Recently I watched a video by Bemfa titled “They Remake Jordans… So Why Not 90s Cars?”. This video primarily covers the possible reasons why car manufacturers don’t bring back beloved design from the 80s, 90s, or 2000s, and towards the end it also talks a bit about why people are interested in old cars to begin with. And this is an important point to address considering so many young people with no nostalgia for old cars are still interested in them and many would rather own a car that went out of production before they were even born over anything modern. The conclusion: “the magic is gone”. Not necessarily phrased very well to explain it to someone who doesn’t get it, but if you do get it it’s really the best way to put it.
Now, why do I talk about car youtubers and cars older than me on a blog that has only previously brought up cars to talk about how we need fewer cars on the streets? Because while Bemfa might be talking about cars, as a computer guy I find myself in a similar situation.
I was born well after the 16 bit wars were settled, and got into computers at a time when everyone was struggling with the transition from 32bit to 64bit CPUs and operating systems. Intuitively you’d think I’d have little interest for what came before that besides a curiosity of how we got here. But that’s not the case. In fact, I find myself fascinated 8 and 16 bit computers like the Commodore 64, Amiga, and early IBM 5150-compatibles (particularly 286 and 386 machines), and I’m not alone. But why? These machines are much slower, have limited or no multitasking, and can’t even run a lot of modern software like the chat clients in use today (and some can’t even get online at all). Well, because when using new machines, the magic is gone.
8 bit micros like the Commodore 64 or Sinclair ZX Spectrum, as well as the 16bit machines that succeeded them like the Amiga, Atari ST, and IBM 5150 (and it’s many many clones), were threading new ground: there were no set rules how computers should be, no expectations, and no ulterior motives, just the collective desire to explore this new fronter and make the most of it. This led to these old machines feeling rather idiosyncratic by today’s standards, but they had something most new machines lack: freedom.
In the 8 bit world, operating systems were very uncommon. Most machines simply had a boot ROM with a BASIC interpreter on it. Operating systems became standard on 16bit machines, but they were usually very small and seldom restricted access to the hardware. Throughout both eras, however, the machines' potential was exposed directly, ready to be exploited by anyone with the know-how.
This is a major difference from modern machines: access to the hardware is done trough a complex operating system which restricts what you can do, forcing you to go trough equally as complex and ever changing APIs. Developing for some platforms such as iOS (and soon Android) also requires the blessing of the system’s developer. Even if you don’t care about programming yourself, using the system is a lot more obnoxious, with practically every main-stream OS either requiring or constantly nagging you to log into some online services, and, more recently, trying to push you into using its bundled AI assistant. Alternative operating systems like Linux, Haiku, or various BSDs are somewhat better in that they still allow just about anyone to make and distribute software for them, and using them without being constantly nagged to log into some online account is possible, but you still have to deal with a very complex system that sits between you and the machine.
I can’t speak for every individual out there with a fascination for old machines, whether we’re talking about silicon boxes going beep boop or cars cruising down the street, but among the opinions I’ve heard of both, there’s one constant: old machines are perceived as offering a more pure experience, unspoiled by needless complexity, AI, or the manufacturer having more control over your machine than you do (just in case you forgot about the BMW subscription for heated seats or Ford’s attempt to patent cars that drive back to the dealership if you miss payments; cars and computers really aren’t all that different when you think about it).