abuse (Or "calculator") /bit'ee boks/ A computer sufficiently small, primitive, or incapable as to cause a hacker acute claustrophobia at the thought of developing software on or for it. The term is especially used of small, obsolescent, single-tasking-only
personal computers such as the Atari 800,
Osborne,
Sinclair,
VIC-20,
TRS-80 or
IBM PC, but the term is a general pejorative opposite of "real computer" (see
Get a real computer!).
See also
mess-dos,
toaster,
toy.
(1994-11-29)