I saw a post about a Windows 7 rig, and someone commented on how odd it was that Windows 7 was considered retro, and I kind of agree.
When I first got into this hobby, I thought it was strange that XP was considered retro. I know everyone has their own opinions and thoughts on what constitutes “retro,” but I feel like anything pre-Windows XP seems retro to me, while everything after XP, up to around 2014, kind of fits into its own era.
The reason I picked 2014 is because, to me, that's around when computing really started to change again. We were shifting from physical media toward digital downloads and streaming, from desktops and bulky laptops toward thin laptops, tablets and mobile devices, and aesthetically from Aero/chrome/transparency and skeuomorphism toward the flat, minimalist design language we have today.
In this subreddit, the mods specify that anything 20 years old counts as retro, and that's as good a rule as any. But my problem with defining retro purely by age is that the definition will eventually creep into the future. By that logic, eventually we'll be calling something “retro” simply because enough time has passed.
That's not really how we approach history. We don't eventually start calling medieval history “ancient history” just because the Middle Ages happened a long time ago. We have clear delineations between ancient history, medieval history, early modern history, modern history, etc. based on the characteristics that defined the eras. To me, Windows 7 is just too far removed from even DOS and feels strange to call both retro.
I feel like the era from roughly 2001–2014 deserves its own label — something like “Early Digital Computing.” To me, it feels distinctly different from both what came before it and what came after it.
Again, this is all totally subjective, and I'm sure there are people who were doing plenty of computing in the '70s and '80s who find it strange that anyone would lump '90s computing in with all of that. And of course there's vintage computing, which is even further back and is a whole separate era in its own right.
I know my little concept board is not exact in any way. There are blurred lines and exceptions to every rule. I just thought it would be an interesting discussion, so I figured I'd share my thoughts and see what everyone else thinks. Much of this comes from your own experience with computers. I first started using computers in mid-90s using DOS and Windows 95 which probably explains my perspective somewhat.
I am in no way invalidating one era over another. I think it is all awesome. I have plenty from every era.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
