< 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)