old-computer.org

by compact-mac. It lived from 2007-2008.

This website was my abortive attempt to create a community around old computer software. I shamelessly copied OldOs.org, as well as MacDomain/WinWorld, those two communities that had then merged as AbwNet (Abandonware Network).

I wanted to be king of my own kingdom and learnt how to configure PHP-Fusion, then uploaded it to this very server. Losing all our data, I then switched to PhpBB because I had a short attention span and didn't understand customer service. I recruited a few regulars from various other forums but was mostly trolled/derided by these websites.

I have the databases and backups, so could revisit those times. But I'm not yet old enough for that kind of retrospective. At the same time, I miss the 'forum drama', the untamed wilderness and idyllic carefree attitude of those days. There was much more brutal honesty and strong opinions from distinct forum regulars. There were signatures, user images and userbars. When not on the board, we argued over MSN Messenger and IRC.

I could make forums any time. PhpBB still exists and is still developed. . But the community and the attitudes of those days, we'll never have that back.

Related to but distinct from Old Computer was OldNet. If you wish to see an artifact from this time, visit OLDNET [archived]. It was created in a similar style to OC and mentions many other long dead websites from March 2007. It was another imitation, this time of OldFiles.org (another dead webring/directory of retro computing from back in the day). But my OldNet is still hosted and therefore has technically outlived it , so hah!

Farewell, Old-Computer. (We hardly knew 'ye!)