As I grow older I've noticed that a lot of newer things, like movies, music, TV shows, novels, etc., don't appeal that much to me. I am not 100% sure why that is. Maybe I just don't like the current, modern feel to those things. Or maybe it is that a lot of that stuff feels like a re-hash of something older, again. Or maybe it is because that style wasn't popular during my formative years. The truth probably encompasses all those explanations - as well as some other ones too.

I have noticed, however, that things I liked during my formative years, childhood and teenager times, still appeal to me. If you've been reading this blog, then you'll notice that I still enjoy comic books as well as science fiction novels. I have also noticed that is the case when it comes to computer programming. I learned to program in 1982 when I was in 5th grade - right after we got a Commodore 64 for Christmas. I was fascinated by that awesome machine, and thought that using BASIC to make it do what I wanted was incredibly fun.

Over the last 20 years I have rekindled my love of Commodore computers several times. It seems that just about every year I'll get excited by something I've seen or read about retro-computing, and will turn to my Commodore to explore that more in-depth, or just for fun. That feeling seems to last only a little while before I lose interest and move on to something else.

But I am in the mood again! This time it has been triggered by two things: 1) my purchase of the amazing, new C64 OS. And 2) the recent announcement of a brand new Commodore 64 computer. Playing around with C64 OS has reminded me how cool the C64 is, and seeing the new iteration of that machine made me think of how I always wanted to write a program using machine language. Back in the day I could do basic BASIC stuff, but all the really cool programs seemed to be written in machine language. Now I feel like it would be fun to write a small, simple game in machine language for the Commodore 64.

"Fun?" you may ask, and it is a fair question. It does seem fun to me. I currently work as a software engineer, and have been a full time programmer for the past 19 years. Nearly all of the work that I do now does not qualify as fun. Modern programming is a lot different, and way more involved, than programming a home computer was 40 years ago. So going back to a simpler time and using cruder tools is actually a fun challenge. For the past few days I've been reading some old programming books and using my favorite Commodore emulator, Vice, to delve into retro-programming.

This may seem like an academic exercise - I mean does anybody still use a Commodore 64? The answer is yes, yes they do! Maybe not in a get-some-real-work-done kind of sense, but there are still a lot of people who are into the c64, and the retro-computing scene seems to be getting larger everyday - hence the new C64 OS and Commodore 64 computer. I guess that is natural when geeky kids grow up and have lots of disposable income and free time.

One nice thing about doing this now-a-days is that many of the old how-to books about programming, as well as the software to accomplish that, is now easily available online. Another nice thing: emulators! Yes, I still have my original Commodore 128 from four decades ago, but now it is much easier and way more convenient to fire up Vice and attach all the virtual peripherals to it. This makes it super easy to program from my everyday laptop.

Is all this obsession with retro-computing useful in this day and age? I don't know, but I do enjoy it. And I figure it is just as useful as reading fiction novels, or watching movies. So, maybe I'll keep you informed about my progress - assuming my desire doesn't fade out too soon.