I used to work with a number of LISP machine believers at the MIT AI Lab/CSAIL. They all had more modern computers for day to day tasks, but used the lispm for most of their programming. This wasn't that long ago (I left in 2010), and I suspect that those machines will remain in active use for as long as people can keep them running.<p>They all believed that the loss of the lisp machine was a serious loss to society and were all very much saddened by it. I never used the system enough to come to my own conclusions in that regard, but it was interesting food for thought. As somebody for whom Linux/POSIX is very deeply entrenched, would I even recognize a truly superior system if it was dropped in my lap? More importantly, would society in general? The superior technology is rarely the "winner"
For a very early overview of the technology I would recommend the 3600 Technical Summary. The 3600 was the first machine which was mostly designed by Symbolics. It was followed by three more generations (gate array processor, micro-processor and a virtual machine) of CPUs with something like 20+ further models.<p>I once used a 3600. :-) It greets with "Yes, master" when you turn it on.<p><a href="http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/symbolics/3600_series/3600_TechnicalSummary_Feb83.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/symbolics/3600_series...</a>
Symbolics made some really cool tech. I just wish everybody would stop complaining about it. Yes, it was amazing. Yes, nothing modern can ever compare, not even Emacs, an environment arising from the same culture. Yes, we who experienced The Glory of the Lispm must eternally genuflect before it, condescending to anybody who didn't.<p>Instead, go look at what Symbolics did (or try: it's quite hard to get the emulator running), and learn. That system lost, and it's never coming back, but you can learn from what they did well when building your own system.<p>But when you have, don't complain about the inferiority of our systems. It may be true (I can't get the emulator running to find out), but it gets annoying pretty fast. Take the energy you would use doing that, and put it into making your system that much better.
I get the nostalgia for these machines. I have great nostalgia for my old computers, the ones I learned on.<p>I have watched some videos of open genera. I don't see the appeal. It was neat for the time, but I have a hard time seeing what problems it solves for today. I'm not trolling, if someone can give some specifics, I'd be interested to read them.
Wonder if there have been any updates since this:<p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1a4wvf/kalman_reti_the_last_symbolics_developer_speaks/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1a4wvf/kalman_...</a>
I used the Symbolics refrigerator (the 3600) briefly, but found Franz LISP on a Sun II more useful. But then I'm not into editing from a control break.
I have an old MacIvory (Symbolics board set housed in a Mac II) which doesn't want to boot anymore. IIRC Googling indicated that the Mac IIs are like cars - they won't turn over if the motherboard battery is dead. I changed the battery - no joy. Anybody have any recommendations, whether for a repair place (New England, USA) or further DIY things to try?