house is filling with boxes. They arrive and I don't even open them to have a look... I just accumulate and want more.

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Find a low-income school in your area. Dedicate yourself to becoming the school's free computer science department. Get yourself background checked, etc., and get all the paperwork in place to that it's legit. Pitch your ideas to principals who understand the importance of computer science education.

When people ask why use these old computers, explain how their simplicity makes them an ideal fit in an education setting.

Use your acquisitions to teach the kids the things you wish you were taught when your were their age. Donate your time and your equipment to the cause.

This feeds two (or more) birds with one loaf. Focussing your attention outward may help to stem the acquisition urge. The kids get an education in something that will change their lives. And you get a lot of those computers out of your house.

Perhaps separate the nostalgic element from the desired experience of learning to program a simple computer and participate in its development culture.

You could get into the contemporary 8bit scene, which has an advanced homebrew side and a kid-friendly scholastic one:

http://mega65.org/

https://hackaday.io/list/2402-homebrew-computers

http://playpower.org/

Or even Pico-8:

http://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php

If nothing else, it might help you figure out what your obsession is really attached to...

We guitarists/musicians call it GAS - Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

It helps me to write down how much time and money I spend on research and acquisition. I also periodically try to go through the stuff that I absolutely, undeniably had to have and then ended up catching dust in a drawer.

Back when I experienced this, we called it "Gear Lust." I made a rule that I had to do a significant project or performance with each piece of music gear I bought before I would let myself buy any other gear. That worked and was also a lot of fun.

Photographers use the same acronym!

There was an article recently (linked here?) about an artist who overcame her purchasing compulsions by drawing pictures of the things she wanted. Somehow that reduced the desire to actually buy them. This won't work for everyone of course.

I've got about 11-12 8-bit machines in the loft. My rule is keep the best condition machine of each model and sell anything else.

I suspect the overall task of dealing with them all is just too much. So, what about picking one model type and getting all of those out? Then see what you have working and keep the best 1/2 working models. (just research how well the PSUs survive not being turned on for many years before you switch them on, e.g. http://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/BBC-Micro-PSU-X2...)

Then sell the rest aside from the best. Next, pick another model and repeat. If you divide the task down into manageable sections, that should make it easier to get started. And write a blog somewhere, I want to see what you have :).

Photographers have a similar urge called LBA (lens buying addiction)/ gear acquisition syndrome.

There's many articles online that discuss LBA and how to avoid it. Perhaps those would be of help to you.

Sell them to me for my museum (well over a 1000 60-80s (with some late 80s - begin 90s ones which I had to have like SGI/Sun) computers) and come here on vacation to play with them :) (including programming, hardware fixing, hardware extending).

You got an Interact? I can sell you one of those with lots of extras.

I do not; that looks really good... Can you mail me ; see my profile? I cannot find your email / contact otherwise I would.

I was only half joking. I do have the machine and about 20-30 tapes including Microsoft Basic, most of the old Interaction newsletters, and some misc. Oh, and my machine has an extra ROM that was created by a W. Hendrickson IIRC. I've been thinking of finding a good home for it for quite some time. You can use my HN ID at gmail to take this offline.

Museum have a website? Is it a public museum?

Not yet... And yes it is public. I have been collecting computers since the mid-90s and finally I bought a building to open the museum a few months ago... It will officially open (with a website) begin 2017.

Where? :-)

Are you the guy that posted pictures on Reddit recently? That looked like an awesome collection

This is HN, not a psychologist forum. I mean most people won't be able to help you as they are not experts on addictions.

They will tell you: "just sell them", but the problem is that you will have an emotional attachment that will make it nearly impossible. I for one sold my Spectum Z80, Atari, and Apple computers without thinking about it and they were part of my life because I care little about things, I care about animals or people.

I will ask those who know: psychologists, specifically someone specialized in breaking habits. If you don't have money you can read self help books or videos audiobooks on libraries, or even pirate them, everything is online, you only need to know what are you looking for.

The other alternative is putting your computers to great use. Create a channel on Internet about old computers history. Donate it to a Museum so other people can watch it and volunteer to explain the history of those computers to audience while they can interact with the machines.

The fact that those machines are useful to other people instead of collecting dust will be a great way of getting rid of...ehem, improving your life.

Such machines back in time were much harder to acquire, especially as a kid. Today as an adult you are free to get as many as you want. It is not necessarily bad, unless it is harming you somehow, which seems to be the case.

I have books I haven't had the time to fully read but somehow I still getting more, and I sure that am not alone in this.

This TED talk about addiction from Gabor Mate is very interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66cYcSak6nE .

Now, I would ask:

What are you getting from your addiction? does it make you feel a sense of happiness, control, success, of comfort (e.g: revisiting your childhood in the 70s)?

I would ask you to not try to satisfy your emotional needs through consumerism but rather through another activity. There are communities about retro-computing, e.g: https://www.reddit.com/r/retrocomputing . You can have conversations with them to know better the machines you already have rather than buying more.

Well, make a rule. If you buy it you have to open it and do something with it. That might slow you down.

My wife came up with a similar rule for my car hobby: you can buy another if you sell one first. Makes you focus on what you really want, rather than just a good deal.

I'm 45 and have a similar addiction. I decided to limit myself to just one system; a C64 decked out with old and modern accessories. I do have C64-SX and Apple II, but that was before I limited myself.

Hell, I passed up (on Craigslist) a PET with dual floppies. Also an eBay within driving distance an Imsai 8080 with dual 8" floppies and Heath H19 terminal, loaded with S100 cards.

It's really more about the room than the money. Most of these things are cheap, but I don't want to turn into a hoarder. I did that years ago (pre marriage) with old UNIX workstations; Sun, HP, SGI. I got rid of them all.

Also helps to know that there are millions of some of these systems out there. How many C64 were made, 20 million? It's not like I have something rare and unique; most would consider it junk.

Also, CRT cost $20 each to recycle now. It's easy for this to become a money pit. My father in law had 10 old monitors in his basement he got for "free". Well it wasn't free to get rid of them.

If you can find the root cause of this unwanted compulsive behaviour and address it then you won't need to burn through finite supplies of willpower keeping it at bay.

I don't mean to be disrespectful, either to you or to the HN crowd, but you should probably try talking to a professional as self-diagnosis can be somewhat dangerous.

+1 Addressing the root cause of the obsession is the healthy solution. This sounds more of a psychological issue rather than technical. But know it can be addressed, and I also encourage you to seek professional assistance.

Introduce a struck rule: If you don't touch it for a year throw it out. And do the same thing with all your stuff. Freedom man

Except for the fire extinguisher, of course.

Well, most fire extinguishers need to be checked every two years. So perhaps you extend the period to two years for those.

If this message is helpful, it is only by way of empathy. I have some amazingly hotrodded Commodores and Apple IIs myself, although you really should consider opening those boxes and playing with the goods. I enjoy discovering games I'd never played, and spending my should-be-work days writing 6502 or 65816 assembly. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if I ever get the chance to retire, the 8/16 bit world is going to see some awesome new warez from me...

I'm with you, brother. I have a veritable fleet of old 8-bit machines - all the systems I coveted, but could never afford as a teenager.

Except now I can afford it. :)

My advice to you: find a local hackerspace and get involved in some creative archaic computing workshops. Its the only way to convince yourself that there is absolutely nothing wrong with collecting old machines and keeping them running.

For my part, I'm a huge Oric-1/Atmos/Telestrat fan, and have perfect mint-condition working examples of them, along-side the C64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad machines. There is nothing quite so satisfying as running some brand new - as in, written in the 21st century - software on the old Oric machines .. truly a delightful way to spend a few hours, not just reminiscing - but rejoicing in the delights of newly-coded software for these old, humble machines. (Visit http://oric.org and http://www.defence-force.org/ if you wanna see what I mean..)

Remember this: old computers never die - their users do!

You have inventory. Now is the time to start selling them. See it as an opportunity.

It's better to have a great collection of one brand / type than to have a lot of scattered stuff. Remember: anything you need to maintain is a burden. Cars, houses, pinball machines, old computers.

I would suggest finding a project that will allow you to focus upon a particular computer or (limited number of computers), then focus upon discussing those projects with others. There are plenty of online forums for vintage computers, while many excellent books on programming those computers are now freely available. Since you mentioned wanting to learn assembly language programming on those systems, that may help you tackle your acquisitions problem while helping to fulfill a dream.

Is something like the MIST FPGA (http://harbaum.org/till/mist/index.shtml) not an option?

While not the "real deal" it may be good enough and it can emulate a wide range of 8-bit machines. I was thinking about buying a unit to emulate my very first computer (a MSX) and the machine that I also wanted as a kid (Amiga) :-)

Make a YouTube channel about these computers if it's enough unique and enjoyable you could pay for this hobby. I'm mean many people has some expensive hobbies be it gaming, buying many types of Manga and anime, buying merchandise and comics. If you don't like that you spend so much on these computers then find a way to force yourself to stop. Be it self help book or something else.

Actually using them for something might get your mind off buying more. You probably spend a great deal of time looking for computers to buy. Use that time to learn the ins and outs of one of the machines that you already own instead.

I have a lot of old machines, but lately I have a hard time justifying a buy without a concrete social or creative purpose.

Did you get a BBC micro ?

Nowadays it has an SD Card reader attachment. I got mine full of ROMs.

It is also possible to make PROMS for it.

I have a BBC FORTH rom in mine. I use it as a test machine because of the fantastic I/O : A/D, D/A, 8 bit parallel bus, serial all with a monitor.

If your 8bit machine has serial you can use it as a Unix TTY and connect it to the Internet : read your email on a C64!

you are not helping :D

Eh, it's at least a few ideas for moving from "buying more" to "do things with those he already has", which might be part of the problem.

"Instant on" terminals FTW - what could be better !

I have something like twelve BBC Micros and Masters. Getting a bit silly - it's like classic cars, they'll (mostly) sit in my spare room until I'm retired and have time to do something interesting with them all. I have one hooked up constantly to play games on though.

I would suggest joining a museum instead of opening one. You can help find, set up and/or maintain the hardware along with a team of like-minded people. You'll have a much larger collection to play with, and someone else makes the purchasing decisions!

Here's a thing, how about getting into making biological computers, artificial wetware. Thre are researchers doing this with some degree of success. I' pretty sure you could research the state of the art online and to try to grow your own Manic Miner...

I have the same problem except mine is typewriters. I love the things. The engineering, the clack of the keys, the coolness factor of sending typewritten letters to people who frame them like lost relics from an old library.

Open private museum of computer hardware! Keep buying!

Idea: http://www.computerspielemuseum.de/1210_Home.htm

Use emulators. Much easier and fun because you don' have to deal with real hardware

(Get and MSX 2+ or a TurboR (16-bit) - as an emulator - btw)

More fun because don't have to deal with hardware? soo... where is the fun?

So much fun filling my life with inanimate fragments of plastic and metal. All that matters is the code; in 200 years do you think people will marvel at old PCBs? I doubt it, but the code will forever be beautiful.

Oxidation, faulty connections, composite video input, flaky FDDs, I don't miss that in the least

At least get a driver emulator hw that reads from SD/CF or maybe USB drives ;)

> that reads from SD/CF

Great way not to miss that oxidation and faulty connections.

Also: If you're interested in selling, let's talk!

Send me some? :-)

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