Browsing /r/retrobattlestations on a Sharp PC-3000 via retroreddit.com

Posted by jhhoward@reddit | retrobattlestations | View on Reddit | 35 comments

I created a mirror of reddit designed for old web browsers to be used on vintage computers. It uses simple HTML and HTTP (rather than HTTPS) so most browsers should be able to handle it. Here I'm running my DOS web browser MicroWeb on a Sharp PC-3000 connected to the internet using a Serial Wi-Fi modem

You can try it out here: http://retroreddit.com

Modern browsers may complain about the lack of HTTPS!

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heatlesssun@reddit

Neat. These things aren't cheap. Had a Radio Shack version of something to this but can't recall it and never knew what happened to it, lost it years ago somehow.

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I_Zeig_I@reddit

How in the hell does that access a modern web page???

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TrannosaurusRegina@reddit

That’s the beauty of the World Wide Web being based on the HyperText Markup Language: it’s just plain text with tags!

Any legitimate Website should work in any Web browser!

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WackoMcGoose@reddit

The word "should" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence...

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ThatRandomGuy0125@reddit

OP isn't accessing reddit, they mention in the post they're using retroreddit.com (OP is also apparently the creator of both retroreddit AND the browser they're using in the picture). It's just basic HTML and CSS, so it should work on pretty much anything, even a terminal browser (eg. w3m, lynx)

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I_Zeig_I@reddit

oh interesting, ty for explaining :)

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pandaSmore@reddit

Hit Ctrl + u and view the page source. The HTML is really basic.

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AJMCLD@reddit

What a well laid out keyboard.

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Kasuu372@reddit

Can you play doom on it?

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jhhoward@reddit (OP)

There is the Doom8088 project so it should be possible but I haven't tried it out. I also developed Wolfenstein CGA which runs on it though! https://github.com/jhhoward/WolfensteinCGA

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AJMCLD@reddit

Pity nobody was doing this kind of thing when my "gaming PC" was my dad's old PC1512 (DDMM!)

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ziplock9000@reddit

That is very nice. I love the keyboard area.

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He_Who_Browses_RDT@reddit

That thing is sooooo cool!!!! Congrats dude.

Just out of curiosity, where did you get that? I never saw one in any of the usual places (ebay, craig's list, etc)...

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jhhoward@reddit (OP)

They very occasionally pop up on eBay in the UK but usually for quite a high price. I got mine on eBay several years ago and was lucky to find a fair price with the case, manual and cables included.

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FunboyFrags@reddit

Keep your eyes open for an old Psion S3, it was a spectacular piece of kit

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jhhoward@reddit (OP)

I actually picked up a Psion Series 3MX recently. Great device!

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He_Who_Browses_RDT@reddit

What a finding!!

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LordPollax@reddit

Oh man, that is sexy as hell! Love it!

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richardsequeira@reddit

Back when people would say that this type of tech is a nerdy device.

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y2leon@reddit

It still is lol

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richardsequeira@reddit

But today we have tablets with keyboard cases everywhere.

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Specwar762@reddit

That’s badass

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Ben_77@reddit

Beautiful piece of tech!

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istarian@reddit

Beautiful piece of retro tech you have there.

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miniscant@reddit

The best thing I have seen in months! Congratulations.

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ancaf33@reddit

That’s so cool! Can you comment and such as well or is just read only?

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jhhoward@reddit (OP)

It's just for browsing read only, since commenting or posting would require you to login and plain HTTP like this has no security / encryption.

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ancaf33@reddit

All right, cool!

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blakespot@reddit

Interesting. Designed by DIP, who previously designed the Atari Portfolio. This is an MS-DOS PC running on an 80C88A @ 10MHz.

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jhhoward@reddit (OP)

Yes it's also CGA compatible so has good compatibility with a lot of software, similar to the HP 200LX.

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intelminer@reddit

Would you be able to open source the project? This is super cool and I'd love to dig into it

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jhhoward@reddit (OP)

I'm considering sharing the code. It's probably a bit messy as this is the first time I've really written anything in PHP before. I might try to tidy things up a bit first!

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