A classic computer school?

[Keatah]

A classic computer school? Not a classic computer for school, but a school for classic computer users!

 

Curricula might look like:

 

How to load and save programs and how to transfer things back and forth between the PC. An overview of useful and popular utilities, both classic and modern - on both platforms, to facilitate added functionality. How can modern tools and capabilities be used to enhance the classic computing/gaming experience.

 

A look at resources on the web and how to use them. What documentation to read. What FAQ's to read.

 

Recommended hardware configurations for either generic use or specific tasks.

 

How to do general maintenance, and cleaning operations. From drive heads to cartridge slots. How to fix specific problems and general problems.

 

What cables and hookups are needed. Power supplies and displays discussed, new tech and old tech. I/O options discussed.

 

---

 

While most of us here know all that, there are plenty of newbies bouncing off the walls with information overload. And while I don't know how popular an actual course would be (it's rather niche), a Google hangout type conference might work.

 

Till that happens (if it ever does), self-directed Q&A sessions in forum threads seems to be the deal.

[carlsson]

Kind of that sounds like the repeated efforts to get a vintage computing section at Stack Exchange, but since most of us into old computers only sporadically visit SE, it doesn't seem like they got much support. Of course Q&As, FAQs, Rosetta stones, wiki articles, other online documents etc can be prepared and uploaded without going through a specific publishing system.

[Nebulon]

It would be nice to have some kind of information base.

 

For example, when I type "How to use the Apple II" into Google, it would be cool to have an easy-to-follow list of instructions on the fundamentals of using that particular machine. Same for the various other classic computers.

 

Yes, there are manuals and books out there, but there's nothing like having information presented with the focus on the top 20 commands for that particular machine (with examples, of course).

 

Dividing it into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced would be a nice option too.

 

E.g.)

http://www.blitter.com/~nebulous/coco.html

 

Forums like AtariAge are great for getting information like this, however an organized info base would be a nice thing (and might help cut down on some of the repeat questions).

[jaybird3rd]

Sounds like a great idea to me! I love to integrate topics like these into the computer science courses that I teach at the university level, whenever I can justify doing so.

 

One potential issue I see is that the population of vintage computer enthusiasts is probably too sparse and too spread out geographically for a physical classroom setting, or even a real-time conference on Google Hangouts, to be feasible. An alternative would be to prepare a series of video lessons that interested people can watch on YouTube on their own. It's one thing to point newbies to forums, newsgroups, FAQs, and all the various ways that this kind of communal "folk knowledge" is often shared in written form, but it would be much more helpful to them to provide this knowledge in one place, in a systematic way, in an audiovisual form.

[Gentlegamer]

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[Mr SQL]

A classic computer school? Not a classic computer for school, but a school for classic computer users!

 

Curricula might look like:

 

How to load and save programs and how to transfer things back and forth between the PC. An overview of useful and popular utilities, both classic and modern - on both platforms, to facilitate added functionality. How can modern tools and capabilities be used to enhance the classic computing/gaming experience.

 

A look at resources on the web and how to use them. What documentation to read. What FAQ's to read.

 

Recommended hardware configurations for either generic use or specific tasks.

 

How to do general maintenance, and cleaning operations. From drive heads to cartridge slots. How to fix specific problems and general problems.

 

What cables and hookups are needed. Power supplies and displays discussed, new tech and old tech. I/O options discussed.

 

---

 

While most of us here know all that, there are plenty of newbies bouncing off the walls with information overload. And while I don't know how popular an actual course would be (it's rather niche), a Google hangout type conference might work.

 

Till that happens (if it ever does), self-directed Q&A sessions in forum threads seems to be the deal.

 

That sounds really cool Keatah!

 

Reminds me of a college curriculum along similar lines that has already been implemented in philosophy and arts at Georgia Tech; Ian Bogost's course description describes teaching students all about the VCS hardware and how to program Video Games in BASIC and Assembly:

 

http://bogost.com/teaching/the_atari_video_computer_syste/

 

The philosophical side of the course analyzing the games and the hardware's impact on culture are also very interesting, I think that would be a good addition to the curricula for the classic computers.

[Newsdee]

So much yes.

 

Speaking to a few fellow retro computing enthusiasts IRL I realized some people never even thought about transfering files to a PC.

 

I've been in an almost comical situation where I wanted to give one a file but I have no floppy drives (which is all he has). I get that not everybody has a CFFA, but long before I got one I was sending floppies via serial after typing a tiny bootstrap program into my apple II.

 

OK, I guess even that is a bit on the Internet-fueled power user side.

[Newsdee]

So much yes.

 

Speaking to a few fellow retro computing enthusiasts IRL I realized some people never even thought about transfering files to a PC.

 

I've been in an almost comical situation where I wanted to give one a file but I have no floppy drives (which is all he has). I get that not everybody has a CFFA, but long before I got one I was sending floppies via serial after typing a tiny bootstrap program into my apple II.

 

OK, I guess even that is a bit on the Internet-fueled power user side.

[82-T/A]

A classic computer school? Not a classic computer for school, but a school for classic computer users!

 

Curricula might look like:

 

How to load and save programs and how to transfer things back and forth between the PC. An overview of useful and popular utilities, both classic and modern - on both platforms, to facilitate added functionality. How can modern tools and capabilities be used to enhance the classic computing/gaming experience.

 

A look at resources on the web and how to use them. What documentation to read. What FAQ's to read.

 

Recommended hardware configurations for either generic use or specific tasks.

 

How to do general maintenance, and cleaning operations. From drive heads to cartridge slots. How to fix specific problems and general problems.

 

What cables and hookups are needed. Power supplies and displays discussed, new tech and old tech. I/O options discussed.

 

---

 

While most of us here know all that, there are plenty of newbies bouncing off the walls with information overload. And while I don't know how popular an actual course would be (it's rather niche), a Google hangout type conference might work.

 

Till that happens (if it ever does), self-directed Q&A sessions in forum threads seems to be the deal.

 

 

You could do an online learning environment, and have class sessions that way. First class could be all about the hardware, and everything else could be done through emulator... like coding a small application, to playing a few games, to using some old applications.

 

I'm down, let's do it.