# More on nostalgia

Carl over at datagubbe.se talks about nostalgia in the context of
retro-computing, which piqued my interest because I had mentioned
nostalgia previously in the context of the OCC [0].

    In retrocomputing circles, there's a lot of talk about
    nostalgia. While I'm sure an old computer is perfectly capable
    of triggering real nostalgia for some people in some settings,
    the word is more often used to describe any activity related to
    old computers - not just reminiscing. I'd argue that among retro
    enthusiasts, real nostalgia is no more common than among others,
    and that reminiscing - much like in other subcultures - is at
    most a secondary activity.

    If someone learns oil painting, guitar playing or chess at the
    age of ten and keeps at it throughout their life, they're not
    nostalgic: they've gained a lifelong skill. They might at some
    point experience nostalgia related to this activity (from a
    specific brand of strings, perhaps), but that's not the reason
    they keep doing it. They might, during periods of their life,
    have less time for these pursuits, such as when starting a
    family or building a career. When later rekindling their pastime
    passion, they do so not to relive moments of their youth, but
    because they still enjoy their hobby.

    For me, it's the same thing with old computers. Nostalgia occurs
    when you miss something that can't be brought back - but my
    Amiga 1200 is still here, right next to me as I'm writing this,
    and I've never stopped using it.
    ...
    In our heart of hearts, we retro geeks know that old computers
    aren't special, magical machines, even if we sometimes express
    sentiments to that effect. If they have a soul, it's that of
    us - the users - and what we create with them. [1]

The author's point is that we're misusing the term nostalgia - it's
not nostalgia if you're still using and finding the old systems and
software fun and/or useful. Which really was my point also (just not
stated as well) - many of the tools I am using on my old desktop
function perfectly for my purposes (publishing to and curating a
gopher hole and website), and in most cases they are simpler and
more pleasant to use than newer versions.

[0]: gopher://sdf.org/0/users/thinknix/glog/occ-irc-icq-nostalgia.md
[1]: http://www.datagubbe.se/retnost/