Slashdot Mirror
New Plastic For Old Amigas and Commodores
Ichijo writes: Several years ago, Slashdot reported that the Amiga community had developed a way to restore old, yellowed ABS plastic to like-new condition, and they put the recipe for the gel, dubbed Retr0bright, into the public domain. Since then, it was discovered that the effect of the gel is only temporary, and plastic treated with the gel soon reverts to its original yellowed state even when efforts are made to block it from additional UV light.
Now, Amiga enthusiast Philippe Lang has created a new Kickstarter campaign to design and build new, improved molds for Amiga 1200 housings and do a licensed production run using anti-UV ASA plastic in the original color plus black, transparent, and 9 other colors. His team is also investigating the feasibility of producing new Amiga 1200 keyboards if this campaign succeeds. This follows a successful production run by Commodore 64 enthusiasts of new C64c housings using the original injection molds and new C64 motherboards designed to modern standards and production methods. And a new Amiga 1200 clone motherboard is also in the works.
Now, Amiga enthusiast Philippe Lang has created a new Kickstarter campaign to design and build new, improved molds for Amiga 1200 housings and do a licensed production run using anti-UV ASA plastic in the original color plus black, transparent, and 9 other colors. His team is also investigating the feasibility of producing new Amiga 1200 keyboards if this campaign succeeds. This follows a successful production run by Commodore 64 enthusiasts of new C64c housings using the original injection molds and new C64 motherboards designed to modern standards and production methods. And a new Amiga 1200 clone motherboard is also in the works.
I'm gonna whoosh on this but there was something about the approachability of computers for kids in the Commodore era. Kids of course including girl kids too. You took out a keyboard-sized device, plugged it in the wann and a tv, switched it on mechanically, and you were instantly greeted with a REPL prompt. There was no facebook or web or 'online', so you had a chance to explore what it does, do some programming initially with a book or magazine article on the side, and of course gaming.
Now, a kid has to wade through lots and lots of unappealing layers (the OS, installing some language, selecting its application etc.) and alternative diversions (social, slashdot etc.) and the programming part, to a beginner, can feel really artificial, they can't create anything like what surrounds them on the desktop.
So, in the past, using a personal computer typically meant programming, and the meaning first shifted to using Lotus / Excel / Word, then to just browsing. From programming, to content creation, to content consumption.