Relaxing on Christmas Weekend

It's a holiday week for TechByter Worldwide, but I'd like to direct you to some websites that I think you'll find worthwhile, enjoyable, and mentally untaxing. In other words, the perfect bit of distraction for a holiday weekend.

40 Big Losers in Obsolete Technology

Number one on this list by PC World is Playing Video Games at an Arcade and the vision that popped into my head was an arcade that's a door or two away from a FedEx drop-off location on Seventh Avenue around 52nd or 53rd in Manhattan. I used to frequent that FedEd store and the arcade was always busy. It's probably closed now. Other big losers on the list include Busy Signals, Paying for Long Distance, Typewriters, Public Phone Booths, and Video Tapes. Oh, and those annoying AOL Disks (and Discs).

The full article is at PC World.

The Most Collectible Computers

Also from PC World, pictures of 18 antique computers. You could have bought an Altair MITS computer in 1975 for about $620 (that was a lot of money back then) and if you have one today you could sell it for $2000 even though the average digital watch has a faster processor and more memory. You'll also see the Xerox Alto, Apple 1, Commodore 64, and Cray 1 supercomputer (your current desktop unit is a match for the Cray 1).

See the slide show at PC World.

Photos of Old Computers

This site is a treasure trove. Pictures of old computers that a sysop in California has collected. A marvelous collection of old ads showing the Sinclair Z80, Amiga, the Texas Instruments TI-99/2 (with Bill Cosby) Radio Shack TRS-80, the IBM PC (with Charlie Chaplain look-alike), and more. Don't go to OldComputers.net unless you have a few hours to spend.

More Photos of Old Gear

Not as rich a resource as the previous site, but Dan Mathias regularly updates his page called My Antique Computer Collection.

Also Recommended

Well, that should keep you busy for a few minutes!

Meowy Crhistmas