ScuzzBlog: Diaries January 2021
Entry 11th January 2021: Post 1: Amiga 500 - EA and Rich rewards.
Amiga 500 - EA and Rich rewards.
I received an email from the guy that actually used the Amiga shown
here when he worked at EA during 1991 to 1993. And so I took the
computer out of store and fired her up. She was good as gold and
only suffered a little memory loss, which I remedied by adding a
card. After that it was fun all the way with a few Electronic Arts
titles.
The Workbench worked without fault and I was even able to boot up
my very own BayBench that I concocted a few months back.
And so a big thank you to Rich G EA CS/QA. I am not worthy. And if
you find the time it would be wonderful to get a little more of
the back story of the computer.
[ Comment ]
History is the only way we can retrace our past in an effort to
better understand the way we lived in days gone by. I have always
kept a journal and I write a daily log of my efforts. I can trace
my activities back to my youth. You only get one life so if it
was worth living it certainly was worth recording.
And so when I view old computers I am always keen to know a little
more about the machines history. Amiga enthusiasts would have so
much more strewn about their computer environment than just the
computer itself. There would be disk boxes, games, magazines. Old
busted mice and extracts from cheat pages hastily written down
from a friends house. And yet computers get separated from their
roots. They even have their drives removed and disks thrown away.
I just cringe when I see these 'Toobers' making videos about pimping
up a 600. First they scrape off the case surface and then gut the
poor thing chucking in all kinds of new and pointless junk. And so
they remove all fragments of memory of the computers past. It
really is wonderful when you have a computer, disks, books and
the like. Even better if you had first hand experience of the
person that owned it and the environment it sat in. It just adds
to the character of the machine.
There really is no need to attempt to make an old computer new
again. If she works that is all you can ask. I keep mine dusted
and safely stored. I give them some TLC but not much. I do so
much treasure collections of peoples disks. I just love books with
the odd scribbles in them. I value greatly old data disks with
peoples artwork, poems and stories on them. Just a name is so
important.
There really is no point sticking an Amiga 500 in a glass case
with a freshly retrobrited finish. It misses the whole purpose
and value of the computer by a mile. The machine comes to life
when it sits in its old familiar surroundings with games disks,
books, magazines and half drunk cups of tea. Through dim night
lights and hours of Lemmings the Amiga world evolves and becomes
home to your computer activities. The things that are not on show
in that museum are the things that made the Amiga what it truly
was. A friend. A good friend.
So next time you are tempted to pimp up your Amiga, reflect on
its past and maybe start to acquire those things that would have
been in the computers world during its proudest moments. She was
special then and she can be special again... but she needs a
little more respect.
And so to Rich. It may not seem much to simply say hi, but for
the Amiga that you said goodbye to all those years ago it means
a welcome voice from the past that resonates memories lost and
revives the only history we have. Let us never forget who we are
and where we have been and what we did. If it was worth living
it is worth remembering. Be thankful there are those that still
care enough to save, cherish and care for memories of the past.
[ end comment ]
All the things she said
Amiga 500 - EA and Rich rewards.
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