On the tail-end of the last post, I was thinking (oddly enough) about the idea of "making do."
I may have wandered through this topic before, I don't really remember. But I occasionally go off on my "nostalgic for college" riffs, and when I get into that, I always start thinking about my computer-heavy days of grad school.
My computer back then was a little Panasonic CF-150, which I used for everything from writing to programming to (yes) browsing the Internet. (The world wide web was still a ways off from my neck of the wood back then...) The little Panasonic was all I had. It was outdated even then, but I had to make do...
However, I keep looking at my first Mac (the Powerbook G4 AlBook), running OS X 10.4 Tiger with Classic installed, and I think, "Damn! This would've been PERFECT back in the day!" To my mind, it's the ultimate "making do" computer for college. It was fairly inexpensive, it had good performance, and (the kicker) I can get excellent software for next to nothing. How?
Abandonware. The old Classic software has largely been left behind in the OS X world. But that doesn't mean it's not good stuff. I've written over and over about using Classic word processors, all of which I got through abandonware. But there are literally programs of all types out there, from word processors to spreadsheets to graphics to integrated suites to programming packages. And, yes, games. And on and on...
If I were going off to college, the first thing I would do would be to grab an old Powerbook or iBook G4 running 10.4 (which is a bit on the abandoned side itself, though there is still good support for it via the user community), make sure it had Classic, and then hit a site like Macintosh Garden, and go to town. You can load up the computer with incredible software, and the price can't be beat. The most expensive thing you'd have to do would be to possibly upgrade the memory, and possibly get a new battery...
I'd have a cheap, easy to support computer with more power than most people need, and a boatload of high-power programs at my disposal.
Of course, having said that, I realize the very idea of doing this would be anathema to kids today. Use something like, ya know, like... old??? Like, ya know, like not... new???
I guess I'm weird that way. I like the thought of being able to make do with something vintage. You wouldn't think that of a guy who collects/uses fountain pens and old Macs, now would you? (I haven't mentioned my Swiss Army Knife collection, have I? The ultimate "make do" tool.)
I think I'm going to go play on an old Powerbook now. And think about how I'm going to set up those old ThinkPads when they arrive....
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