> Awww hell. Now it's on
In a sense all computers are "just calculators". That statement wasn't meant to mock the Apple II in any way. After all, modern computers can't do "more" in terms of computability. I was mainly refering to how instruction sets were smaller back in the day. Looking at the instruction set of a x86 CPU really makes me kinda dizzy sometimes. The 6502 on the other hand has some 56 instructions (if my quick googling proved correct).
I do like the bigger lego blocks as well. They're great for doing any actual work. I'm also not trying to force assembler onto anyone. But as you point out, digging into the internals is a whole lot of fun and a very interesting journey through the world of computing. It kind of feels like discovering the very essence of it in a way. As a bonus point it teaches you a whole lot of things that might be useful one day.
Bottom line, even with today's powerful languages it's never wrong to dig a bit deeper, if just for experience and insights.
I do like the bigger lego blocks as well. They're great for doing any actual work. I'm also not trying to force assembler onto anyone. But as you point out, digging into the internals is a whole lot of fun and a very interesting journey through the world of computing. It kind of feels like discovering the very essence of it in a way. As a bonus point it teaches you a whole lot of things that might be useful one day.
Bottom line, even with today's powerful languages it's never wrong to dig a bit deeper, if just for experience and insights.