test-drb November 2006

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

220 participants
452 discussions

1983 Micro prices (was Re: The Origins of DOS)

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

BBC Micro everybody had one!! -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Jules Richardson Sent: 01 November 2006 10:44 To: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: 1983 Micro prices (was Re: The Origins of DOS) Chris M wrote: >>> What this implies is that the PC was several years >> delayed in UK. >> >> No, this implies I was quoting from a magazine. > > I've heard stuph to the effect that there wasn't alot of Big Blue > stuph in the UK, at least not in the early days. Not on the desktop - I think there were a fair few 'server' class systems around though. But yes, my understanding is that the PC just didn't take off in the UK like it did in the USA (and elsewhere?). Remember that the UK had a massive amount of choice when it came to general desktop machines - quite probably more so than the USA did. UK society at the time was very much "squeeze every last possible drop out of what you had", whilst the impression I've got of the US was that people were far more willing to upgrade systems reasonably frequently to whatever the latest thing available was. > Research Machines was a big name though, and common. In education, yes. Not so much for home or business use, though. What timeframe are we talking - say 1982 to 1985 or so? The education market was split primarily between Research Machines and Acorn, with a few others picking up the scraps. The home computer market was amazingly diverse, but frequent names were Sinclair, Acorn and Commodore. The corporate world of desktops was similarly diverse (with the likes of CP/M crates, Commodore, Apple, and IBM all featuring) - but there were also a huge number of business people making use of the same machines that were found in the home. Often these people were talented enough to write their own bespoke software to manage their business, but there was a healthy market in 'business' software written for these machines too. A while back I came up with a list of early-80s UK computer manufacturers (in order to see how much space we'd need for a UK-specific room at the museum). It ended up being pretty massive... > I still want the blooming Nimbus Good grief, why? They're pretty nasty. If you want something from RML, go for a 380Z or a 480Z - those are 'real' computers; the 380Z has that lovely rugged 'military' feel to it with all the fun of a modular system (albeit without a rigid backplane :-) whilst the 480Z is a great example of good design, both hardware and packaging. cheers Jules

17 years, 8 months

Correction to a looooooong ago post!

by evan＠snarc.net

Way back in July 1999, someone wrote thus: >>> Byte Magazine first used the term "laptop" in reference to a production computer, after viewing the Epson HX-20 at a trade show in November 1981. <<< The original post is here: http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/1999-July/130419.html .... but it's not true! Recently I looked through all the Byte issues from that time period and found the reference in question, which was in the Feb. 1982 issue. In the issue's main editorial, on page 14, Chris Morgan referred to "...an intriguing prototype of the Epson HX-20 personal computer... The beginning of a new trend to what I call 'briefcase' computers: battery-operated machines that combine portability with powerful computer features. It's the sort of design that will appeal to people on the move." Byte's earliest use of "laptop" that I could find wasn't until the Jan. 1984 issue, in an article called "Portables--1984 and Beyond" by Dave Winer. I contacted Dave and he said he heard the term from Ester Dyson, but Ester said she doesn't recall saying it. She did say that "luggable" was her term, referring to the suitcase-sized computers. Byte did write about "lap" computers a couple of times in 1983, but not "laptops" per se. I'm bringing this up now because I have seen a few recent web references which cite the 1999 post as fact. Can anyone show me (not just say they remember) a pre-Jan. 1984 reference to the word "laptop" in the context of portable computers? I searched on Lexis-Nexus but the results were flawed. Apparently someone tagged all the pre-1984 references to "mobile" and "portable" computers with the word "laptop" which may be logical for most searchers but doesn't help me at all. - Evan

17 years, 8 months

New monitors on old machines

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

right...so whos in charge of that dept? --- cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org <Watzman at neo.rr.com> wrote: > Re: "Indeed, a series of DACs would be needed to convert the T2K TTL to > analog for modern monitors but it doesn't solve the scanning frequency." > > The level issue is easily solved with just a couple of resistors. > > The real problem is the scan rates. > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Music Unlimited Access over 1 million songs. http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited

17 years, 8 months

New monitors on old machines

by Watzman＠neo.rr.com

Re: "Indeed, a series of DACs would be needed to convert the T2K TTL to analog for modern monitors but it doesn't solve the scanning frequency." The level issue is easily solved with just a couple of resistors. The real problem is the scan rates.

17 years, 8 months

quads and imagedisk

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

no problemo. At least the Tandy 2000 variety. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail. http://new.mail.yahoo.com

17 years, 8 months

Craziest ebay price EVER

by evan＠snarc.net

Not that I or anyone else really needs another Apple IIe, but fyi: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140044907978

17 years, 8 months

Litton disc drives

by aek＠bitsavers.org

The drive is a CDC 9762. The tape is a variant of the Cipher 880

17 years, 8 months

X10 Hall light (was New monitors on old machines)

by dm561＠torfree.net

--------------Original Message: From: Roger Merchberger <zmerch-cctalk at 30below.com> Subject: Re: New monitors on old machines >my X10 setup won't work thru the ol' knob-n-tube (already tested >that) installed in my house -- depending on which circuit's going thru >which fuse. However, I've been slowly rewireing the place where I can - >specifically so I can use the X10 modules I have. I doubt that the knob-n-tube is the problem; have run X10 stuff 100% reliably in my ancient 3-story knob & tube house for a decade (except for the occasional module failure). The RF stuff is another story however... Have you tried the .1 uf phase coupling cap (or the "official" phase coupler)? >> 2) train your dog how to work a light switch >He died a few months ago. :-( Sorry to hear it; so did my cat... :-( >> 3) switch with delay >Hadn't thought of that... might have to check the lighting shops here to >see what they have in stock... While you're there, look for a wall switch with IR sensor & delay; sounds perfect for your app, although you might have trouble finding one that'll work in your 3-way setup (if you'd still need it). >7) Three way switch at the other enough of the hall. >It's already on a three-way switch with the bottom of the stairs... do they >make 4-way switches? Yes, but that'd require additional wiring. >And everyone forgot #8: Win a home remodeling contest so I can get $100,000 >so I can afford to pay someone *else* to gut & redo the house in an >expedient manner. ;-) Can't beat that! m

17 years, 8 months

FA: LOT (9) HP MDL 9825B DIGITAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS

by legalize＠xmission.com

Pics: <http://web.govliquidation.com/auction/view_photo?eventId=2619&lotNumber=100…> Lot: <http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=1034224&convertTo=USD> -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>

17 years, 8 months

FA: HP 7970E digital tape unit

by legalize＠xmission.com

Dunno what this is, but its from Hooks/Texarkana which seems to be disposing of lots of minicomputer stuff over the past year. Photos: <http://web.govliquidation.com/auction/view_photo?eventId=2619&lotNumber=532…> Lot: <http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=1025334&convertTo=USD> -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>

17 years, 8 months

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test-drb November 2006