Do they have the same fondness, though? I think it's much harder to be fond of a generic computing box than something like a C-64, which was always and will always be a C-64. I'm sure kids today will be fond of their DS's, Xbox 360's, Wii's, etc., because those are unique platforms, but a generic PC box, I just don't know.
I don't think it could possibly be the same fondness. Since computer platforms were incompatible with each other back then, to buy a computer was sort of like joining a community! Atari users would associate with each other, C-64 users would associate with each other, etc. There wasn't much of an online community (if at all) for most computer users, so your fellow platform users became your friends as well as your information/software lifeline. Plus, home computers were new and exciting, and having one meant you were one of the elite!
Now, everyone has a computer at home, but probably most people use them as "Internet appliances" more than anything. Back then, if I saw a guy reading an Atari 8-bit magazine, I knew that he was part of the "brotherhood." Now, if I see someone typing on a laptop at "Starbuck's," it doesn't even occur to me that this person is my compatriot.
There were many users groups for different computer platforms back then, but now, when computers are ubiquitous, I don't know of even one local computer users group! And even if there was one, I doubt it'd be much fun to attend such a group, since I suspect there really would be little common ground amongst the members!
This is only the social aspect of it, and doesn't even touch on the almost "spiritual" aspect of feeling the "soul" of your machine! Perhaps that's a weird thing to say, but most of us had a personal connection with our home computers, and many tried to program their machines and learn all its secrets. Now, that's impossible; PC's are just too complex. And thus, they're rather distant and cold.
And plus, they've pretty much topped out on what they can do. Computer music was awesome back then, but you really can't impress me now, with computers able to do surround-sound MP3's and such. And graphics, while you can occasionally get a "wow" out of them, is generally just pushing more polygons per second, but the games are largely the same.
Do they have the same fondness, though? I think it's much harder to be fond of a generic computing box than something like a C-64, which was always and will always be a C-64. I'm sure kids today will be fond of their DS's, Xbox 360's, Wii's, etc., because those are unique platforms, but a generic PC box, I just don't know.
I don't think it could possibly be the same fondness. Since computer platforms were incompatible with each other back then, to buy a computer was sort of like joining a community! Atari users would associate with each other, C-64 users would associate with each other, etc. There wasn't much of an online community (if at all) for most computer users, so your fellow platform users became your friends as well as your information/software lifeline. Plus, home computers were new and exciting, and having one meant you were one of the elite!
Now, everyone has a computer at home, but probably most people use them as "Internet appliances" more than anything. Back then, if I saw a guy reading an Atari 8-bit magazine, I knew that he was part of the "brotherhood." Now, if I see someone typing on a laptop at "Starbuck's," it doesn't even occur to me that this person is my compatriot.
There were many users groups for different computer platforms back then, but now, when computers are ubiquitous, I don't know of even one local computer users group! And even if there was one, I doubt it'd be much fun to attend such a group, since I suspect there really would be little common ground amongst the members!
This is only the social aspect of it, and doesn't even touch on the almost "spiritual" aspect of feeling the "soul" of your machine! Perhaps that's a weird thing to say, but most of us had a personal connection with our home computers, and many tried to program their machines and learn all its secrets. Now, that's impossible; PC's are just too complex. And thus, they're rather distant and cold.
And plus, they've pretty much topped out on what they can do. Computer music was awesome back then, but you really can't impress me now, with computers able to do surround-sound MP3's and such. And graphics, while you can occasionally get a "wow" out of them, is generally just pushing more polygons per second, but the games are largely the same.