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Tech nostalgia enthusiasts have made a PiDP-10, a replica of the PDP-10


A large team of tech nostalgia enthusiasts have made a PiDP-10, a replica of the PDP-10 mainframe computer first launched by the Digital Equipment Corporation in 1966

While Vermeulen concentrates on designing the hardware reproduction – the front panel with its working switches and lights – others are handling various aspects of the open-source software emulation, which has a complex history. We all understand SpaceWar’s seminal role in the birth of the modern games industry, but to play it, to actually control one of the spaceships fighting it out amid vector explosions in front of a flickering starscape … it feels like experiencing history. Navigating the ITS disc system, with that glowing green dot-matrix font, its lists of intriguing programs and games, the message above the terminal command line that reads “happy hacking!”… it’s incredibly evocative.

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