Good points, Bill. My answer to your question is a definite YES. But I realize that it's a touchy and very old issue. Why shouldn't we "use" this stuff rather than just box it up or put it behind glass? I can imagine people saying the same thing about ancient African and Egyptian artifacts and the like. Say someone finds an ancient bracelet? Isn't it supposed to be worn, not just put behind glass in an airtight tube in some stuffy museum? Or what about those paintings? Weren't they meant to deck the walls of wealthy aristocrats? Why are we content to look at them in art galleries? The list goes on. Nevertheless, although so many thing we collect were intended to be "used," oftentimes it's better to just focus on preserving them. The "crime," if I might use such a strong term, is that so much of this stuff isn't shared with the public in any form, but is locked up in some museum's storage facility. That's sad.
Don't get me wrong--I'd like nothing better than to crank up those old computers and game consoles and put them through their paces. However, I'd also be worried that I might damage it or wear something out that couldn't be replaced. Wouldn't it be terrible if I accidentally destroyed the last working copy of an important videogame? Even if I just played it a few times, I'd be taking a grave risk. We all know that all of those old computers and media are a limited resource.
I really like studying ancient history, and I frequently get depressed to hear about some early archaeologist who, out of sheer ignorance and sloppy methods, utterly destroyed tremendously precious artifacts and information that we can never, ever get back. I'm sure that hundreds of years from now, we'll be lamenting all those computer historians who stubbornly insisted on cranking up and eaking the last life out of those venerable old systems.
There are obviously enough mint condition Atari 2600s and loads of carts out there for this not to be much of an issue (at the moment). However, as time goes by, and especially with very rare equipment, this is already a big problem. The last thing we should be doing with a one-of-a-kind videogame or artifact is casually (or worse, roughly) playing on it. The only exception I can see to this is your example of writing a book or doing real research on the system. Even then, I would urge great caution. As far as unopened games and equipment goes, I'd probably want to keep it in the box and seek out a loose version just to play with.
Good points, Bill. My answer to your question is a definite YES. But I realize that it's a touchy and very old issue. Why shouldn't we "use" this stuff rather than just box it up or put it behind glass? I can imagine people saying the same thing about ancient African and Egyptian artifacts and the like. Say someone finds an ancient bracelet? Isn't it supposed to be worn, not just put behind glass in an airtight tube in some stuffy museum? Or what about those paintings? Weren't they meant to deck the walls of wealthy aristocrats? Why are we content to look at them in art galleries? The list goes on. Nevertheless, although so many thing we collect were intended to be "used," oftentimes it's better to just focus on preserving them. The "crime," if I might use such a strong term, is that so much of this stuff isn't shared with the public in any form, but is locked up in some museum's storage facility. That's sad.
Don't get me wrong--I'd like nothing better than to crank up those old computers and game consoles and put them through their paces. However, I'd also be worried that I might damage it or wear something out that couldn't be replaced. Wouldn't it be terrible if I accidentally destroyed the last working copy of an important videogame? Even if I just played it a few times, I'd be taking a grave risk. We all know that all of those old computers and media are a limited resource.
I really like studying ancient history, and I frequently get depressed to hear about some early archaeologist who, out of sheer ignorance and sloppy methods, utterly destroyed tremendously precious artifacts and information that we can never, ever get back. I'm sure that hundreds of years from now, we'll be lamenting all those computer historians who stubbornly insisted on cranking up and eaking the last life out of those venerable old systems.
There are obviously enough mint condition Atari 2600s and loads of carts out there for this not to be much of an issue (at the moment). However, as time goes by, and especially with very rare equipment, this is already a big problem. The last thing we should be doing with a one-of-a-kind videogame or artifact is casually (or worse, roughly) playing on it. The only exception I can see to this is your example of writing a book or doing real research on the system. Even then, I would urge great caution. As far as unopened games and equipment goes, I'd probably want to keep it in the box and seek out a loose version just to play with.
Matt Barton, Managing Editor
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA
Email: matt@armchairarcade.com