Posted on 10/01/2016 11:04:05 AM PDT by Ciaphas Cain
Apple’s Phil Schiller thinks it’s sad that people use 5-year-old computers. Well, Phil, there’s an auto repair shop in Poland that’s going to send you spiraling into a long depression.
Why? Because one of the computers they’re using on a day-to-day basis is a Commodore 64, and I don’t mean one of the slick nostalgic remakes. I’m talking about a classically beautiful beige C64 and its whirring, clunking 5.25″ floppy disk drive.
It’s been there for more than 25 years. See, not everyone finds the idea of using an old computer sad. Some, like the mechanics at this shop in Gdansk, treat their hardware like a trusted member of their team. Clearly this Commodore 64 has been pulling its weight for the past 25 years, or the shop would’ve found a different system to help them balance driveshafts.
As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — and this C64 seems determined to not break. According to the woman who originally posted this photo to a retro computing group, the computer has shrugged off plenty of abuse over the years. It’s been soaked by rain coming in a nearby open window and “most likely shat on by birds.”
(Excerpt) Read more at geek.com ...
The keyboard looks rather dusty ....
Cool! I still have one of these in the attic.
In the classic car world, this would be called a “survivor”.
My last Commodore 64 sported a cassette, not a floppy. This must be a much newer version.
I used a VIC 20 for years before upgrading to a C 64. Wow what an improvement.
It’ll buff right out. :-)
I started with a TI-994A, wish that I still had it. Went to see the movie, “War Games”. Told the girlfriend at that time, I’m going to buy a computer and learn basic programming. It was a learning tool.
I still have a VIC-20...4K RAM and cassette storage
The floppy was like the cassette, a separate unit. I had both, and a dot matrix printer. It took the big floppies.
The floppy drive is an optional peripheral. I had a TI-99/A, very similar, the cassette was built in, but you could buy an “expansion module” that had some RAM and a floppy drive.
Most likely dirt, oil and grime from the fingers and palms of the mechanics who've been using it for so long. That in itself is testimony to the C64's ruggedness. When I worked at a computer tech store I sometimes got PCs that had gotten messed up by cigarette and pipe smoke from users who were smoking while they worked. Smoke accumulating over two or three years. Makes this Commodore still working after a quarter century even more impressive.
Me too, wish I still had it. I gave it away to one of the young AWAN’s in my shop when I upgraded to the C-64. (sigh... that was a long time ago!)
Honestly, that looks more like the paint/finish has just been worn off from decades of touching rubbing etc.
...or maybe paint got on it. If they spray paint in that place it’s a real possibility.
I would say that the ROI (Return On Investment) for this item is very high! On the other hand, I think that it has no more depreciation available but any repair of it might be a tad expensive.
IBATDWSYNL!
I guess it’s better than “stone knives and bear skins.”
Okay, a beer to whoever gets the reference.
5.56mm
Some people see junk, others see something fully amortized.
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