unbibium: (future self)
unbibium ([personal profile] unbibium) wrote2009-02-08 09:54 am
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packrat confession time.

I have in my possession, 8-bit computers that are over 25 years old.

I have actually a massive collection in my parents' garage, twenty miles away. But I also have a fair amount cluttering up my apartment. Specifically, I have a complete working Atari 800XL with Atari 1050 disk drive, and a Commodore 64 with a 1541 disk drive. I grew up with both of these setups. I also have a monitor that works with both computers.

Now, I have the usual excuses for keeping them that collectors tend to have. But there's a unique one, in addition to all that.

Jason Scott made a BBS documentary, and I want there to be a BBS movie.

But, I have to accept that I can't make a movie, nor can I persuade someone else to start making one. I can write one or two scenes in a script, but that's about it. And, indeed, making a movie set in the 1980s is probably impossible for a low-budget movie anyway, considering how much has changed visually in the intervening decades. But one thing you'd need, that would probably cost a lot if you had to do it from scratch, is a pile of 1980s technology.

I can't seem to work up the will to throw this away. But I can't help but wonder if it would not only free up space in my apartment, but also space in my mind for other, better dreams.