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Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
Katherine Johnson’s mathematical calculations helped guide some of America’s most important early space missions while she confronted the racial and gender barriers faced by Black women in twentieth-century America.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Retrocomputing is the current use of older computer hardware and software. Retrocomputing is usually classed as a hobby and recreation rather than a practical application of technology; enthusiasts often collect rare and valuable hardware and software for sentimental reasons.[1]
Occasionally, however, an obsolete computer system has to be "resurrected" to run software specific to that system, to access data stored on obsolete media, or to use a peripheral that requires that system.
Retrocomputing and retro gaming has been described as preservation activity and as aspects of the remix culture.[2]
Retrocomputing is part of the history of computer hardware. It can be seen as the analogue of experimental archaeology in computing.[3] Some notable examples include the reconstruction of Babbage's Difference engine (more than a century after its design) and the implementation of Plankalkül in 2000 (more than half a century since its inception).
Some retrocomputing enthusiasts also consider the "homebrewing" (designing and building of retro- and retro-styled computers or kits), to be an important aspect of the hobby, giving new enthusiasts an opportunity to experience more fully what the early years of hobby computing were like.[1] There are several different approaches to this end. Some are exact replicas of older systems, and some are newer designs based on the principles of retrocomputing, while others combine the two, with old and new features in the same package. Examples include:
As old computer hardware becomes harder to maintain, there has been increasing interest in computer simulation. This is especially the case with old mainframe computers, which have largely been scrapped, and have space, power, and environmental requirements unaffordable by the average user. The memory size and speed of current systems enable simulation of many old systems to run faster than that system on original hardware.[14][15]
One popular simulator, the history simulator SIMH, offers simulations for over 50 historic systems, from the 1950s through the present. The Hercules emulator simulates the IBM System/360 family from System/360 to 64-bit System/z. A simulator is available for the Honeywell Multics system. An online simulator is available for the Altair 8800 and it runs the actual Altair BASIC
Software for most older systems was not copyrighted, and therefore falls into the public domain, so there is a wide variety of available software to run on these simulators. In a few cases, software for older systems was released into open source by the copyright holders, such as Groupe Bull (the copyright holder of Multics) which released the source code for MR12.5, the final official 1992 Multics release, to MIT in 2006.[16] The release of Multics source code enabled enthusiasts to fix bugs or make improvements, with later open source releases of Multics were released as late as 2023.[17]
Some emulations are used by businesses, as running production software in a simulator is usually faster, cheaper, and more reliable than running it on original hardware.[citation needed]
In an interview with Conan O'Brien in May 2014, George R. R. Martin revealed that he writes his books using WordStar 4.0, an MS-DOS application dating back to 1987.[18]
US-based streaming video provider Netflix released a multiple-choice movie branded to be part of their Black Mirror series, called Bandersnatch. The protagonist is a teenage programmer working on a contract to deliver a video-game adaptation of a fantasy novel for an 8-bit computer in 1984. The multiple storylines revolve around the emotions and mental health issues resulting from a reality-perception mismatch between a new generation of computer-savvy teenagers and twenty-somethings, and their care givers.
A number of notable YouTubers have covered the genre of retrocomputing, including Lazy Game Reviews, Nostalgia Nerd, Adrian's Digital Basement, The 8-Bit Guy, and J-Tech95
Due to their relative low complexity together with other technical advantages, 8-bit computers are frequently re-discovered for education, especially for introductory programming classes in elementary schools.[citation needed] Some 8-bit computers, notably the Commodore 64, would upon powering on, directly present a programming environment; there are no distractions, and no need for additional features or connectivity. The BASIC language is a simple-to-learn programming language that has access to the entire system without having to load libraries for sound, graphics, math, etc. The focus of the programming language is on efficiency; in particular, one command does one thing immediately (e.g. COLOR 0,6 turns the screen green).
{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Retrocomputing is the current use of older computer hardware and software. Retrocomputing is usually classed as a hobby and recreation rather than a practical application of technology; enthusiasts often collect rare and valuable hardware and software for sentimental reasons. Occasionally, however, an obsolete computer system has to be "resurrected" to run software specific to that system, to access data stored on obsolete media, or to use a peripheral that requires that system. Retrocomputing and retro gaming has been described as preservation activity and as aspects of the remix culture.
Retro gaming, also known as classic gaming and old school gaming, is the playing and collection of personal computers, consoles, and video games from earlier decades. Usually, retro gaming is based upon systems that are outmoded or discontinued, although ported retro gaming allows games to be played on modern hardware via ports, emulations or compilations. It is typically for nostalgia, preservation, or authenticity. A new game could be retro styled, such as an RPG with turn-based combat and pixel art in isometric camera perspective, as well as chip-tune styled music. Retro gaming has existed since the early years of the video game industry, and was popularized with the Internet and emulation technology. It is argued that the main reasons players are drawn to retro games are nostalgia for different eras, the idea that older games are more innovative and original, and the simplicity of the games. Retro gaming and retrocomputing have been described as preservation activity and as aspects of the remix culture.
The Old School Emulation Center (TOSEC) is a retrocomputing initiative founded in February 2000 initially for the renaming and cataloging of software files intended for use in emulators, that later extended their work to the cataloging and preservation of also applications, firmware, device drivers, games, operating systems, magazines and magazine cover disks, comic books, product box art, videos of advertisements and training, related TV series and more. The catalogs provide an overview and cryptographic identification of media that allows for automatic integrity checking and renaming of files, checking for the completeness of software collections and more, using management utilities like ClrMamePro or ROMVault. As the project grew in popularity it started to become a de facto standard for the management of retrocomputing and emulation resources. In 2013 many TOSEC catalogued files started to be included in the Internet Archive after the work quality and attention to detail put into the catalogs was praised by some of their archivists. TOSEC usually makes two releases per year. As of release 2023-01-23, TOSEC catalogs span ~195 unique brands and hundreds of unique computing platforms and continues to grow. As of this time the project had identified and cataloged more than 1.2 million different software images and sets (more than half of that for Commodore systems), describing a source set of about 8TB of software and resources.
Clint Basinger (born December 20, 1986), better known as LGR (originally an initialism of Lazy Game Reviews), is an American YouTuber who focuses on video game reviews, retrocomputing, and unboxing videos. His YouTube channel of the same name has been compared to Techmoan and The 8-Bit Guy. Basinger is known for building, restoring and reviewing many vintage computers and reviewing mainly PC games. The channel is funded through YouTube advertising, and through Patreon. Basinger has stated that inspiration for starting LGR was at least partly inspired by the PBS television show Computer Chronicles.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
