Retro Computing

TVs have changed a bit since 1986, and memories have faded a bit too. So just in case you’ve lost some cables, or just need a refresher, here’s how to connect a NES to a modern TV so you can get a Zelda or Mario fix.

Keep in mind your vintage 8-bit Nintendo NES will work just fine with a modern LCD or LED TV, but the light gun won’t work right with newer TVs. The light gun requires a CRT to operate. Also, while it is possible to modify an NES to output something resembling a modern digital video format, I’m assuming you’re not looking to go to that kind of trouble, and just want to connect an unmodified Nintendo console to an unmodified TV.

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Cyrix was a scrappy, up and coming CPU manufacturer in the 1990s. They never had Intel’s name recognition, but for a few years they made life more difficult for its larger rivals, Intel and AMD. For a while, Cyrix processor chips were a popular choice for value-conscious PC buyers.

Cyrix contributed a lot of confusing alphabet soup to the 1990s CPU market, and their chips usually weren’t the highest-performing chips available. But they usually did provide good value for the money, even though Cyrix never was a premium brand.

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The Commodore 65 was an ill-fated attempt to extend the Commodore 8-bit line one last time and release a hybrid 8/16-bit computer with some backward compatibility with the Commodore 64. The concept was similar to the Apple IIgs and the Nintendo Super NES. Commodore never released it.

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It’s generally only a matter of time before someone discovers emulation, the ability to run old software on new systems. And since people can do it without necessarily paying for the software they run, someone may wonder, is emulation legal?

Emulation certainly tends to be a gray area. You can do it legally, but not everyone does. And there are a good number of misconceptions about what you are and aren’t allowed to do. But plenty of emulation happens all the time, without breaking the law at all.

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It’s hard to believe now, and nobody should have believed it then, but around 1997, analysts were calling AOL the only blue-chip dotcom stock. The problem was the golden age of dialup ended around 1998. But AOL served a purpose, for a time. Here’s a look back at 1990s AOL competitors.

In the 90s, technology stocks were a slightly different category. Today we don’t distinguish them, but companies who made and sold physical goods like IBM were easier to understand than companies whose business model revolved around the Internet and or proprietary information services.

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Compaq was a high-flying PC brand in the 1980s and 1990s. It created the first successful and fully legal IBM PC clone, set records as a startup, usurped IBM as the standard bearer in the PC market, and made highly regarded desktop PCs and servers. But today it’s just a trademark that HP owns and doesn’t use. Why did Compaq fail?

There were several reasons why Compaq failed, but one stands taller than the others.

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There are two ways to look at the question of who bought Gateway computers. Who bought the company, and who bought the computers. Gateway’s computers didn’t have the best reputation, but people loved the company until they didn’t. Gateway fell hard and fast, and various turnaround efforts failed. Acer bought Gateway in 2007.

Gateway was originally known as Gateway 2000, but changed its name as the millennium approached so as not to sound dated.

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For years, Sears sold an Atari 2600 clone called the Sears Video Arcade. But the Sears Atari 2600 clone wasn’t exactly a clone in the sense we think of it. Atari made it for Sears and let Sears put its name on it. Here’s why. Read more