Mastodawn

As retrocomputing enthusiasts, its easy for us to lose track of the fact that the average person may only reverse-engineer 1-2 high resolution light pen interface cards in their entire lifetime.

#retrocomputing

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gloriouscow May 28

Sadly, fewer and fewer light pen interface cards are reverse-engineered every year. Sociologists point to numerous factors, including a growing generational disconnect from the input methods of the past decades.

"I've never even used a light pen," remarked Gerald Gorbage, 23. "I reversed like - three light pen interface cards, but then I had to ask myself, what was I even doing?"

Carol Heathcliff of the Light Pen Research Institute has a more measured take. "Interest in light pen interface card reverse engineering has naturally ebbed and waned over historical periods in the past. During the Age of Reformation in the 16th century, there was a period of nearly 30 years where not a single high-resolution light pen interface card was reverse-engineered. These are natural cycles."

Still, others are sounding the alarm. "Kids just don't wanna reverse no more," says Charles Bisquick, looking out over his expansive four-hundred acres of light pen farm, wringing his well-worn hands. We ask him what will happen to his farm if trends continue.

"I don't know," he says at last, squinting off into the waning sun.

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gloriouscow May 28

Companies are racing to close the skills gap. One such firm is O-Pen AI. We spoke to it's CTO, Kevin Shirk.

"We've trained our LLPM -that is, our large light pen model - on over fourty-six thousand light pen interface card designs, in both Eagle and KiCad formats. We've reached a high degree of confidence that we can meet the needs of the light pen interface card reverse-engineering industry."

Others are not so keen. Roger Sherriff of the Electronic Pen Freedom Council weighted in. "Ask their AI how many P's are in 'Pen'. And you want to trust that with our future?"

Administration officials at the Defense Department's US Light Pen Command (LPENUS) say that government stockpiles of light pen interface card schematics will last a decade or more. Beyond that, what happens is anyone's guess.

"I'm particularly worried about the rise of Mouse Cults," said Nancy Sprackle, a Republican Congresswoman from New Hampshire. "The mouse cults would promise us an easy future where light pen interface cards never need to be reverse-engineered again. This sort of perverse temptation - to simply grasp some sort of puck and indirectly point at your screen - it's exactly how great civilizations fall. Just look at Rome."

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