I figured, but in my defense, it's supposed to be a benign statement. We're a social species and being 'shamed' and 'pressured' into conforming is part of the contract (obviously within reason). Nobody runs around naked yelling obscenities partly because of social 'shaming'. That's all I meant, and I thought I qualified it sufficiently. Guess not.
>I find it futile to try to justify that interest to others.
I don't think you need to justify it. It's a quirky hobby but completely benign and seems fun and interesting. I don't have a problem with OP loving his Newton either, though if you put up a blog post extolling the virtues of the Newton over modern smartphones you HAVE to expect some eye-rolls.
>this is not easy to do without sounding pretentious.
Yeah, though that's subject to individual interpretation. For some, someone using certain words will be pretentious.
The norms around computers are funny. While we accept the enthusiast who might show off a 1959 El Camino or vintage Les Paul guitar, we needlessly question one who cherishes an Amiga 3000 [2]. Rather than espouse the technical merits of a piece of vintage computing (which will inevitably be obsolete), we should be able to articulate our appreciation for the aesthetic and historical qualities of that technology as well. As computers are judged almost entirely by utilitarian value, this is not easy to do without sounding pretentious.
[1] https://github.com/supernintendo/supernintendo.github.io
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXrM97yhbM8