My Hardware Habit
Kjell Wooding | 2002-04-09
Someone recently asked me how many computers I've owned in my lifetime. The answer actually surprised me. What was even more surprising was the number of computers I still own. And to think I used to wonder why my electric bill was so high.
Note: I try to keep this up to date, even though I leave the original publication date intact. And yes, one day I will add pictures.
Historically
I grew up in a time when schools had better computers than anyone did at home. I realize this is hard to imagine now, where school boards are forced to accept donations of cast-off Pentium 166es that are too slow for use in any Business in North America, but are somehow "good enough" to teach our children on. Regardless, having Teachers for parents meant I had access to computers at an early age. Here's some of the gems I cut my digital teeth on.
- Apple 2+ - Borrowed from the school on weekends
- Black Apple II - A rare educational model, also borrowed from the school on weekends
- Franklin Ace 1000 - The first computer we ever owned; an Apple II clone, revolutionary for its lower case capabilities. We used to sell these (ah, Homecom Systems. How we miss you so).
- Apple IIe - Ah. 6502 assembly. 20 58 fc 60.
- IBM PS/2 Model 30 - My first introduction to the PC world. A rare, non-microchannel PS/2
The University Days
I remember buying my first computer, several months before shipping off to University, thinking "This machine should last me through school. I'll buy a new one when I graduate."
Heh. It barely lasted me a year.
My university machines were all clones. All lovingly hand-assmbled from parts. I think the only part that made it through my entire undergraduate career was my crappy 14-inch interlaced monitor. When I finally got rid of it, it was barely functional, so I donated it to a school.
- Spanky - Clone 386SX-16. The first machine that was truly mine. Paid for with a two-week xmas hack that went on to win an Alberta Government programming challenge. (Hello WBudget)
- Frankie - A spanky-new 486SX clone. This was a games machine, plain and simple.
- Son of Frankie - A frankenstein 486DX/2, assembled from whatever I could scrounge at the time, mainly to play DOOM.
- tin.ingenia.com - A Pentium 90 who's main claim to fame was having flown across the country with me 14 times in two years. The case went into my checked luggage, packed in whatever clothing I happened to be taking. The monitor I took as carry-on. (14-inches fit nicely under an airplane seat - really).
The Museum
Somewhere along the way, during my string of Beige Boxes, I started to get bored with so-called-modern computers. For whatever reason (possibly coinciding with the invention of eBay), I started collecting old machines. Here's my current collection, waiting for me to build them proper shelves in the basement.
- Apple IIe
- Clone Apple II
- 2 Apple IIc's with those cute little apple monitors
- Commodore 128
- Mac SE
- Coleco Adam
- TI-99
- Commodore PET
- 2 Tandy Model 1000 EX
- Radio Shack Model 100 (the original laptop)
- Compaq Portable II (The original, oscilliscope-sized screen "portable")
- Apple IIGS
- Radio Shack CoCo3
- 2 Commodore 64s
Still in Use
Amusingly, I didn't buy any new computers between November 1999 and January 2003. I think that's a pretty good sign that, until someone bothers making computers useful again, processors are officially too fast for the Average Joe. Here's my current collection of machines, all functional:
- Thinko - Thinkpad A22m - A gorgeous 1400x1050 screen. My main box, despite my having sheared the PCMCIA connection off the motherboard last year.
- darknight - My dual-headed digital darkroom machine. Now sporting an Athlon 2400+ (after an emergency upgrade for the wedding)
- ps2 - An unoriginally named, but wholly originial machine: My Playstation 2 running Linux.
- Goliath - 1G Athlon. My main OpenBSD dev box for a while.
- Monarch - Thinkpad 701CS Butterfly - My wireless emacs machine
- 2 Compaq P90 Laptops. These were originally slated as replacements for the Thinkpad. As it turns out, you can't replace a Thinkpad except with another Thinkpad. These will become MP3 controllers at various points in the house.
- HairyPalm - Yes, my Sony Clie PEG T-415. Perfect for emulating an apple II on the road. ;-)
Retired
- Doolie - Dual P3-466 celerons on an Abit BP-6 board.
- Gnome - K6/2 350 - Photoshop and Music Machine
- Bitblt - P166, no MMX - My original NT machine, still running the original install, now my girlfriend's box
- Spank - A Pentium 200 NT 4.0 Server
- Nick - a Zenith P90 - I was hacking OpenBSD Boot sectors on this, as it has a wacky BIOS. Since that problem has since gone away, I put it to bed.
The Server Room
The pd.o has to run on something. This is currently an MVL link in my basement.
- tash - K6/2 300 - This is pintday.org
- michelle, jen - P90, P100 - Firewall Boxes
- dangergrl - K6/2 350 - Another Development Server
- barb - Linux Box, just to say I have one
For those keeping score
Yes, I'm still missing a couple of classics. If you feel like donating one, I'm all ears.
- Timex Sinclair 1000 - The ol' doorstop
- A Black Apple II - Built for education, and the first machine I was really hooked on.
- Apple III - In all its chip-popping glory
- Vic 20, and Amiga
- Apple Lisa
- Next Cube
- Be's BeBox
Incredibly, since posting this page, I've received a couple of donations of machines on my "missing" list. Thanks all!
If I've forgotten any, I know y'all will let me know. The Internet is good for that.