This past weekend I went to my friend
dddaaannn's house to test some physical C64 cartridges as well as an Amiga mouse on his Mega65 (M65). Being an official member of the Mega team (
his monthly newsletter is fantastic, by the way) he has a new board rev and wanted to do a little testing with real hardware. Plus, it gave us an impromptu excuse to hang out and nerd out over the Mega65 together.
It was a lot of fun seeing and listening to Dan’s passion. It was also incredibly eye-opening. As I drove home that afternoon I began to realize I simply didn’t have the motivation nor the drive to do the M65 justice. I was disappointed but I was being completely honest with myself. With so few of these machines in existence it seemed a waste and borderline crime for me to leave it in storage.
It’s a remarkable computer with a lot of very smart people working to support, improve and enhance it over time. I honestly feel I had nothing to offer beyond
wishing what I hoped it would become some day. And frankly I think placing my personal hopes on it were misguided.
After I got home I went and looked up my original pre-order confirmations from 2021 (that was a fun day). Then I looked at my shipping documents which were still in the original shipping box. I’d received the computer in the summer of 2022. I’ll never forget the feeling I had when I pulled the Mega65 box out of the packaging for the first time. I felt like I’d been transported backwards in time. It was an amazing feeling. Christmas in June.
But Saturday night it occurred to me that since those first few weeks I may have only used the computer once.
I took some photos of it and put it on Ebay at a price that covered my original investment plus the shipping I paid to get it all the way from Germany. I posted it and went to bed.
Then next morning when I woke up it had already sold. I dropped it off at the post office today.
It felt weird sending it off like that but deep down I figured if this buyer became passionate and engaged they’d offer the M65 community a lot more than I ever have. I sincerely hope that’s indeed what happens. And I look forward to living vicariously through Dan. At least for now.