Remember when we were terrified that computers would wrench the world from our hands? Remember knowing that our carbon-crunching creations would rise up one day and teach us a harsh lesson in humility? Remember War Games? Electric Dreams? That episode of Super Friends in which puny, animated humans just sat idly by and let computers take over their daily chores -ostensibly to allow humanity to devote themselves to loftier goals like painting or teaching kids to make pie out of laughter- only to leave them helpless and lazy in hammocks and on park benches... and ultimately defeated?
Those computers that terrified us? That haunted our powerless dreams? TRS-80s, my friends.
TRS-80s had 4kb of ROM... up to 16kb of RAM. We were sure they'd start running things if we slept too long. I had a friend who unplugged his at night, no lie. By contrast, today my dad has a wristwatch with 128mb of RAM, and I don't even worry about it leaving the iron on when they go on vacation, or writing checks to the GOP.
Rest assured, Superman saw through the crafty ruse of the "TRS-80 Whiz Kids." He knew better than to let some all-powerful savior try to get it's clutches on Metropolis. He knew better than to fall sway to said savior's siren song of salvation. He knew better than to leave his fate in anyone else's hands. He knew better than to... wait... who was I talking about again?
Anyway... my dad's watch? Pretty cool.
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