# Who's Using The Oldest Computer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 18, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934 "2004-10-18T23:30:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/21 "2004-10-19T14:49:09Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > Ha! Everyone knows the TCP/IP stack for the difference engine is buggy. > > You really haven’t read SDMB until you’ve read it on paper tape. Bah! I’m still handwriting my responses and mailing them to Cecil via USPS. All typos are therefore attributable to him. Damn kids and your electronics gadgets. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/22 "2004-10-19T14:49:14Z")
I’m using a modified 1920’s Style Death Ray… ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/23 "2004-10-19T14:55:38Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Link, please? It’d be neat to get a set of shots of the SDMB as it appears in many different places… I’d also really love to see this. Ahh nostalgia. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Sayid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jack\_Sayid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Sayid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/24 "2004-10-19T16:46:37Z")
I fire up my [IBM PC XT 286](http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=260) (1986) from time to time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/25 "2004-10-19T17:09:38Z")
I’m still using the first and only computer I’ve ever owned. Back in 1995 Bill Gates announced to the world that every private home could hook up to the internet–all you had to do was buy a computer with Windows 95. So I got curious .“Hey what is this internet thing that everybody’s talking about? I’ve heard that you can find info on just about anything, , and there might even be some porno pictures.” So I bought a Pentium (not a pentium I, II or III–just a Pentium 233 mhertz, 'cause they told me it was better than a Pentium 66 mhertz) with 32k RAM. Later I added some ram–up to 64k, and tried to upgrade to Windows 98 with somebody’s old discs, but the installation screwed up,so I get the dreaded blue screen of death every other day. I’m reading this with Netscape 6. And for casual surfing the web it works just fine. I’m a proud Luddite—none of those fancy upgrades for me. I’m sticking with the old ways, just like Grandpa told me to. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/26 "2004-10-19T17:42:58Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > > [@Sunspace](#): > > > > Link, please? It’d be neat to get a set of shots of the SDMB as it appears in many different places… > > I’d also really love to see this. Ahh nostalgia. I found it but the link to the picture is dead. Maybe if I say **Larry Mudd** , he’ll come by with a working link. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/27 "2004-10-19T17:56:42Z")
A VAX 11/785 with VMS 5.3… ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/28 "2004-10-19T17:58:03Z")
> [@vunderbob](#): > > A VAX 11/785 with VMS 5.3… Oh, didn’t read the OP fully. The VAX is in use at work, but not to post here… ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/29 "2004-10-20T06:21:33Z")
I blow into a phone. I win. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/30 "2004-10-20T14:19:20Z")
_grumbles_ Here I thought I could win this one. Toshiba Satellite 335cds laptop bought in 1997. It has 96 mb of RAM (I added the extra 50 years ago) and a Pentium MMX 233mhz processor. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Sayid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jack\_Sayid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Sayid)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/31 "2004-10-20T17:13:37Z")
> [@vunderbob](#): > > A VAX 11/785 with VMS 5.3… Wow, that is from like 1984, I believe. What do you guys use it for? The VMS OS was years ahead of it’s time. The clustering capability it had (has?) was amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/32 "2004-10-20T17:48:32Z")
Around 2001 I was still using my Mac IIsi, 68020. 40 meg HD, 9 megs RAM. System 7.1. Browser was either a telnet connection to the SFPL’s Lynx or Navigator 2.0.2. There’s a website that outlines how to get a Mac Classic on DSL; maybe when I’m bored I’ll see what I can do with that. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/33 "2004-10-20T18:17:29Z")
Right now, my comp and the one I have at work are about 2 years old, but the machine at my parents, which I use when I’m there, has parts that date back to the early 1990s. The last system we bought all put together, other than mine which we only bought because it was a steal, was a Mac, which was in I think 1989 or 1990. Ever since then, it’s been buy a tower, drop this in, take that from your brother, and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934/34 "2004-10-20T18:21:06Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I’m using a modified 1920’s Style Death Ray… And the award for "Most Gratuitous Use Of A ‘1920’s Style Death Ray’ goes to… **Annie-Xmas**! ! ! ! ! Well done! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-using-the-oldest-computer/269934.md?page=1)