I think 5-10 years after someone stops selling software, people should be able to redistribute it as abandonware for software preservation.
I completely agree. There needs to be laws in place to support this because right now if someone is filesharing Karateka for the Apple II, they are breaking the law.
Also, I agree with the term "preservation". We've already begun an age of IT archeology where people are trying to dig up games and word processors from years back to see how they worked in order to improve society today.
No one sells Ultima, Pools of Radiance, or Summer Games for the C64 anymore. If I wanted to play this game, my only choice would be to pirate it unless I could find a working copy on Ebay.
Services like Gametap and Good Ol' Games need to fill this market so that people don't have to become criminals to play games of yonder years.
As a professional programmer and hobbiest computer builder, I've found that support is almost always done better by the community except for true core bugs/issues that don't have a work around. When there is no work around, the vendor is becomes the sole source of support in most cases.
I have a HTPC HDDVD/BluRay setup and I have to agree. Dealing with DRM is a constant struggle. Sometimes a disc will come out that won't be playable for weeks until the company who makes the player software issues a patch. My system is 100% HDCP. Why should I have to jump through hoops to play a frickin' movie?
All of the disks that I have that were sealed appear to be working. I've picked up some older floppies with games on them through various auctions and it's really hit or miss. It really illustrates that proper storage is the key to disk life.
On the topic of disks - the availability of new 5.25" double density disks is becoming scarce. I don't know how many factories are still producing them in the rest of the world, but I've read that Athana has recently stopped producing them. Athana was the only company producing new ones in the USA that I am aware of.
That being said, your basic premise is correct. A day will come within the next couple generations when it will be difficult to get your hands on a working system. I'd have to guess that the disk drives will be the first things to go. The good news is that there are quite a few drive emulation alternatives out there at the moment. However, nothing beats the clickity clack of a 1541.
I have one of those rrnet ethernet devices for the C64. They are great fun. I tried to make a post to a phpBB and it took me about 40 minutes to navigate to the thread I wanted to post in, then it crashed. O sweet glory.
I know it sounds silly, but in Saint Paul, MN the residential streets don't get cleared during snow emergencies until well after the storm is over. The city streets however, are continually plowed during a storm.
That got me thinking. Maybe I just need a Prius with a plow mounted to the front of it.
Any car can handle a lot of snow. Granted, my Saturn SL1 (4 door Sedan) could handle snow about up to it's bumper which I'm guesstimating at 7 inches. My Saturn VUE doesn't even notice 7 inches of snow. Where I live, I see 7+ inch snow falls several times over a winter. I just don't see going to tiny cars as an option in the upper Midwest (even in the cities).
I'd like to see that too. From everything I have read, BluRay has only claimed a small part of HDDVD's sales, and the actual ratio of DVD to HD content has swayed in DVD's direction since the demise of HDDVD.
Speaking of prices, I'm shocked that the retail price of HDDVDs hasn't gone to fire sale levels. Often Amazon sells the BluRay version for less than the HDDVD version. What up with that?
Contrary to some speculation, Microsoft is not creating a new kernel for Windows 7. Rather, we are refining the kernel architecture and componentization model introduced in Windows Vista. While these changes will increase our engineering agility, they will not impact the user experience or reduce application or hardware compatibility. In fact, one of our design goals for Windows 7 is that it will run on the recommended hardware we specified for Windows Vista and that the applications and devices that work with Windows Vista will be compatible with Windows 7.
Seriously.... Over the past few years Nvidia has shown me that they could really care less if games that aren't brand new will run on their cards. Older games that use palletized textures and 16bit function calls look horrible on the newer cards. This is something they could fix easily in software if they wanted to.
Right now there is a sealed Starcross in original UFO box on Ebay that is currently at $611 with a day left to go. However, opened infocom games often go for quite a bit if all of the feelies are still included. Zork Trilogy (with the Zorkmid coin) often goes for over $250 in used condition. The games the OP have are not so rare, but I'd think he could expect $30 - $75 each if not a little more depending on random factors.
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I think 5-10 years after someone stops selling software, people should be able to redistribute it as abandonware for software preservation.
I completely agree. There needs to be laws in place to support this because right now if someone is filesharing Karateka for the Apple II, they are breaking the law.
Also, I agree with the term "preservation". We've already begun an age of IT archeology where people are trying to dig up games and word processors from years back to see how they worked in order to improve society today.
No one sells Ultima, Pools of Radiance, or Summer Games for the C64 anymore. If I wanted to play this game, my only choice would be to pirate it unless I could find a working copy on Ebay.
Services like Gametap and Good Ol' Games need to fill this market so that people don't have to become criminals to play games of yonder years.
As a professional programmer and hobbiest computer builder, I've found that support is almost always done better by the community except for true core bugs/issues that don't have a work around. When there is no work around, the vendor is becomes the sole source of support in most cases.
AnyDVD has to be updated as well. It took them awhile to get "Jumper" working.
I have a HTPC HDDVD/BluRay setup and I have to agree. Dealing with DRM is a constant struggle. Sometimes a disc will come out that won't be playable for weeks until the company who makes the player software issues a patch. My system is 100% HDCP. Why should I have to jump through hoops to play a frickin' movie?
Amen. The only annoying thing about that setup is waiting for Cyberlink or Arcsoft to play catchup with certain new discs.
The current prices on ebay are busting my bank account.
All of the disks that I have that were sealed appear to be working. I've picked up some older floppies with games on them through various auctions and it's really hit or miss. It really illustrates that proper storage is the key to disk life.
On the topic of disks - the availability of new 5.25" double density disks is becoming scarce. I don't know how many factories are still producing them in the rest of the world, but I've read that Athana has recently stopped producing them. Athana was the only company producing new ones in the USA that I am aware of.
Considering that there were roughly 20 million C64s made, we are a long way off before working c64s become difficult to find. Hell, I managed to find one new in box a couple months ago:
http://mynerditorium.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-old-stock-in-box-c64c-arrives.html
http://mynerditorium.blogspot.com/2008/05/new-in-box-1541-ii-and-other-goodies.html
That being said, your basic premise is correct. A day will come within the next couple generations when it will be difficult to get your hands on a working system. I'd have to guess that the disk drives will be the first things to go. The good news is that there are quite a few drive emulation alternatives out there at the moment. However, nothing beats the clickity clack of a 1541.
It looks like it has served roughly 700 pages since I posted the link. That's quite an accomplishment if you ask me.
That didn't take long. It must only be able to handle 64 simultaneous connections.
Judging from the pics, there was at least one.
I have one of those rrnet ethernet devices for the C64. They are great fun. I tried to make a post to a phpBB and it took me about 40 minutes to navigate to the thread I wanted to post in, then it crashed. O sweet glory.
btw, http://www.c64web.com/ is hosted on a c64.
Of those mentioned in the subject, only Business Analyst will be scripting free.
However, if you like hardware, just go that route. There are plenty of decent hardware related jobs.
mozilla.org
It's like he's writing a 5th grade book report or something.
When I was a lad, copy protection could cause your disk drive to go out of alignment.
I know it sounds silly, but in Saint Paul, MN the residential streets don't get cleared during snow emergencies until well after the storm is over. The city streets however, are continually plowed during a storm.
That got me thinking. Maybe I just need a Prius with a plow mounted to the front of it.
I'd like to see that too. From everything I have read, BluRay has only claimed a small part of HDDVD's sales, and the actual ratio of DVD to HD content has swayed in DVD's direction since the demise of HDDVD.
Speaking of prices, I'm shocked that the retail price of HDDVDs hasn't gone to fire sale levels. Often Amazon sells the BluRay version for less than the HDDVD version. What up with that?
Maybe not exactly what people had in mind, but here's a quote from the Vista blog by Chris Flores:
http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/05/27/communicating-windows-7.aspx
Contrary to some speculation, Microsoft is not creating a new kernel for Windows 7. Rather, we are refining the kernel architecture and componentization model introduced in Windows Vista. While these changes will increase our engineering agility, they will not impact the user experience or reduce application or hardware compatibility. In fact, one of our design goals for Windows 7 is that it will run on the recommended hardware we specified for Windows Vista and that the applications and devices that work with Windows Vista will be compatible with Windows 7.
Seriously.... Over the past few years Nvidia has shown me that they could really care less if games that aren't brand new will run on their cards. Older games that use palletized textures and 16bit function calls look horrible on the newer cards. This is something they could fix easily in software if they wanted to.
The last two complete Zork Trilogy boxes on ebay went for over $200. I was so happy when I found one on Amazon shops for $12 ;)
Right now there is a sealed Starcross in original UFO box on Ebay that is currently at $611 with a day left to go. However, opened infocom games often go for quite a bit if all of the feelies are still included. Zork Trilogy (with the Zorkmid coin) often goes for over $250 in used condition. The games the OP have are not so rare, but I'd think he could expect $30 - $75 each if not a little more depending on random factors.
Vintage gaming is a thriving collectors scene.
If that cracks you up, you'll love this website which is hosted on a C64