How We Used To Compute

Back when I was a young child, this is what computers looked like. I was in high school before they started showing up at everyone’s house. The incredible thing is, that phone in your pocket probably has more computing power and storage than this entire room (or one that this room represents, let’s face it this one is full of plastic toys). A totally retro build by Jalex.

Wanna Play Some Leisure Suit Larry?

Yes kids, this is how we did the computer thing back in the 90's. Long gone were those lame old 5.75" floppies, we were using the much sleeker 3.5". And we were dealing with MEGABYTES of data. Sierra Games ruled the roost and there was this new thing called the internet (I don't think much came of it). For those that remember back then this MOC by powerpig should be a whole lotta nostalgia (and really slow boot times).

Graveyard Shift

Isn't it fascinating how fast computers developed and continue to advance? The acceleration curve of progress is almost as steep as the one tracking people's tendency to use them for nefarious purposes. This scene by builder Profound Whatever was inspired by a time before Nigerian princes and keyboard cat, when all the computing had to be done in large rooms. Your smart watch likely has more computing power than this room, let that sink in.

Old School Computin'

You kids with your multi-cores, iPhones and fancy color computers, you don't know the struggle. You haven't lived until you've installed a program from 15 floppy disks, or accidentally erased your new game by putting your headphones down on the tape, and don't get me started on modems...

A lovely bit of old school computing nostalgia from Powerpig

LEGO Gaming Computer

Mad scientist and customizer extraordinaire Mike Schropp is back with another mind-blowing custom computer, this time it's for gaming. This isn't just a matter of wrapping an existing system with a LEGO shell, this is a ground-up, highly customized monster. He even modified the power supply and uses a custom machined heat sink! I won't go into the specs and details here, because there's too much to share. Luckily Mike has an excellent website that breaks down the entire process.

Processing The Future

I know what you're thinking "I'm sure by the time we're soaring in space in large ships exploring the cosmos computers will no longer use large integrated circuits". But what you don't know is that this wondrous MOC by Legoloverman is actually a nano processor, only a few microns across and built by tiny, tiny robots. 

Which One Is The Any Key?

My first computer (well, technically it was my wife's) was a 386 Packard Bell. It had a whopping 20MB (that's mega, with an m) hard drive that were knew we would NEVER fill. This latest from Chris McVeigh reminds me a lot of it, and it's pretty much perfect. Although this one is even older, with the old green display. I especially like the add on 5-1/4 disk drives, man were they clunky. And while our computer was really an expensive hunk of junk, we certainly enjoyed playing Space Quest on it.

The Three Finger Salute

I made the switch to Mac a little over two years ago, and I haven't regretted it for a minute. I certainly got used to using these three keys in my many years prior to making the switch. I think imagining them as a troubleshooting strike force like these awesome builds by 74louloute might have made my blood boil a little less rapidly...yeah, probably not.