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But computers use a lot more power nowadays. The early home computers were all passively cooled. My Atari ST power supply actually broke down on me so I had to buy a new one from Great Britain. It's a quite small affair with quite minimal venting through the grills at the top of the chassis.

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Some computers use more power today, some use less.

If you walk down to your local electronics store, there's probably a few passively cooled laptops on the shelf. Not to mention mobile devices.

And we don't use CRTs anymore which is also a significant power savings.

More passive cooling nowadays would be great, I am totally with you there. But the 80s were awful. I drank water from lead pipes. The fuel economy was atrocious. Murder rates through the roof. They didn't have statins so my dad's friends had heart attacks in their 40s, despite not smoking or anything. Colonoscopy? What's that? Everything is truly better. Sadly, democracy is not advancing as fast as technology though. I would say the 80s had some fun tunes and cute artistic tastes that I still enjoy. Hope not to forget those.

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