Fiddling vs Using?

[Marcb]

I've realised that I'm actually spending more time 'fiddling' with my Amigas than actually using them...

By fiddling I mean installing hw ( after hunting for it all over the internet) then sometimes uninstalling it again, adding apps to the WB, tweaking different settings, changing icons etc...

I am now highly anticipating the arrival of my new CD32 from jimbo and SX-1 from www.softhut and I'm worried that instead of using it for games I will again spend most of my time with it 'fiddling'. ( I mean, no sooner had I won the auction when I started hunting for an SX-1 :crazy: )

What I intend to do every time I sit in front of the 1200 is to fire up Lattice C and start coding again, but I always find something I need to tweak    :-)

I wonder if this is because when I originally had my amigas it was more prohibitive to buy the add ons so now I'm like a kid in the proverbial candy store , still with the mind of a kid but with a bit more cash?

Anyone else do the same?


 

[Crom00]

Yep..

I sold off all of my stuff by 2005...

Picked up a $35 Commodore WHITE clean pristine A1200 with cpu card and hard drive plus all the trimmings last year and haven't stopped since.

What you describe as fiddling I describe as tinkering. Think about it, is there really a need for an SX-1? or a CD32... I can emualte a CD32 NICELY on a $59 XBOX. Yet we continue to get this retro stuff and pay up the wazooo for it.

Don't try and make any sense out of it, or you'll start selling of all the junk you just bought...  :crazy:

Just trying to assemble that perfect A1200 then that's it, no more...

[mingle]

Yep, that's me too! :-)

These days there's really not too much you'd want to do with your amiga, apart from relive the past - I'm sure that's why 99% of Amiga users still hang onto/hoard this gear.

I used to (until very recently) collect vintage home computer gear and when I actually sat down and thought about it, it was all due to not being able to get/afford most of that stuff when I was a kid, so I was making up for it!

Now most of my gear is gone, apart from my Vic-20, C64 and (newly purchased) A1200. I'm planning on getting the A1200 connected to my XP network, but only really to prove I CAN, rather than use it for any productive reason.

I'm sure some people continue on using their souped-up, top-of-the-line Amigas on a day to day basis, but I'm not that masochistic! :-(

For me it's all about the past and how the Amiga made me feel when I was a kid, and occasionally tinkering with things like CF card readers and networking, just so I can still be 'amazed' by the Amiga.

Cheers,

Mike.

[Crom00]

Mike you nailed it, I didn't get the Amiga unitl 89. Even then I didn't assemble the dream system I wanted till 97.

With the A1200, I like the consoley feel with the games and ability to use modern amenities like, CF cards as Dirt cheap Hard drives,  Sega Genesis controllers, etc.

[klx300r]

ya MarcB thats me too except I also love modding/hacking my amiga/commodore stuff i.e. 2'nd sid chip in my 64, CF card as my main DH0, colling fans and heat sinks in all my systems, soldering an extra 512Kb of ram directly onto my A500 mb..etc etc etc etc
and of course always finding time to play my fav games and trying some new ones along the way while eternally attempting to make some cool music with my systems..happy happy joy joy :-D  :pint:  :cheers:

[chiark]

I tinker...  It's what I always enjoyed about the amiga.  never a big games player, but a big tinkerer.  And occasional coder :-)

[Marcb]

mingle wrote:
Yep, that's me too! :-)

I used to (until very recently) collect vintage home computer gear and when I actually sat down and thought about it, it was all due to not being able to get/afford most of that stuff when I was a kid, so I was making up for it!

That's it exactly... I did the same for a while.. I've got handheld neo geos, a neo geo cabinet... more gear than I could ever play with... although my son loves it!

Crom00 wrote:

What you describe as fiddling I describe as tinkering. Think about it, is there really a need for an SX-1? or a CD32... I can emualte a CD32 NICELY on a $59 XBOX. Yet we continue to get this retro stuff and pay up the wazooo for it.

Don't try and make any sense out of it, or you'll start selling of all the junk you just bought...  

Just trying to assemble that perfect A1200 then that's it, no more...

Yes, but I want a CD32 ! ( and I might one day want to attach a kb to it :lol: )

I'm glad to see that I'm not insane or at least not alone in my insanity, now back to my watched items list  :-D

[Nostalgiac]

oh yes - same here, saved and worked to get an 030 at the time... now bought an 060 just for the heck of it :-)

Hooked my A2000 up to the net out cause I CAN  :lol:

Tom UK

PS: same reason I recently trippled my slot-car set collection. Next ? dunno - Lego ?

[taunusand]

I know some people who does the same with their cars ;-)

Sure, I tinker with my amiga's, but still, I use them for games, internet, burning cd's, email and writing comments here on A.org :lol:

[T3000]

Tinker...
I don't make any practical use out of my Amigas. Not even the A4000/VTFlyer that I recently finished building. Lost intrest in video production before it was finished, but still continued to add to the system hardware and software.  Couldn't afford a PicassoIV for my A3000 when they were new, but hey $365 for one now, hell yeah!

Maybe it is a sickness...

[save2600]

Same here. Fiddle more than use practically and that saddens me. Still, fiddling is easily part of the "charm" of using an Amiga. Frustrating at the same time because it seems I am never happy with my systems. I guess that's mostly why we fiddle. I wish I could learn to look past the Amiga's inadequacies (still stuck thinking it's the mid 90's re: this stuff) and get on to actually enjoying my systems more for what they are. Fiddling gets in the way of playing games, etc.

I think many of us wish we had more disposable income and time to enjoy our Amiga's when the computer was current. I know I do. The Amiga represents a link to the past - much like my Atari 2600 that I will never get rid of.

[QuikSanz]

Nostalgiac wrote:
oh yes - same here, saved and worked to get an 030 at the time... now bought an 060 just for the heck of it :-)

Hooked my A2000 up to the net out cause I CAN  :lol:

Tom UK

PS: same reason I recently trippled my slot-car set collection. Next ? dunno - Lego ?

Sounds way too familiar. I am sitting in front of a somewhat new HO slot set as I type, including a whole tackle box of cars, controllers and...

Chris :-D

[QuikSanz]

save2600 wrote:
Same here. Fiddle more than use practically and that saddens me. Still, fiddling is easily part of the "charm" of using an Amiga. Frustrating at the same time because it seems I am never happy with my systems. I guess that's mostly why we fiddle. I wish I could learn to look past the Amiga's inadequacies (still stuck thinking it's the mid 90's re: this stuff) and get on to actually enjoying my systems more for what they are. Fiddling gets in the way of playing games, etc.

I think many of us wish we had more disposable income and time to enjoy our Amiga's when the computer was current. I know I do. The Amiga represents a link to the past - much like my Atari 2600 that I will never get rid of.

Umm, I think it's called a Hobby

Chris