A Time-Traveler's Guide to Affordable Computing
Greetings! If you are reading this, it means you were selected by TODD (the Temporal Observation Directorate Division) for a temporal excursion. Since you’re a member of the Computing Sciences History Reading Room, you will no doubt want to brush up on how to procure computing resources in your assigned temporal coordinates with a minimum of labor, since as you should well know by now, memes were not accepted as currency before 2250, and using foreknowledge of events to procure resources within your temporal assignment (also known colloquially as “betting on Secretariat[a]”) is a temporal crime punished by the most severe form of censure in the Galactic Duchy: downvotes and a mocking segment on The Tonight Show.
This list will be focusing on the North American market, so please consult the appropriate offices for details on the European and other markets for the same time periods. In addition, we must remind all analysts that visiting the United States after the year 2015 is prohibited for all but Class B and above Senior Analysts, as the region was plunged into increasing instability from that point on, until the Zargonians invaded the Earth and turned that country into a wilderness refuge for Arseclauwns, an endangered breed of quasi-sentient cattle.
Therefore, the following will be a list of means for securing computational resources easily and affordably, organized by temporal sequence:
- Before the 1920s: Some basic mechanical computers may be available for study, depending on temporal region. Otherwise, seek out positions at university computer banks, or in other words, jobs involving computing mathematical tables by hand.
You are the computer! Exciting!!
- 1920s: You may find a research project involving electromechanical computers, but they are rare.
- 1930s: Some basic electronic components were affordable, and the good thing is that people were using literal bread boards for breadboard prototyping, which is fun. Early digital circuits using electromechanical relays may be assembled, and may be fun to troubleshoot, though quite temperamental and limited.
- 1940s: Avoid involvement in the World War if at all possible, but working at Bletchley Park or the equivalent U.S. military programs would be hard to pass up, if given the opportunity.
- 1950s: Research projects involving early electronic computers are more prevalent, and less tightly integrated with active military efforts. Seek out the largest universities for the best chance at working with an actual general-purpose electronic programmable computer, although more limited machines may be rewarding to work on, as well.
- 1960s: There are sophisticated electronic computers available at a number of universities. Barring that, you may find a model railroad club that needs help with component-level circuitry, which while not as satisfying to work on as digital circuits, can still be fascinating.
- Early 1970s: There were a number of somewhat affordable, though very basic computing kits available in the latter half of the decade. If journeying to before 1975, follow the same instructions as for the 1960s.
- 1977: There is one primary reason for traveling to ‘77, and that is to explore the “1977 trinity” of computers released that year: The Commodore PET[a], the Tandy TRS-80[b], and the Apple ][[c].
- While the Apple ][ was very appealing to collectors in later decades, at the time, it sold for an eye-watering $1,298, despite being designed to be as affordable as possible by Steve Wozniak. TODD does not approve of this profiteering, and we do not believe it to be worth the temporally-procured resources (i.e. money you make in the time period by working odd jobs).
- The Commodore PET-2001 is far more affordable at $795, and will be somewhat compatible with later Commodore devices, but the cash-register-style keys were small, and difficult to type on, even with practice. While this would be remedied with the PET 4000 series in 1979, there would be a better, and more affordable option available starting in 1980.
- The TRS-80 is the most affordable of the three, coming in at $599.95 and including a good, touch-typeable keyboard (unlike the PET 2001), and a tape drive and monitor (unlike the Apple). Of course, you have passed with a grade of at least “pecan pie” over “long day at the beach” in the related touch typing courses before being considered for a temporal excursion, YES? They don’t have telepathic circuits in this era, and won’t for centuries to come.
- Early 1980s: For those journeying to the early 1980s, the most affordable computer at the time was the Commodore VIC-20[a], selling for only $300, and only requiring a (presumably already procured) television and a Datasette (an early kind of tape drive) for $75.
- While the VIC-20 doesn’t compare favorably to 1982’s epic Commodore 64, it was half the price (and two years earlier), and the lower resolution video mode made working with it on a television set a little bit less eye-strainy. (The effective resolution of the TV signal was very low, the fidelity of the image on screen was fairly poor, and the means of conveying the signal (via actual in-wire RF transmission) was incredibly unstable. Television sets would not provide composite (let alone component or RGB) ports for several years to come in the U.S.).
- While lacking in RAM, BASIC language features, or even any kind of DOS (Disk(-based) Operating System), the VIC-20 was a very functional platform for experimentation, and one could procure a machine language monitor cartridge fairly affordably. The origin and meaning of the name (in particular the “20” portion), however, has been lost to time, and if anyone is able to get a conclusive answer for it and present the evidence to the directorate, we have it on good authority that said analyst would be awarded a bonus of 1,500 vintage Smudge the Insult Cat memes, as well as a temporally-reconstituted can of genuine SPAM meat. Dig in!!
- 1985: As Commodore founder Jack Tramiel moves from Commodore to Atari, so do we. Similarly to the VIC-20 vs. Commodore 64 debate, the Atari ST[a] is a technically less-advanced and less-capable machine compared to the more expensive Commodore Amiga[b] (and a bit less popular), but in typical Tramiel fashion, the ST packs a ton of value, being only $800 with a monochrome monitor, vs. the Amiga 1000 of the same year, which sold for $1,285 (plus $300 for a monitor).
- It may be tempting to procure an IBM PC-compatible at this point, but the prices hadn’t been driven down quite enough at this point. The Apple Macintosh 512k (of late 1984) is even more unreasonable, being four times the price of the Atari ST, while having the same processor, same amount of RAM, and a smaller and lower-resolution screen.
- The late 16-bit/early 32-bit era of personal computing (represented perfectly by the Motorola 68000 CPU’s architecture, and indeed the “ST” naming of the computer (“Sixteen—Thirty-two”)) is seen by many in the directorate as The Golden Age of Computing, although others consider the 8-bit era to be The Golden Age.
- There are many spirited debates on this subject and many others among the analysts of the Retrocomputing Debate Club and Four-Dimensional Origami Folding Group, open to any analysts of Class D or above! Reserve your seat at the next meeting while supplies of effervescent blue cognition-accelerating Fleem last!
- 1990s: This is the decade where IBM PC-compatibles really took over the market. The Atari ST was discontinued in 1993, and similarly, the Commodore company itself folded the very next year. Additionally, the same time period was marked with Apple floundering badly as it tried to rush into the inexpensive computer market (after enjoying 100+% profits for so many years), and finding itself unable to make any money because of its own inefficiencies, organizational and structural bloat, and the inability to function at that competitive level. The 90s saw the market flooded with very affordable PC compatibles, and Microsoft slowly learning how to create an almost usable Operating System during that time.
- 2000s: Up until this point, the directives have focused on scratch-built/hobbyist equipment and affordable, new computers. Starting in this decade, used computers became a viable market, as the rate of change in computing power began to slow significantly. Also, in the last quarter of the decade, the market would be flooded with inexpensive miniature laptops called netbooks, which were good for… admittedly not a great deal, but they were very cute!!
- 2010s: While underutilized by the general public, this was truly the decade of the cheap Thinkpad. Starting in the 2010s and especially the 2020s (assuming you have permission to travel to that decade), a very functional 5-10 year old laptop could be had for less than $200 on eBay. Even at this early point in time, the impending collapse of the upgrade/e-waste hardware treadmill was a harbinger of the post-market revolution, which unfortunately faltered due to [REDACTED—Class A or above temporal license required for this content].
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