30 year-old Commodore Amiga still powering school district heating system

Rob Beschizza 8:00 am Fri Jun 12, 2015

amiga

Once again we must salute the greatest computer of all time, civilians.

The Commodore Amiga was new to GRPS in the early 1980s and it has been working tirelessly ever since. GRPS Maintenance Supervisor Tim Hopkins said that the computer was purchased with money from an energy bond in the 1980s. It replaced a computer that was “about the size of a refrigerator.”

The computer is responsible for turning the heat and the air conditioners on and off for 19 school buildings.

“The system controls the start/stop of boilers, the start/stop of fans, pumps, [it] monitors space temperatures, and so on,” Hopkins explained.

A Kentwood High School student programmed it when it was installed in the 1980s. Whenever the district has a problem with it, they go back to the original programmer who still lives in the area.

Apparently parts are getting hard to find, so they might have to upgrade to an Amiga 1200.

Someone should shoot a new sci-fi short using the original Amiga-powered Video Toaster.

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