The Return of the 8-bits

[cas]

On OSNews, killermike wrote:

 

In this article, I'm going to explore the idea that the 8 bit home computer not only had a great deal to offer the prehistoric early-humans of 1985 but that it may also have a place in the modern world; perhaps, there is something that we can learn from it. Having identified the laudable, worthwhile elements of this class of machine, I'm going to make some suggestions towards a scheme that would embody these characteristics in the form of a machine that would have a place within the modern world.

 

See yourself, an interesting read

 

OsNews-The Return of the 8-bits

 

Carsten

[Urchlay]

Link is slightly broken, this one should work:

 

OsNews-The Return of the 8-bits

 

Interesting article

[WizWor]

Linked right under this article...

"Those flash-based laptops we're all dreaming about may be a lot cheaper than we expected. Asus just announced their plans to make five budget, solid state laptops this year priced from USD 199 to USD 549. Each machine will have a 7-inch display, and depending on the model it'll have a flash drive ranging from 1GB to 40GB. The lappies are expected later this year."

I think a $200 platform could be the catalyst for a rebirth of the microcomputer. The 1g version will not run Vista, but I can see Linux flavors filling the niche. Why not socket the/a flash card and use these to run self contained applications? One card with an atari emulator and a bunch of games, another with a web appliance, and one with a VPN client so I can check my mail at work.

 

SIO2ASUSLaptop? Sign me up!

 

Where the heck do I plug in that CX40...

Edited April 18, 2007 by WizWor

[cas]

Linked right under this article...

"Those flash-based laptops we're all dreaming about may be a lot cheaper than we expected. Asus just announced their plans to make five budget, solid state laptops this year priced from USD 199 to USD 549. Each machine will have a 7-inch display, and depending on the model it'll have a flash drive ranging from 1GB to 40GB. The lappies are expected later this year."

I think a $200 platform could be the catalyst for a rebirth of the microcomputer. The 1g version will not run Vista, but I can see Linux flavors filling the niche. Why not socket the/a flash card and use these to run self contained applications? One card with an atari emulator and a bunch of games, another with a web appliance, and one with a VPN client so I can check my mail at work.

 

SIO2ASUSLaptop? Sign me up!

 

Where the heck do I plug in that CX40...

 

I think LinuxBIOS would be a good solution here:

http://linuxbios.org/Welcome_to_LinuxBIOS

 

THis video shows how LinuxBios can boot a machine to GUI in less then 8 seconds

 

LinuTop might already be a device described in the above article:

http://linutop.com/

 

Carsten

[almightytodd]

A basic, simple to use laptop computer for under $200? Sounds to me a bit like the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project...

 

...A related thread I started yesterday in Current Events.

[cas]

A basic, simple to use laptop computer for under $200? Sounds to me a bit like the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project...

 

...A related thread I started yesterday in Current Events.

 

OLPC is not trageted to be a machine which can be understood on the machine level, it is not "simple". A next generation "Home computer" should be "simple" and "easy to understand fully", just like the old days 8bit machines. OLPC is quite complex. Price is not the primary requirement for a next generation HC, as described in the article.

 

Carsten