I agree it's a neat trick, but I'm of course more of a software than a hardware kinda guy. ;) I guess there's that nerd in all of us, though, that likes to see what all you can do with a gadget that wasn't designed for it. I admit that when MaximumRD showed us that screwed-shut port on the back of his CD32, I was one step ahead of him -- "What can you do with that??" I was instantly curious, imagining all sorts of possibilities. I thought the same thing back when he was showing the CD-i (at least, I think that's what it was). You definitely see this mentality as well with the iPhone, where people are trying to get it do all kinds of crazy stuff. Indeed, that's where I see the "mainstream" hackers focused right now, more so than on hacking the 360 or the DS. I am also one of those nerds who the first thing I do when I see a new gadget is look at the ports. I want to know what I plug into it and what I can plug it into. That's just an instinct with me.

I remember a long time ago going into this guy's recording studio and seeing a souped up 1200. That guy had really pushed it so far beyond its original design that I was just flummoxed. I mean, this was an audio studio, so right away you had to deal with the 8-bit limitation. I can't imagine why he would go to so much trouble, but it was neat to see that machine as the heart of a real studio, and this must have been 96 or even 97. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he's still using it.

On a side note, I also met a guy who did TV commercials who had just retired his toaster in 97. Even then he was quick to point out that it could do the work of $10,000 worth of equipment and would be a great way to start out.