
Help me HN: I've become obsessed with buying 8 bit computers - forgottenacc57
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.<p>Now in my 40&#x27;s I can&#x27;t stop buying the damn things even though I can&#x27;t really afford to. I&#x27;m still seeking that ultimate high of finding a classic machine with all the optional extras in mint condition.<p>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.<p>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.<p>So many machines. My house is filling with boxes. They arrive and I don&#x27;t even open them to have a look... I just accumulate and want more.
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apo
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.

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beschizza
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/](http://mega65.org/)

[https://hackaday.io/list/2402-homebrew-
computers](https://hackaday.io/list/2402-homebrew-computers)

[http://playpower.org/](http://playpower.org/)

Or even Pico-8:

[http://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php](http://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php)

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

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dotdi
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.

~~~
jstelly
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.

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davidjgraph
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...](http://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/BBC-Micro-
PSU-X2-capacitors/))

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
:).

------
anilgulecha
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.

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tluyben2
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).

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

~~~
tluyben2
I do not; that looks really good... Can you mail me ; see my profile? I cannot
find your email / contact otherwise I would.

~~~
phkahler
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.

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pipio21
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.

------
partycoder
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](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](https://www.reddit.com/r/retrocomputing)
. You can have conversations with them to know better the machines you already
have rather than buying more.

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

~~~
mysterydip
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.

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madengr
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.

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richmarr
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.

~~~
veganjay
+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.

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somecallitblues
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

~~~
proto-n
Except for the fire extinguisher, of course.

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

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justanother
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...

------
fit2rule
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](http://oric.org) and [http://www.defence-
force.org/](http://www.defence-force.org/) if you wanna see what I mean..)

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

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gkafkg8y8
You have inventory. Now is the time to start selling them. See it as an
opportunity.

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dep_b
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.

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II2II
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.

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glenndebacker
Is something like the MIST FPGA
([http://harbaum.org/till/mist/index.shtml](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) :-)

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Nick2il
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.

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boomlinde
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.

------
SixSigma
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!

~~~
painted
you are not helping :D

~~~
detaro
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.

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bencollier49
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.

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sp332
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!

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triplesec
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...

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Overtonwindow
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.

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akerro
Open private museum of computer hardware! Keep buying!

Idea:
[http://www.computerspielemuseum.de/1210_Home.htm](http://www.computerspielemuseum.de/1210_Home.htm)

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raverbashing
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)

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

~~~
raverbashing
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 ;)

~~~
marcosdumay
> that reads from SD/CF

Great way not to miss that oxidation and faulty connections.

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

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adnanh
Send me some? :-)

