@neauoire "[...]the main unit is sturdy but portable, though it requires an external screen and PSU. For me, this adds to the appeal [...] If you want to use your Amiga, you can't just flip open a notebook lid anywhere. [...] This makes it feel much more [...] purposeful."

I feel like there's a really interesting point there. Like, is the old feeling of using a computer nostaliga/age/experience or something different about those old devices?

@neauoire mmm, but an Amiga a forever computer? They're basically self-destructing: if the caps don't take out the motherboard, the clock battery will.

There's also the small problem of expense. I have, about 30 minutes ago, recently left the World of Commodore show. Working A1200s were going for over $500 there. This is for a machine with a few MB RAM and a processor that runs in the 10s of MHz.

@neauoire I think portability (of both code and data) should still be kept in mind, in part because no hardware lasts forever, and in part to make it easier to scavenge hardware.
Like others have said, an Amiga today is pretty expensive, but I can likely get postmarketOS running on some random Android phone from someone's desk drawer, or plain Alpine on an old PC someone left on the sidewalk.

@neauoire It seems significant to me that the enabler of all the aftermarket hardware upgrades and archive sites is the dedicated community. Who probably will continue to remember it fondly and support it for another 30+ years. And at this point it's completely "organic" too!

Some designed-from-the-top-down intentional attempt at a 50 year computer would have a hard time replicating that.

Argh, I had forgotten that I want an A1200...