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Reinvigorate your inner nerd at this retro-computing exhibit
Modern computer interfaces are swiftly being reduced to glossy touchscreen slabs, distancing us from the inner workings of devices we use every day. Kimon Keramidas, director of the Digital Media Lab at the Bard Graduate Center in New York, is offering a refresher on how we got here by "bringing the clunk back." From the pleasing clack of mechanical keyboards to blister-inducing Atari joysticks, he curated a collection of computing history and put it on display at the school's Focus Gallery in an exhibit called "The Interface Experience: Forty Years of Personal Computing."
The ZX Spectrum returns as a plug-and-play console
The popular ZX Spectrum series of microcomputers has resurfaced as a crowdfunded plug-and-play console produced in a collaboration between Sinclair Research founder Clive Sinclair and tech startup Retro Computers. The ZX Spectrum was a low-cost home computer that proved especially popular among game developers and hobbyists in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s. The Indiegogo-funded Sinclair Spectrum Vega includes over 1,000 built-in games, and additional titles will debut as free downloads following the console's launch next year. Users can also add their own games to the Vega's library via an included SD card slot. Backers who pledge £100 or more will receive one of the first 1,000 Sinclair Spectrum Vega consoles to enter production. Shipments are scheduled to begin in April, 2015. [Video: Retro Computers]
