The "Tank" Project

Upgrade of an old '486

WHY?



You might ask why bother?   In this era of "planned obsolescence", with the cost of the newest CPUs plummeting and the prolific offers of "free" or low cost PCs by many Internet Service Providers (with the purchase of a multi-year internet access contract), why not just "throw it out and buy another"?   Well I did buy another, but the old one was perfectly functional. No... it can't run the latest windoze products but it can still run all the programs that were once "the latest" at the time it was bought, including word processors, spreadsheet and database programs, a multitude of games, etc., etc.

Many have observed and commented on an unfortunate practice within the technological fields and one that is most pronounced in the microcomputer arena, ie., the more the advances in the hardware (made that way to run the newer programs faster), the more this seems to encourage and spawn larger and larger programs with more and more code - bloatware to the nth degree... And I will call it bloatware if its size doesn't give me any more added value or functionality (other than fancy graphics) coupled with even a hint of added stability.   Thus, your "blazingly fast [fill in the blank] processor" becomes irrelevant once you buy the latest version of software.   It used to be that one would shudder when one would buy an app that warned you that "you would need at least 5MB of free space on your hard drive" to hold it (or that you would need to use the 2nd 360K 5.25" floppy, as the program would not fit on a single floppy - for those who had dual-floppy machines in earlier days and god forbid, how could you now save any files you generated?!).   Nowadays, the patch alone, for the latest version of that same app may run 30-40MB!

The same phenomena has occurred on the internet, whereby you spend the money for bigger/faster bandwidth and are rewarded for your efforts with sites boasting massive amounts of large-sized graphics and an obscene amount of "Las Vegas-style" banner ads, that not only won't go away, but will insist on starting up instance after instance after instance of your web browser with more ads, thus assuring that your investment becomes moot, if not from overtaxed servers and choked pipes, but reduced available memory on your PC!   Where's the Drano??!!!   And worse, you are ignored and/or laughed at if you try to use a text-based browser on the net.   Try it someday, it's almost impossible.

Now don't get me wrong.   I'm all for technological advances.   I'm fascinated by the faster processors (accompanied by bigger and bigger heat sinks, fans, and the like - you can't even see the CPU underneath!).   I'm also a fan of the music and video now offered on the internet and the compression techniques that are being used to lessen their impact on the wire.   But in my opinion, there's absolutely nothing wrong with my Tandy 1000 TL (bought in 1988), which I still have, and which is still working flawlessly.   This was Tandy's first foray away from the 8-bit 8088 and 16-bit 8086 technologies.   The 1000 TL, part of Tandy's popular "1000" line (TL, SL, RL, XL), was innovative in it's day as an early "multimedia machine", with enhanced sound and graphics.   It's an old 286 with only 768K RAM (128K of it was for Tandy's ECGA video), but it still runs Wordperfect 5.1, Paradox 3.5, Quattro Pro 1.0, King's Quest IV, etc., and "MS Windows 286" or "MS Windows 3.0"...   all just fine thank you.   And think about it... it originally came with the entire OS (MS DOS 3.2) loaded in a ROM chip!   A number of popular game companies supported Tandy's "Extended CGA" graphics (16 color).   The 65MB "hardcard" that I bought for it a number of years ago (to replace the 20MB hardcard that I bought for it not long after the PC was purchased), is only 15MB less than the 80MB hard drive I just replaced in the machine that I'm upgrading now.  The mouse that I originally bought for the Tandy is still tickin' and clickin' and has been/is being used on my 486 today.   A newer video card (16-bit Sigma VGA Legend card that fit and ran in the Tandy's 8-bit slot) plus monitor (the NEC), were some of my original upgrades for the Tandy.  In fact, there was such a loyal and powerful following for the Tandy machines, that Tandy published a magazine directed to that group, with helpful tips, tricks, and upgrade possibilities for the trying.   And don't laugh... but I still recall the days in college working on the 'ole "Trash 80" (Tandy TRS-80, and glad to have had access to it!).   And yes I still have my Tandy Microcolor computer with 4K RAM!   Plus the adapter that goes with it that will allow it to attach to a portable tape recorder, so that you can save the GWBASIC programs that you might write, to an audio cassette!  And yes..it still works!

If these types of machines can't possibly run the latest bloatware and if someone tells me that there is an OS out there with supporting apps that not only rival the newest bloated software out there, but can do so on "lesser" hardware... well then I'm all for it.   What comes particularly to mind as the perfect example of my frustration is the fact that my brand new AMD K-6/333 Mhz notebook takes almost the same amount of time to boot MS Winbloats 98 as my 286/8 Mhz takes to boot MS-DOS 3.3.   And for what added value?   Both can run word processors (glorified typewriter), both can calculate (glorified calculator), both can run games (okay, so the Tandy graphics isn't as "detailed", but then that's what the Sony Playstation is for...).   And don't tell me that I should go back to the amber or green text-based screens, either!   This is the sad part and the whole point I'm making - obsolescence, not to promote any particular advance in technology or features or a better way to do my work, but for a "certain look and feel" that adds nothing to increase my productivity or my efficiency.   If I can resurrect that now-discarded hardware (in the minds of some OS companies) with an OS that knows how to take full advantage of that hardware's previously ignored features, then bring it on!   Besides, with the cost of home networking being relatively cheap, you can hook them all together!  

It's interesting to look back sometimes and find that it was the Apples, the Tandys the Amigas, the Commodores, and the NeXTs, who had the vision for a future that is our current reality.   It's just that the timing was wrong for all of them and the 'public' (plus the supporting technology) wasn't there or ready for them then.   For example, Tandy was one of the major purveyors of the 3.5" disk and correctly predicted years ago, that it would become the standard.   And so it began only offering machines with the single 3.5", 720K floppy drive.   Unfortunately, Tandy was slow to adopt the 1.44MB format for the 3.5" and many software companies swore by those 5.25" disks (and even increased their capacity from 360K to 1.2MB), but the prediction was there and came to pass.   Tandy also pioneered the idea of "computer as appliance" and tailored its 1000 RL line for that purpose, with a small foot-print, low-powered unit designed to "fit in anywhere, even in the kitchen", and pre-loaded with useful programs for the "at home" users, such as an index card-style address book program, recipe file, and so on.   Only now, over 10 years later, is the discussion of "computer as applicance" really taking off, with chips embedded with Linux code leading the way...   Add to that the fact that the entire Apple, Amiga, and Commodore lines emphasized finely detailed graphics and of course, developed and used the popular "Windows" desktop format that you see in competitor products today.. and that was 15 years ago!   And need I mention Tandy's and NeXT's biggest selling points when they first debuted years ago - what is now the ubiquitous "multimedia machine", with a sleek (black for the NeXT) look, a "built-in" CD-ROM (NeXT)/sound system, and external speakers...GADS!

But business does as business does (and FUD does as FUD will do), with the market and the mood often too fickle to predict, and more often than not, the acceptance of a technology is more "being at the right place at the right time" then whether it is the "best" technology for the public at the time you try to introduce it.   I recall a time when Lotus was king and MS introduced it's Excel "spreadsheet/database" program (which I bought - v. 1.0 - that was something like 8 years ago).   No one wanted it or could understand what a combined spreadsheet/database was, and so it faded into oblivion. Shortly thereafter, Borland came along with Quattro Pro 1.0 for $99 and blew Lotus out of the water.   With patience, both Microsoft and Lotus (now under IBM) resurrected themselves and stand on the threshold of total dominance.   The moral?   If you can hold on just a little longer (like Apple has done), what goes around, comes around, ie., "the last shall be first and the first shall be last"!

The failure of the "NetPC" is a good example of a recent technology that was "not yet ready for prime time".   It came across to IT professionals as a sortof 'retro' technology... going back to the old "main frame/terminal" days, during a time when computer users were (and still are) marvelling at the power, sophistication, and 'independence' that they now have with a desktop PC, and the continuation of that portable form of storage they rely on so much (the floppy).   In addition, computer professionals have moved away from centralization and are implementing cheaper, task-specific servers left and right.   But I guarantee you that once the bandwidth, storage, backup reliability, and security issues are ironed out, and the reliance on the floppy wanes, that technology will probably become a defacto standard (the latest iMACs and iBooks are floppy-less), along with the fast-growing (but initially stagnant) "minature PCs" ("palm size" units that are also floppy-less), once the issue of readability is tackled.

So back to the original question.   Why?   I'll be honest...  It's a little bit hobby and a little bit "can I do it?" and a whole lotta recycling!

Waste not want not!   ;-)


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