1986年老古董Mac也能上网聊GPT！

A 1986 Macintosh Plus Surfs the Web: A Journey ThroughTime and Technology

A 1986 Macintosh Plus, a relic of a bygone era, is now browsing the internet, thanks to the ingenuity of a coder and Raspberry Pi enthusiast, Hunter Irving. This feat, a testament to both technologicalevolution and human perseverance, offers a fascinating glimpse into the intersection of past and present.

Irving’s journey began with a vintage Macintosh Plus, complete with its original keyboard andmouse, purchased from a thrift shop. However, the machine’s original capacitors, a common issue with aging electronics, quickly gave way to smoke upon power-up. Undeterred, Irving replaced the capacitors and acquired a BlueSCSI hard drive emulator,allowing him to relive his childhood gaming memories.

The real challenge, however, lay in connecting the Macintosh Plus to the internet. Irving’s solution involved leveraging the open-source BlueSCSI system, a Raspberry Pi Pico W, and abit of ingenuity to emulate the rare Macintosh Ethernet adapter. This connection, while remarkable in itself, was only the first step.

The internet of today is vastly different from the nascent web of the 1990s. Websites rely heavily on CSS and Javascript, languages the Macintosh Plus’s browser, MacWeb 2.0, simply doesn’t understand. To overcome this hurdle, Irving modified an existing app called MacProxy, enabling it to intercept requests for specific domains and strip them of their modern complexities, presenting a simplified, HTML-only version to the Macintosh Plus.

The result is a truly unique experience. The Macintosh Plus,with its limited processing power and 4MB of RAM, struggles to render even the simplest websites. Yet, it manages to display text-based content, including Wikipedia articles and even ChatGPT’s interface, albeit in a rudimentary form.

Irving’s project is more than just a technical achievement; it’s acelebration of the past and a testament to the enduring power of technology. By bridging the gap between the vintage Macintosh Plus and the modern internet, Irving has created a window into a bygone era, reminding us of how far we’ve come and the incredible potential that lies in pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

This project highlights several key points:

Technological evolution: The internet has undergone a dramatic transformation since the 1980s, with advancements in web design, programming languages, and user interfaces.
The power of ingenuity: Irving’s success demonstrates that with creativity and determination, evenseemingly insurmountable obstacles can be overcome.
The enduring appeal of vintage technology: The Macintosh Plus, despite its limitations, continues to fascinate and inspire, reminding us of the beauty and simplicity of earlier technologies.

As we move forward into the future, projects like Irving’s serve as a reminder that thepast is not something to be forgotten but rather a source of inspiration and innovation. They encourage us to embrace the possibilities that lie at the intersection of old and new, and to continue pushing the boundaries of what technology can achieve.

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