That is an interesting story. I found that M100s garner a lot of attention out in public. I always show off the keyboard. Modern laptops can't hold a candle to the feel of those keys.
It's also interesting that there will be one generation, or maybe two, tops, that understand what a "personal computer" really is. Before the 1970s or early 80s, people knew about computers but had no concept of one that resided in the home. Now, everyone grows up with a computer in the house, tablets laying about... they will find them no more remarkable than a washing machine or TV. On Fri, May 8, 2015 at 10:19 AM, James Zeun <[email protected]> wrote: > > I don't post on here very often, two posts in one day is something of a > record for me. I don't really know how to program, save for a little bit of > Python on my Raspberry PI. So as an M100 user, I guess I'm what you could > class as an enthusiastic/user. I use my M100 for writing articles for my > vintage tech blog, the battery life just makes it a great machine to use. > The screen is far superior to the Amstrad NC100 I was using previously, > which was more of a word processor then a real computer like the TRS. > > Anyways, I thought I would share with you an experience I had with my M100 > last week, while we had a spell of sunshine. I know it's not exactly > dissecting a system rom or anything ambitious as getting an M100 online > over wifi. But I thought I would share it, as it's was a fun moment using a > 30yr old computer for what it was meant for. > > Last week the sun blessed us with an appearance, so a group of us 'nerds' > decided to venture out in to the sunshine to soak up some Vitamin D! I > packed a rucksack and threw my M100 inside, thinking I could finish off a > blog post. Sitting on the picnic blanket with a flask of tea, I kept having > people come up to me, inquiring about the Tandy. I genuinely didn't think > anyone would raise an eye brow, aside from take pity on the sad nerd who > couldnt afford a Macbook Air. To my surprise people wanted to know about > the little machine, which I was more then happy to tell them about. Even if > it did mean I didn't get any work done! Some of them sort of knew what it > was, while others were completely baffled. One guy even asked if I hooked > it up to the PC using USB. When I explained to him that I used a serial > cable, there was a lost expression his face. Clearly not a lover of old > RS-232! The oddest part of the outing was having my friends seven year old > son approach me, looking genuinely confused. > > "What is that?" > "It's a computer" I replied > "No, it doesn't have a lid" Argued the child > "That's a laptop, this is a portable computer. See this label on the > front, it says 'Portable Computer', it can work out maths problems and I > can write on it just like a regular computer" > "It's not a computer, it doesn't have a screen! how do you close the lid?" > "It doesn't need a lid and the screen is there see!" > > So if you want to confuse a small child, wave an old computer at them and > watch their brain explode lol. Having grown up in the 80's, it's really > difficult to get my head around the fact there is a generation now, that > see's touchscreens as common place. I really wonder what they would make of > sitting in front of a C64 and typing out a program listing from a book, > like I did when I was 7-8 years old. Thats what I think of when someone > says the word computer. > > Anyways, that was a random adventure with my M100, still a useful work > horse. Hope nobody objected to me sharing :-) > > James > > >
