Can we create a crypto currency and blockchain so small and efficient it can work on 1980s personal computers like Commodore 64 Apple IIe etc? Challange to create HYPER efficient RetroCoin
Here is my challenge to anyone with the ability to program or hire programmers or learn programming , who can attempt this challenge which in one way is simple and in another way challenging.....
(Video just for Reference and illustration purpose)
I challenge someone to make this video a reality, to create a blockchain crypto currency with code SO simple and SO minimal and SO efficient that it can be used on a 1980s personal computer like a Commodore 64 or an Apple IIe (And i understand the vast limitations of such old machines and will settle for someone using maybe a newer machine from the late 80s just as long as it can run in command line prompt to really make it appear old, but it will nonetheless also be limited SEVERELY in todays world with todays software...
(command line Bitcoin wallet)
Even if you double triple or quadruple the processing power of an apple IIE or a commodre 64
Create a Bitcoin like blockchain crypto currency but one that can be used on 1980s Personal Computers like Commodore 64 or Apple IIe ...It sounds like a challenge but if we distill bitcoin and blockchain down to their most basic and smallest components, and then break THOSE down into even small pieces OR try to streamline those pieces, and really make a minimalist crypto currency that is extremely fast and easy and simple to mine and host nodes, and with a simple wallet program, maybe connected to a BBS type system, i believe it is possible....
(Image of one
(Image from Rabobank.com/history of an 80s computer at a bank and its running Banking software)
But hey in all seriousness Reddit type systems were outlined and patented by IBM in the 80s (I SWEAR I read this years ago and i cant find anything about it by googling every combination of describing how IBM thought up a vote based user submitted news website in the 1980s basically inventing reddit decades before it was founded but the idea didnt get off the paper...
(I would have changed the "reddit" to "steemit' but this has too many filters, maybe someone else could photoshop where it says "reddit" replace with "steemit" make a pixelated steemit logo, post and watch the upvotes roll on in!
But I seriously believe websites like Reddit were invented in the 80s in alternate universes and probably looked a lot like the above image! And vote based user submitted content type websites could have been made popular in the 80s using an improved BBS type system or a basic streamlined hyper efficient version of Reddit(ALSO another project that we should work on! making a real life version of the "Reddit in the 80s" youtube video ! So why not a simple blockchain type system?
(CommandLine litecoin mining)
(Hopefully you wont be able to break the blockchain cryptography with a calculator lol) but I sincerely believe that as a project this is totally feasible and possible....Since crypto cuyrrencies are based on math, i am 100% confident that we can devise a simple crypto currency that only takes up a few kilobytes per wallet or coin...the amount of cyrpto coins on this hypothetical "Retro-coin" blockchain will be actually limited to how many floppy disks or tape drives or old hard drives you have access too...
This ad from the 80s talks about how this computer can do ledgersa, transactions, starting to sound a lot like bitcoin...i really think maybe it wont be that much work to strip down bitcoin and streamline it and release a brand new crypto currency with a very small blockchain
(This ad from the 80s tells us this computer has TRS-80 has "2 million chracters of information storage" I'm guessing that's a fancy way of saying 2 megabytes? So thats actually quite a lot and I'm sure it had room for expansion somehow, and you could have at least 10 mb to mess around with im pretty sure, thats pretty promising, you would only really need a few megabytes to run a bitcoin type blockchain software on these machines with command line node software and command line wallet software!)
its going to be interesting when you actually run out of room because the "bitcoins" are taking up too much space on these old computers with less than a megabyte of hard drive space IF they even had a hard drive! ...hah imagine how confusing that would be to people, if you needed to actually buy storage hardware just to keep your "bitcoins" well, there will be all sorts of storage problems on old 80s computers....but thats the whole point...like old 80s videogames, and programs, they were not bulky and heavily loaded down with spyware and crap....oldschool programs and games were straight to the point and didnt come with any extra code besides ONLY what was needed...imagine if we had to work under these constraints when creating a new crypto currency or new blockchain system....
If we are dealing with Apple IIes and commodore 64s i think it WILL be an issue actually storing the coins and the mining software and the blockchain itself....but I believe it can be made small enough to work on old 80s computers!
and we will probably need to be able to run a node with these wallet programs....we will have to ask a network of old computer geeks to take their old Apple IIes or old 80s PC out of storage and use some sort of modern adapters to plug them in to the internet..Im sure people will probably need some sort of ethernet to Serial port or maybe a Communications port ribbon cable type connection to USB adapter to allow someone to simply connect their old computer up to their new laptop, or use a desktop with the old com and serial ports as many new desktops may still have up until a decade ago...
Oh wait they already make exactly that! WOW even better they make serial port to WIFI/blutooth and Ethernet adapters!
anyway the point is it might take some extra work getting your old 80s PC online using todays internet but they still run BBS and old servers to connect these old dinosaur computers to the web for shits and giggles and nostalgia or education etc..
but hey i just found out its actually very easy to connect your old apple IIe to the internet using this simple setup!
But I am sure they can even build a modern day apple IIE or commodore 64 EMULATOR for the rasberry pi!
Oh wow and they already did! i just found THIS! worlds smallest apple IIe runs on $10 chip! from @cupcakus and explained here https://bbs.nextthing.co/t/apple-iie-mini-powered-by-c-h-i-p/14838
The point is we want to use old computers with limitations to test and run a crypto currency SO small and SO efficient that it can have all the features of modern bitcoin blockchain but all on 1980s PCs ...I supposed rasberry Pis emulating old software can work too...
If we make a version of bitcoin so small and efficient i BELIEVE it can work on old Apple IIes, and we can even build a super small wallet program using Basic or C++ or use existing command line crypto currency wallet, and node apps, combine them so every wallet is a node, or use 80s Servers that existed at the same time as the PC from the 80s your using, and maybe cheat by running the 80s bitcoin blockchain and node software on servers from the 80s which might give us more power....or just run the nodes on modern day rasberry pis unless we can find something fast enough from the 80s....
Some are even making a case that bitcoin is more like 80s computing some how, like in this videoi
A more practical thing to do would maybe to build an actual BITCOIN wallet app for an old 80s computer like an apple IIe or maybe a later PC that could more easily connect to the internet, and use it to accept bitcoin using a SUPER lite SUPER small bitcoin wallet program maybe completely command line...This would be impressive to be able to accept bitcoins or send them from a 1980s personal computer! People would love that as a novelty and also just the idea of using an old Apple IIe as a bitcoin wallet is awesome....That can be a secondary Challenge...I actually like this idea better now, and I believe since Apple IIes use BASIC that a very small command line bitcoin wallet made in BASIC should work on an Apple IIe if you make it small enough to fit!
Just imagine when we end up mining the last bitcoin! or when we actually run OUT of blockchains!
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Nice post. I learned a few things. I just want a C64 exclusive crypto currancy, to drive up the ebay price of the classic computers.. What if there were a way to make the new coin, ONLY mineable on the acctual old hardware.