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Same. Begged my dad for a NES. Got C64 instead "because its better, you will see..." Changed my life.

Changed your life for the better I hope? My kids asked for a Nintendo Switch, but instead got a Steam Deck, along with my 12-year old desktop that is on it's second GPU, second pair of RAM, and third disk drive but still chugging along well. Those systems aren't anywhere near hackable like when we were kids, but I'm hoping just the possibility being there is enough.

It did. Although him buying my little brother a NES 2 years later stung a bit.

Newer systems offer dramatically more opportunity for hacking. The problem is that you just don’t have to.

If you want to introduce hacking for necessity, try introducing an SBC into the mix. For $40, you can get a system younger you could be never dream of. Actually there is a Milk-V is $5 right now.

Yeah in retrospect it was very much the right call. Thanks Dad!

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