Does anyone use 'Vintage' hardware & software to write?

The_Happy_Magyar

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Hi everyone,

I am a fan of vintage computer hardware & software. I wonder, does anyone here perhaps use vintage hardware and/or software to create their works? (I could define vintage as being a computer or word processor before 1990).

I'm intrigued with the idea of using such equipment to create documents. But I doubt I'd do it. Ultimately your work needs to interface to the world wide web. The level of complication involved in getting your work off of the vintage computer/word processor onto the web, I fear, would be too great.

OTOH I can also wonder if there are vintage tools that are superior enough to merit seeking them out, and that more than make up for the complication of getting the information transferred off the platform?
 

Chris1981

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I use a pen and paper for some drafts. :D

As for actual computer hardware? Nope. My desktop's ca. 2008 and I have an AlphaSmart NEO I don't use very often. (It's nice, but I don't write on the go often.)
 

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I use a fountain pen. And I need to find ribbons for my vintage typewriter, so I can start using that.

I don't see any advantage, however, to using archaic computer systems. Unlike a pen or typewriter, which offer a different and nostalgic feel to your efforts, an old computer is so similar to a new one -- except it is slower, uses out-of-date software, has less memory and storage -- that I fail to see any benefit, emotional or otherwise. But that's just me. I still enjoy using an old two-edged safety razor and a turntable.
 

Dennis E. Taylor

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"Vintage" to me means anything that runs XP or older. :D

Honestly, anything older than mid-noughts vintage is not going to have a built-in network card, probably won't be plug-and-play, and I spent enough endless hours screwing with those setups to never want to see one again. Anything that old has already been pushed out a window.

Y'know, I just realized, I don't even own floppies any more.
 

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A fountain pen. There's nothing like using a fountain pen to slow down my whirling brain and set down some very nice prose. Not to mention that a fountain pen is damned sexy to use.
 

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A pile of pens and a good stack of paper. First draft magic.
 

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Everything a vintage computer can do, my Alphasmart Neo can do with 500 hours of battery life and no troubles to upload a document.
 

Chasing the Horizon

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Well, I guess writing would be one of the few things you can actually use a 20+ year old computer for, but I'm having a hard time understanding why you would want to. There could be formatting problems and you wouldn't be able to use auto back-up, so when the ancient machine decides to kick the bucket you might lose a good chunk of writing with it.
 

Myrealana

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Everything a vintage computer can do, my Alphasmart Neo can do with 500 hours of battery life and no troubles to upload a document.
Ayup!

I remember using computers for school reports back in the 80s.

I can't imagine how that would be in any way better than what I have now.
 

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Hi everyone,

I am a fan of vintage computer hardware & software. I wonder, does anyone here perhaps use vintage hardware and/or software to create their works? (I could define vintage as being a computer or word processor before 1990).
I just looked, this IBM Model M keyboard is from 1993, but the design dates from 1984, so I guess I'm good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_keyboard
I use a Model M Space Saver with my laptop. Every once in a while someone in Starbucks says something admiring about it.

I'm intrigued with the idea of using such equipment to create documents. But I doubt I'd do it. Ultimately your work needs to interface to the world wide web. The level of complication involved in getting your work off of the vintage computer/word processor onto the web, I fear, would be too great.

OTOH I can also wonder if there are vintage tools that are superior enough to merit seeking them out, and that more than make up for the complication of getting the information transferred off the platform?
The good news is anything text-based (as opposed to graphics-and-windows based, i.e. MS Windows, Macintosh, Unix/Linux X-Windows/KDE/whatever) is going to be fast response (as in pressing a key, the character appears or cursor moves instantly), which IMHO is Good.

What's amazing is there are emulators for older systems such as the Apple ][ and CP/M you can download and run, though I wonder how many people really want to go back that far. But the emulators DO save the files on your hard disk and you can then email it or whatever (probably after converting to the latest Microsoft Word .doc/.docx format that editors demand thesedays).

If you really want original hardware, it's available, though the older it is the more likely it's priced for collectors. There's always ways to transfer files, though it can be a pain to set up. Check out the Vintage Computer Fairs and see if there are any in your area. I've been to the VCFSE which also has an amazing Apple museum with all the early Apple products.
http://www.vintage.org/

The prices of some early computers have really gone up in price, but you can make your own copy for a reasonable cost with kits like this:
http://www.willegal.net/appleii/apple1-kit.htm

But I want THIS computer - imagine being able to print documents and send them around the world!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0zgj2p7Ww4
 

benbradley

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Everything a vintage computer can do, my Alphasmart Neo can do with 500 hours of battery life and no troubles to upload a document.
That ain't got nothin on my Tandy/TRS-80 Model 102.
Well, I guess writing would be one of the few things you can actually use a 20+ year old computer for, but I'm having a hard time understanding why you would want to. There could be formatting problems and you wouldn't be able to use auto back-up, so when the ancient machine decides to kick the bucket you might lose a good chunk of writing with it.
The "formatting problems" most people have with things such as the Alphasmart is "there's no way to format anything - this is as bad as a typewriter!"

I see people typing novels into the latest version of Microsoft Word and I wonder if they're writing words or generating camera-ready formatted books on the fly.
 

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I'm intrigued with the idea of using such equipment to create documents. But I doubt I'd do it. Ultimately your work needs to interface to the world wide web. The level of complication involved in getting your work off of the vintage computer/word processor onto the web, I fear, would be too great.

I don't think that's necessarily true. In 1990 I was using Macs, and I was online. I still love some of the software I was using then: Eudora for Email, MacWrite Pro for a word processor, and HyperCard.

Keep in mind that email to WordPress for posting works. So does FTP and TCP/IP on computers from 1990 (and earlier!).

I'm thinking about using an older Mac iBook from 2002 as a laptop for writing away from, partly because of some of the utility scripts I wrote.

There are sites that specialize in vintage Macs, and vintage Mac software. Personally, I'm looking for an SE 30 to run some of the software I helped create in the 1990s.
 
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Chasing the Horizon

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The "formatting problems" most people have with things such as the Alphasmart is "there's no way to format anything - this is as bad as a typewriter!"

I see people typing novels into the latest version of Microsoft Word and I wonder if they're writing words or generating camera-ready formatted books on the fly.
Actually, I was thinking of the gibberish characters which appeared all over the documents I converted from from some old formats to .rtf. I don't need a ton of fancy formatting, but it's pretty hard to review your notes when random strings of gibberish have been inserted in every other paragraph.
 

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WP 4.2 was awesome! So small, the entire program could fit on, and be run from, a 5-1/2 inch floppy. And you'd still have room for all your text tiles! Amazing. Today's bloatware wouldn't even fit on my first hard drive!
I see people typing novels into the latest version of Microsoft Word and I wonder if they're writing words or generating camera-ready formatted books on the fly.
Guilty. I have a template already created to submissions ready specs that I type my manuscript into. Why format at the end when the program allows me to start already formated?

I mean, to me, that's no different than when I used a manual typewriter. I typed it as submission ready then too.
 
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Osulagh

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That ain't got nothin on my Tandy/TRS-80 Model 102.

The Alphasmart Neo2 has 500+ hours battery life, much more memory and can transfer over to nearly any device with no drivers or any hassle, weighs less, and has one of the best scissor-switch keyboards ever. I don't see how the Tandy is even in the same ballpark.

I've gone on three month trips with my Neo2, wrote several novels, backpacking the entire way. The battery life, the weight, and the ease of transfers to my phone with a tiny cable can't compare to anything. Aside from that I'd be burning through batteries or having to pack a solar charger.
 

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Just this evening, I used YellowLegalPad v. 1.,01 with OS BallPointPen 1.01, battery life infinite.

Worked fine. No backward compatibility issues whatever. The words also had no backward compatibility issues, unless maybe you go back to Chaucer 1.01.

caw
 
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Reziac

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I'm intrigued with the idea of using such equipment to create documents. But I doubt I'd do it.

Mee toooo!!

http://www.computerhistory.org/

Ultimately your work needs to interface to the world wide web. The level of complication involved in getting your work off of the vintage computer/word processor onto the web, I fear, would be too great.

Not really. There was a macro for WordPerfect 5.x DOS that did a decent job of converting WP format to HTML; in fact I was still using it to dump stuff to HTML until RoughDraft finally stole me away from WP, about 5 years ago (RD has its own HTML conversion routine -- not quite as good as the WP macro, but good enough).

RTF is just glorified text -- all any automated HTML conversion does is a big hairy search-and-replace routine. Funny characters on-screen are still just text characters in the RTF file, and HTML has ways to display a lot of 'em. Text gibberish results from leftover formatting codes, but is also killable (with a bit more effort; WordPerfect had a "find text between X and Y" search that made it doable, tho I've never seen that in another editing program of any sort).

There was an add-on for Microsoft Office 4.0 (for Windows 3.1x) that let Word 4.0 export HTML, and it made nice clean webpages. I used that quite a bit, too.

I still have my original 286 (kinda regret that I gave away the XT before I moved). It can do everything I absolutely need to do, albeit at a, um, leisurely pace thanks to a paltry 1MB RAM that can't be upgraded (somewhat improved by a 2MB RAMcard that functions as scratch space).

Internet access under DOS was always an Adventure but could be done, and a client was usually bundled with DOS browsers.

And a few more here.

I'd occasionally use Net-Tamer to grab email on the 286. Or when some (*)&^*(&%! sent me a huge file and my modem was starting to smoke, I'd telnet into the mailserver to kill the attachment.

WebSpyder (graphical web browser for DOS) wouldn't run on the 286 cuz it used the DOS4GW memory extender, but it ran fine on a 386DX. A late version is still available. I see its cousin Arachne is still being developed!

Back-when I knew a guy who used ... ah, hell, what was it called? (not GEM but something similar) a desktop on his XT that actually multitasked, and did internet by of an AOL client and a text-based web browser. He'd be surfing the web and printing invoices in the background.

On my DOOMin' box, where I can't be arsed to install a working copy of Windows, I still use old DOS Edit for whatever I might wish to type out. Plain text is portable everywhere!

Now get off my lawn! ;)
 
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Not vintage by your standards, but I use a Dell Inspiron 2200 for my writing. It's my mom's old laptop. It was released in 2005, but with a Pentium Celeron 1.4 GHz processor, 256 MB of RAM, proprietary graphics, and Windows XP SP2, it was practically already outdated as soon as it hit the market.

I took it off of her hands, factory restored it, uninstalled every bit of proprietary software I could get my hands on, installed Open Office, Chrome, and Panda Antivirus.

Trying to run anything along with the anti-virus deadlocked it completely, so I've since uninstalled Chrome and Panda and turned off the wireless card. I've got a 1GB stick of RAM and a new battery (yeah, you can't unplug; it takes about, oh, we'll say 15 minutes for the battery to die) on the way. Once I've upgraded the hardware, I'm debating installing Linux Ubuntu on it. Not sure though; it *just* slides into home for the memory and processor requirements.

I wanted a distraction-free machine that I could use for my writing. I like going out to write; I've done some of my best writing at Starbucks. I do want a browser on it so I could submit stories and articles without jumping to a new computer, but it's pretty much a dedicated writing machine.

Now, my gaming PC: my wife lovingly dubbed it The Monster. That baby runs like a rabid sex beast that just discovered caffeine: AMD 8350FX 4.0 GHz 8-core processor, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM, and a 4GB Nvidia GTX 970 video card, all pumped by a 1000 watt Rosewill power supply, slapped on to an ASUS M5A99X motherboard, and stuffed in a Cooler Master HAF 932 case. A total of six fans--four on the case, two on the heavy-duty CPU heat sink--keeps it purring along.
 
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Reziac

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Once I've upgraded the hardware, I'm debating installing Linux Ubuntu on it. Not sure though; it *just* slides into home for the memory and processor requirements.

You'll be sorry. For performance equivalent to concurrent Windows, the full-blown linux desktops need about double the hardware. If Windows is a little piggy, Ubuntu will run like frozen molasses. (If it agrees to install on an 'older' vidchip at all. When I last went to test a fresh Ubuntu distro, about 3 years ago, I found they'd removed all the video drivers more than 5 years old. This is when I stopped even considering Ubuntu.)

When I build a new box, it does duty as the linux tester for a while before I get around to installing Windows, so I've had a lot of same-hardware comparisons. The distros that are actively designed for minimal hardware (eg. Puppy) run great, but the fullbore Gnome/KDE models always make Windows look like a speed demon by comparison.
 

engmajor2005

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You'll be sorry. For performance equivalent to concurrent Windows, the full-blown linux desktops need about double the hardware. If Windows is a little piggy, Ubuntu will run like frozen molasses. (If it agrees to install on an 'older' vidchip at all. When I last went to test a fresh Ubuntu distro, about 3 years ago, I found they'd removed all the video drivers more than 5 years old. This is when I stopped even considering Ubuntu.)

When I build a new box, it does duty as the linux tester for a while before I get around to installing Windows, so I've had a lot of same-hardware comparisons. The distros that are actively designed for minimal hardware (eg. Puppy) run great, but the fullbore Gnome/KDE models always make Windows look like a speed demon by comparison.

That's very good to know, thanks.

So, given my specs, would Puppy be a safe bet?

I mean, I've already bought the cute little penguin keychain USB to keep Linux on. Might as well put it to use.
 

Reziac

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Puppy should run on anything that vaguely resembles a computer. I expect it could be coaxed to run on as slow as a 386DX (ie. any 32bit CPU) with as little as 4mb of RAM, tho you might not like it much. (And so someone on the forum agrees.) I'd guess it hits tolerably usable at 64mb RAM. I understand it does run off a USB stick.

For several years I had Wary Puppy (the version for older hardware) on my 'best' laptop, which is a lowly 1GHz with a paltry 256mb RAM. Puppy's performance wasn't just snappy, it was instantaneous. (Then again, it's small enough to load the entire module in RAM, so it better be fast.) Unfortunately getting wireless to work consistently, or sound to work at all, were not in its cards. But I'll be trying it again, cuz I rather like Puppy (it reminds me of Win3.1, but with some modern features) and I appreciate its performance and its ongoing support for older hardware.

For comparison, Windows 2000 will run on a 486DX4-100 with 8mb RAM and no swapfile. (It won't install on that, but it will run.) It's usable, not even grossly laggy, if rather plodding. I discovered this by accident when I hooked the wrong HD to my old RAM test rig. What's this booting up? I thought that was a blank HD?? Oh dear! Well, isn't this interesting...

Puppy multiboots gracefully, and won't muck up your existing DOS/Win setup. When I finally dumped it to try something else on the laptop, I was amused to discover... oh, that's what became of Jerry Pournelle's old HD -- I'd totally forgotten it also had Windows on it, let alone where I'd stuck it.
 
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Jamesaritchie

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Why not buy it? Don't you like the current version of WordPerfect?
 

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I sometimes write using Word 5.5 for DOS. Does that count?

But for distraction free writing, I use an older laptop that still handles MS Office. And would handle LibreOffice. I have every programs uninstalled that can posssibly be uninstalled. But I only installed Word, not the rest of Office. The laptop would handle the rest easily enough, but I don't want it on there. It doesn't even have an internet connection. It's as distraction free as you can get.
 

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If you like Word 5.5 DOS, try Word 6 for DOS -- all the same features with some nice improvements... if you can find it.

Word for DOS was made freely available some years back. Here's v. 5.5 (haven't found 6.0 yet):
http://download.microsoft.com/download/word97win/Wd55_be/97/WIN98/EN-US/Wd55_ben.exe

Just over 3mb!

And no, we don't like the current version of WordPerfect. At least not as much. In Windows versions I prefer WP8 to later models. (But I collect WordPerfect stuff, so I wind up with lots of versions I don't use!)

You can still buy WP for DOS, but it's in enough demand to be generally pricey. (I paid less for it new than what I've seen on eBay.)

Gods on stilts, vintage Word isn't cheap either!
http://www.emsps.com/oldtools/msword.htm
 
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