"Hacker Oscarv wanted a PDP-8 mini computer" the question needs to be asked... why? This is part of humanity I just don't understand. An infinite number of useful potential projects lay before me and the thought of playing around playing with or restoring 'vintage hardware' is just opportunity cost.
I've long since stopped asking why, and just gotten on with "why not?"
Building a replica of a platform gives you the experience of doing it, the understanding of the process, familiarity with the tools you're using... and possibly some bragging rights among your fellow nerds.
Why pimp out your CPU case with neon? Why put spinners on your rims? Hell, why have cars anything other than black, which should suffice for anybody? Why play video games? Why watch TV?
"Why?" is the goto card for people who don't achieve anything.
The things you learn re-inventing the wheel can be applied in various parts of your future projects.
It's like asking why solve a math problem? Obviously, to learn how to do math for the chance that you see a problem that you DON'T have an easy answer already available. Hell, that's what an entire engineering degree is. It's not "can you solve problem X" because problem X will almost never occur in real life in an isolated environment. The purpose is "can you solve these kinds of problems." And how do you learn to solve problems? By looking at ones people have already solved.
Why??? (Score:0)
"Hacker Oscarv wanted a PDP-8 mini computer" the question needs to be asked... why? This is part of humanity I just don't understand. An infinite number of useful potential projects lay before me and the thought of playing around playing with or restoring 'vintage hardware' is just opportunity cost.
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
I've long since stopped asking why, and just gotten on with "why not?"
Building a replica of a platform gives you the experience of doing it, the understanding of the process, familiarity with the tools you're using ... and possibly some bragging rights among your fellow nerds.
Why pimp out your CPU case with neon? Why put spinners on your rims? Hell, why have cars anything other than black, which should suffice for anybody? Why play video games? Why watch TV?
None of these accomplishes anything other than
Re:Why??? (Score:2)
The things you learn re-inventing the wheel can be applied in various parts of your future projects.
It's like asking why solve a math problem? Obviously, to learn how to do math for the chance that you see a problem that you DON'T have an easy answer already available. Hell, that's what an entire engineering degree is. It's not "can you solve problem X" because problem X will almost never occur in real life in an isolated environment. The purpose is "can you solve these kinds of problems." And how do you learn to solve problems? By looking at ones people have already solved.