ScuzzBlog: Diaries August 2017
Entry 15th August 2017: Post: 1
Participate or Emulate
[ diary entry ]
It really is not my place to criticize anyone for what they do to
amuse themselves using a computer. I can only reflect on how I
like to enjoy my time mucking around at the old keyboard.. on
what ever I am currently plugged into. However, for me the joy
has always been the connection between machine and OS. The way
I expanded and enhanced the computer was as important as the
software I purchased. Often to make something work I needed to
get better kit. I recall struggling dreadfully with Simcity 2000
and even though I was strapped for cash I went and bought a new
accelerator card. Man was that a good buy... also goodbye to sleep.
I have never confused software with hardware. Software has always
been the easier to deal with. However when I bought an Amiga I
bought the computer. The Amiga was the computer. The hardware was
the most important and essential feature and without it there was
no Amiga, simple as that.
When folk started to rip their Amigas apart and place them in
towers I was horrified to what lengths users would destroy their
beloved Amiga to make it run as a PC. In truth the standard PC is
a somewhat heartless beast and lacking in any 'personal' quality.
Somewhat strange given that PC means personal computer. I have
used Windows probably more than any OS, however I have never viewed
it as anything other than an interface into the world. I have no
real complaints because I accept it for what it is. Nothing special
just a tool... bit like my fridge or hoover or TV. As long as it
does what it's supposed to then that is fine with me.
The Amiga and Amstrad of my previous era were more than just a tool.
they were a real friend. I recall sitting with the French doors open
and sun blazing in through the windows as I sat at the PC9512 writing
yet another text based adventure in Mallard BASIC. Once I was done I
would be into LocoSript and writing journals, books and diary entries.
Those days I would sit and use a pencil and pen to draw and hand write
a lot of things. I collected magazines and catalogued everything.
Sitting outside with a hot cup of tea having a break and then doing
other things. The computer though always made me happy and would look
forward to my times spent at the keyboard.
It was a very sad the day the PC9512 finally gave up the ghost. But I was
fortunate to drop into the world of the Amiga. I reflect often on why
those years were so much of a joy. I worked hard and for long hours.
My work as an architect was always stressful. I used a PC at work with
AutoCAD and had all the latest Office version to do writing etc.. but
when I came home I was never happier than when at the Amiga.
The practice bought me computers, laptops, hand held mini computers
and installed all the latest software. I never used them at home. My
home was that place with the French windows and sunny days sipping
tea. To be part of my happy place the things I possessed need to
make me happy. The Amiga was a natural fit and became a real friend.
Windows has never been a friend... because at the heart there was
no physical presence. I could not sense the creators hand on the
machine I was using. Yet the Amiga was an Amiga throughout every
single part of its being. It was a total entity and the physical form
and shape and sounds made for the overall experience. Without that
there is no Amiga.
Collecting computers I often struggled with users parting with their
kit. Always the brave faces. Always the confident goodbye. And yet
when I investigated the worth of the computer from the remnants of
its past I could sense the same love affair with the computer. Whether
the previous user regretted or came to regret I know not. Collecting
for me was simply to safeguard my own inherent need to never have to
regret.
And so what of emulation. I talk from the heart when I say I can not
emulate. For me there has to be a physical connection. The senses
absorb not just vision and sound from the system functions but the
touch of the keys, the sound of the hard drive, the noise of the floppy,
the action of the disk insertion and the visual awareness of the actual
computer. I guess in time mankind will develop ways of reproducing
everything in a virtual way. No doubt society will accept the virtual
as the real. Maybe we are already there. For me when you dilute to
the point where you remove everything but the signal to the brain you
kinda enter the Matrix. It really is just a short step to a world where
you no longer need to physically interact. After all, all that we see
and experience are just messages interpreted by the brain.
Mobile phones, internet, downloads for free , emulators etc have been pretty
instrumental in destroying the world I once enjoyed. I am told its progress.
In truth it happens to everyone when they get old. But, and it really is
a big but... you have to do those things in life that make you happy.
The Amiga always makes me happy. How weird is that. Many other things also
made me happy but they have all but been destroyed by modern trends which
made their attainment impossible. Society moved on and determined their
use had become redundant. So much creative effort and energy expended to
bring joy washed down the drain because you can emulate on your telephone.
Society is of its making. What we get is what we ask for. The world adopted
social media as a way of sustaining their worth and for that only time will
tell whether it was for the better of mankind. However, and now the bigger but,
we must be very careful not to fool ourselves that what we have created is
a form of fools gold. Simply because we reside in a world created from cut
out portions of a world gone by and stuck together to make everyone feel
they are enjoying something rewarding. That world 'gone by' was filled with
creative talent that actually invented, produced and circulated say Tetris.
You can only emulate that which existed. Spend all your time doing that and
where is the real future. Those that used to live the dream that had say an
Amiga were the realists and wanted to use what they had to truly better themselves.
So for me I cannot emulate. It is getting harder and harder to do so. But
sadly the world does not seem to want to create the toys that I once loved
so much and so I just have to hope the old stuff lasts. Fingers crossed.
scuzz
|
