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    Sometimes I see or discover something that I would really like to get into and form a new hobby around. But I've done this so much, from getting into various game consoles to having a collection of digital clock radios stacked in my closet, I don't have the space or time to add another fascination to the pile. Let alone the money it takes to really jump into something. There are two things in particular that I have been avoiding for years that I want to talk aobut today, if only to get them off my mind for a little bit longer.

    The frist thing I want to talk about are old Atari computers from the 70's and 80's. Computers like the Atari 400, 800, 600XL, 800XL, and the XE have always caught my eye whenever I've seen pictures of them online. They have very funky designs, most of them have built-in keyboards, and they can load programs from a cartridge along with floppy disks and cassette tapes with the right add ons. This is just so neat to me, especially as I grew up in the 2000's and all of that was basically gone as computers were more streamlined. Seeing them work in YouTube videos as further peaked my interests and I just want to get one and use it so badly. Like I would use them to play games and maybe even learn BASIC, but honestly I want to use one to type stuff out. I like the idea of being able to work on my writing and not get distracted easily like you can with a modern computer. I think the novelty of using such an old device would even help keep my attention and just focus on using it while fleshing out my ideas. But I know I don't have the space for one, I don't have a proper TV or monitor for one, and I would have to track down a lot of parts as I would like my system to be as capable as it can be. I also would like to try and print out my writings so that I can edit them and, if they're something like a post for the website, type them up again. Now, I do know that recently Atari released a 400 mini that emulates the original computer but with modern conveniences like USB C for power and HDMI. And if I can load up AtariWriter and save documents with it on this system, then that would at least fulfill my craving for a while. Maybe I'll try that in the future, especially if I can find out more about the mini and what it can do.

    The second thing I have been wanting to get into is 8-track tapes. Now these are an old audio format from the 1970's that used huge cassette cartridges to play music. From my research it seems like they were mainly popular in the USA and were replaced by audio cassettes by the 80's This one is so stupid, as I tend to be more of a disc guy for music and I know about some of the flaws of 8-tracks. (like how you can't rewind them or how sometimes audio from one program will bleed into another) Yet I think they're charming in their own way, especially with how they look and how you have to shuffle songs around becuase of their weird runtime limitations. I also know that you can technically dub your own tapes and I've seen people on Tik Tok put modern albums like Currents by Tame Impala on one. I think that is so fucking neat and would love to try that myself. It also helps that some people release their music on 8-track, so I could even buy some new albums if I wanted. But I can not get into this. The equipment to playback an 8-track is usually very big and old, so I know I would have to hunt for a player and be ready to fix it up just to make sure it works properly. The tapes themselves also require some maintenance too, especially as the sponges that cushion the tape and the playhead on older 8-tracks are usually disintergrated after 40 years of use. They are also not the best audio wise, so besides the cool factor, there's not much you're getting from them. And yet, everytime I see some at the thrift store or swap meets, I think about getting some and starting out a collection.

    I do wonder, if I could afford everything, how my house would look like with all my interests scattered around? I feel like I would have a dedicated room for recording and dubbing tapes and buring CDs, even if I'm not making any music myself. I probably would be typing up ads for my home studio on my Atari 400 computer and printing my lists of current clients on my 1025 printer. And all of this would be more for the joy of it first, kind of like how I run this website. Maybe one day I can get into these devices. Maybe I can even create things with them. For now though, I will have to admire them from afar. Because while they are incredibly cool, I can not justify the space, time, and money these things would need. I'm already drowning in things like unburned CDs and DVDs as it is.

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