On the Apple I Color video card thread:
>> In post #8, 'UncleBernie' wrote:
>>> In post #7, 'linuxha' wrote:
>>> " I'm retiring soon and I am willing to build things. A color Video board for a Apple I interests me. :-) "
>> This made me chuckle ... seems we can only do the fun things - which we always wanted to do - only after retirement. I'm also retired and this is the reason why I can design and build these things now.
LOL, OMG this is so true!
I went to school for electronics (they told me all I would do was repair TVs and Toasters, this was befor computers). Somehow I ended up doing software (QA). I now get to go back and build electronics.
Okay, now the thing that might have stolen UncleBernie's Color thread:
I love building electronics, so satifying! My Dad was an Iron Worker. He could point to buildings and bridges and say he worked on that.
I started with electronics, then midway in college I ran into an Intel SDL-8085 micro-computer (just bought one of EBay). Got kicked out of that class for having an 'active discussion' about speed vs size in assembly language. My friend and I were weeks ahead of everyone else. I did apologize to the class for the disruption. That lead to me working for the College's repair center. We fix mainframe peripherals, installed and maintained IBM PCs (DOS 1.1 and later, Mountain 5M hard drives, etc), installed and maintianed the Apple IIs, repaired terminals (ouch high voltage travels ;-) ). We had no clue what we were doing, had documentation or schematics. Still amazed how far stubborness and ignorance got us.
Skip ahead to the present. I've been a installer, field tech, Systems Engineer for AT&T's network services (28.8 baud then, up to 64x800G LAGs now), developing network services and now testing Software Defined Networks. Wild!
Recently, Andreas Spiess (The Guy With The Swiss Accent also retired) showed his Agentic Work Flow (AI):
I stopped CodingWhy AI Agentes Replace the Arduino IDE in My ESP32 Projects (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DG0-_lseR4
How AI builds ESP32AI Driven ESP32 Workflow (Spec -> Code -> Test) using Claude Codehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmGEedloQ6E&t=1037s
I've been aware of AI for a while and I have been concerned witth various aspects. I still am but that Andreas demonstrated is a huge boost of efficency. But I know what that will do to me at work. I won't lose my job but I will be asked to lose my mind (stress) as they'll give me less time to think. I'm tired of that pressure to more with less and faster.
Now I'm going to spend time with my reproduction Apple I, my 2 repro Apple I blanks (one for a 6800), my other bits and pieces of computer history. I've collected a lot when it was junk and donated some to local museums. I'll use AI & Agentic flows, it will help me do more with the time I have left and the things I enjoy. I enjoyed learning about all the technology I've learned just tired of having it rammed down my throat at a speed I can just barely handle.