I am starting this new message because I didn't want to get it lost and I thought it desired it's own.

While replying to some of the other message, I have been thinking about the fact that I have many
fond memories of early computer usage. While I use a computer everyday, I find none of brings the
joy that in those early days.

There was something about using the early software that brought joy. I am not saying that it didn't
have issues. Far from it. Rather, I find interesting that even with the limitation of both the
software and hardware, I found computers fun and these days, not so much.

Today, I can use my phone or laptop to send messages anywhere in the world quickly. Where as back in the
day, it would have required a modem and likely a BBS to get messages somewhere eventually. Still this
method of send electronic messages, there is something about it. Something that I can not put my finger
on exactly. I could say that it simplier and while true I am not sure that is 100% it.

I know back then, when I first used a modem to connect to BBS, there was certain feel of community that
now, I do not feel. Back when I dialed up a BBS that BBS was likely local. More often then not, there were
message bases that were only on that BBS. Funny thing, While Fidonet was around, not many BBS I use back
then had Fidonet. I do know that when I lived shortly in Portland, OR there were several BBSs that all
shared messages bases just for that Area. Which was great because it was very easy to find an old Pencil
and Paper RPG (D&D) group. Something that while I can find people to play D&D on the Internet, they are
not always local to me.

I keep thinking about the software I used back then. Much of it was simple. Windows 3.1 was not great but
there were things you could do that you can not do now. I remember there was a simple way to create your
own boot logo for Windows 3.1. I know I did that quite a few times. Hell replacing the Program Manager
with something else was simple. I remember trying a bunch of different replacements for it. In just using
DOS there were tons of options. Almost everyone I knew used some sort of menu system to launch DOS programs.
Those were as varied as the people using them.

Maybe I am just feeling old and nostalgic. I know that in some ways using a computer back then was a feat.
Today you don't have to worry about IRQ conflicts, loud power supplies, or loud analog modems.

I guess the real question, is there something about the old days (whatever time period that is for you), that
you might be nostalgic for? If so, what is that?





... Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.49
* Origin: electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com (21:1/164)

I guess the real question, is there something about the old days
(whatever time period that is for you), that
you might be nostalgic for? If so, what is that?

These days we don't really have control over our computers anymore;
everything is buried under layers of software. One small problem and we're quickly lost.
Also, tons of RAM, fast CPUs, and nobody optimizes their software anymore.
I remember good ZX Spectrum games that only needed 30-40KB of RAM.

... Heisenburg may have slept here.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Gods69 BBS (21:3/220)

Re: Old Software Memories
By: nblade to All on Mon Jan 05 2026 01:56 pm

There was something about using the early software that brought joy. I am not saying that it didn't
have issues. Far from it. Rather, I find interesting that even with the limitation of both the
software and hardware, I found computers fun and these days, not so much.

I guess the real question, is there something about the old days (whatever time period that is for you), that
you might be nostalgic for? If so, what is that?

I feel the same way. I think one reason is that back in the 80s and 90s, having a computer at home was more of a novelty because it was more of a new thing. I think that made it fun. Also, because computers weren't as advanced back then, upgrades were more significant and noticeable - A CPU upgrade was noticeably much faster; you could upgrade from monochrome to color graphics, add a sound card to a PC (and you'd go from simple beeps to quality audio), etc..

Also, although computers were less advanced back then, we saw their potential, and it was fun to think about all the possibilities.

These days, I feel like upgrades are less noticeable. Also, maybe it's
because I've been using computers for so long, I'm just very much used to it now, so it doesn't feel quite as fun as it used to be.

I think another factor may be OS UI design. Since around 2012 or so, the GUIs of the various operating systems have become more flat and mono-tone across the board (starting with Windows 8, Mac OS X Mountain Lion, Android with Material Design, and similar with iOS). I feel like the UIs of the various operating systems today look a bit boring. I think a computer is more fun to use when the UI looks good. MS-DOS and other command-line operating systems were probably an exception back in the day - Each application had its own look & feel; also, I felt like it was fun that you could do pretty much anything with the computer.

Nightfox

Re: Old Software Memories
By: nblade to All on Mon Jan 05 2026 01:56 pm

Howdy,

I guess the real question, is there something about the old days (whatever time period that is for you), that you might be nostalgic for? If so,
what is that?

I agree with your post here.

In the "good ol days", there was always something new or something that was a desire for the "next". Either a bigger/faster hard drive, faster modem, new OS, new processor, more memory, new versio of ...

And then when you got it, there was the joy of setting it up and using it - the "I finally got it moment".

Today, I dont have that feeling anymore - perhaps when the Pi's came out it was there for a while, but now I look around for something to buy (because its more affordable now based on my current situation), there isnt anything that I want to buy.

Well, an exception, I held off on 3D printers and I just got one (because I saw my sister printing stuff for Christmas, and was impressed by the quality and capability), I bought one on a wim in the black friday sales.

Its pretty impressive, and I'm looking forward to the different coloured filaments that I've just ordered.

But other than that, there's been nothing for a long while, and once this fad has passed, not sure what I want to waste my money on next... :)


...δεσ∩
--- SBBSecho 3.29-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

Re: Old Software Memories
By: nblade to All on Mon Jan 05 2026 13:56:00

...is there something about the old days (whatever time period that is for you), that you might be nostalgic for? If so, what is that?

The '80s. Loved the '80s. The music, the cloths, the movies/TV shows. It was the decade I graduated College, got my first apartment, my first PC clone, my first synth, discovered BBSes, Had cable for the first time (Remember ZDTV?). Course it wasn't all sunshine, nothing ever is: My Dad passed and had to move back to my parent's house (though I did get two bedrooms out of it).

All in all, the 1980s rocked. Would love to do most of it, all over again.
--- SBBSecho 3.34-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

Mortar M. wrote to nblade <=-

The '80s. Loved the '80s. The music, the cloths, the movies/TV shows.
It was the decade I graduated College, got my first apartment, my
first PC clone, my first synth, discovered BBSes, Had cable for the
first time (Remember ZDTV?). Course it wasn't all sunshine, nothing
ever is: My Dad passed and had to move back to my parent's house
(though I did get two bedrooms out of it).

All in all, the 1980s rocked. Would love to do most of it, all over again. --- SBBSecho 3.34-Linux

Well I was still in Jr High and High School in the 80's. I didn't get my
first computer until the 90's. And that's when I discovered BBSes.



... MultiMail, the new multi-platform, multi-format offline reader!
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.49
* Origin: electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com (21:1/164)

Re: Old Software Memories
By: Nightfox to nblade on Mon Jan 05 2026 14:32:31

...because computers weren't as advanced back then, upgrades were more significant and noticeable...

Indeed. I remember going from EGA to VGA...Whoa, So many colors! Going from a basic no-name sound card to an SB Audigy; game music and SFX came alive. Increased RAM; Quake now ran butter smooth, and with the VGA upgrade, it was almost like playing a whole new game.

Everything was new and exciting back then. I think the last time I came close to that feeling was in 2007 when I joined Second Life, a 3D virtual world, which I'm still a "citizen" of.
--- SBBSecho 3.34-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

Re: Old Software Memories
By: Mortar M. to Nightfox on Mon Jan 05 2026 10:15 pm

Everything was new and exciting back then. I think the last time I came close to that feeling was in 2007 when I joined Second Life, a 3D virtual world, which I'm still a "citizen" of.

I was in that for a bit, but haven't been in there in years. I remember finding a virtual rocketry & space museum someone built in there, and they had someone from the aerospace industry in real life come give a presentation there every Sunday, which I thought was interesting.

Nightfox

Re: Re: Old Software Memories
By: nblade to Mortar M. on Tue Jan 06 2026 08:05:00

I didn't get my first computer until the 90's.

Doh! How could I forget. The '80s was when I got my first computer as well. Back in '82 I got a T/S 1000, which was followed by the VIC-20, then the C=64, then the Amiga 1000. /Then/ I got the PC clone.
--- SBBSecho 3.34-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

close to that feeling was in 2007 when I joined Second Life, a 3D virtua

I was in that for a bit, but haven't been in there in years. I remember finding a virtual rocketry & space museum someone built in there, and they ha someone from the aerospace industry in real life come give a presentation the every Sunday, which I thought was interesting.

That is pretty awesome!

Mike
---
■ BgNet 1.0ß12 ≈ RAW: Port 27 / Telnet:26 / ftelnet:80
* Origin: moe's tavern * 1-5028758938 * moetiki.ddns.net:27 (21:4/134)

Nightfox wrote to Mortar M. <=-

I was in that for a bit, but haven't been in there in years. I
remember finding a virtual rocketry & space museum someone built in
there, and they had someone from the aerospace industry in real life
come give a presentation there every Sunday, which I thought was interesting.

Second life always had a Mondo2000, too soon vibe - I wonder how it
would fare if it came out with today's hardware and popularity of
social networks?



--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

Re: Re: Old Software Memories
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Thu Jan 08 2026 07:51 am

Second life always had a Mondo2000, too soon vibe - I wonder how it would fare if it came out with today's hardware and popularity of social networks?

Second Life reminded me a lot of the book "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson (which I had read in the early 90s), and I heard that book was actually an inspiration for Second Life..

That's a good question about how popular Second Life would be if it came out now. For a while, I've been hearing that a lot of people have replaced their traditional computers at home with a smartphone or tablet..

Nightfox

Doh! How could I forget. The '80s was when I got my first computer as well. Back in '82 I got a T/S 1000, which was followed by the VIC-20, then the C=64 then the Amiga 1000. /Then/ I got the PC clone.

Same here re: ~1982, but mine was a TI. I assumed we were talking PC
clones, which was 1987 and an XT. ;)

---
■ BgNet 1.0ß12 ≈ RAW: Port 27 / Telnet:26 / ftelnet:80
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