> > really think the engineers blew it. The original OS is too innovative,
> > so much that the computer is nearly unuseable.
>
> I wouldn't think that "too innovative" would result in a lesser rating fo
> "technical" aspects (at least in the realm of computer history/collecting
> the "real" world is a different matter (see "success"...))
Lest we forget the LISA was the Prototype system for the mac!
Allison
> I am looking for
>
> IBM PC Junior
> Apple II
> TRS-80 (model I)
I think I have a couple of trash-80's in the back room. One with disks, one
without. Do they say "model 1"? (I don't know these at all)
Does have a Lisa he/she wants to unload?
I also have several, nice-condition Commodore boxes that I'd hate to pitch.
As long as we're in the subject of trading, I have several years of PPC (HP
programmable calculator user group) that I'd *love* to find a home for
of...absolutely fascinating stuff, including the origin of Ulam's
conjecture.
Whats wrong with plain old ascii text.
----------
> From: Paul E Coad <pcoad(a)crl.com>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Re: Archive file formats (RE: Archiving Stuff)
> Date: Wednesday, June 25, 1997 8:47 PM
>
>
> Kai,
>
> Nice initial stab at some standards. I am a little concerned that this
> is a bit PC-centric. I would like to make sure that those of us on the
> fringe (not using Windows machines or Macs) don't get left out. This
> may mean lowering the standards to be a little more inclusive.
>
> Maybe these are all cross-platform standards, I don't know. Can any of
> the VMS/AmigaOS/TOS/whatnotOS people read and write all of these formats?
>
> I'm not trying to start a religious war. I want to be able to make use
> of and possibly contribute to the archive.
>
> On Wed, 25 Jun 1997, Kai Kaltenbach wrote:
>
> > Hey, figuring out standards like this is what I do. I recommend:
> >
> > JPEG for photo scans (brochures, ads, etc.)
> > - It's the Internet photo file format standard
>
> xv can be used to view these so Unix/X is covered.
>
> >
> > Compressed 1-bit, 300 dpi TIFF for schematics
> > - Almost everything supports TIFF, including tons of shareware and
> > Wang's free image processing add-on for Win95
> > (http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/info/wang.htm)
> > - 1-bit means monochrome (not grayscale). Use JPEG for images.
> > - Images should be 300 dpi, 8 1/2" x 11", i.e. 2550 x 3300 (don't worry
> > about scanning white space, it takes no space at all when compressed)
> >
>
> I'm not so sure that "everything" supports TIFF. After a little looking,
> I couldn't even find a TIFF file to test with xv.
>
> Is there a reason that postscript cannot be used? Most of the schematics
> out there that I have seen have been postscript files.
>
> > TXT for text documents that don't use formatting
> > - 80-column with carriage returns please
>
> Text is good.
>
> >
> > RTF (Rich Text Format) for text documents that use formatting
> > - WordPerfect, Word, WordPad, etc. will save in this format
> >
>
> Is there anything under Unix which can read and/or write RTF?
>
> Why not use postscript for publishing the formatted documents?
>
> --pec
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Saved From The Dumpster Collection:
http://www.crl.com/~pcoad/machines.html
>
At 11:03 PM 6/24/97 -0400, you wrote:
>I'm a trivia freak, and computer trivia's fun. Old computers are great
Anyone remember a trivial-pursuit-like Computer Trivia game? It was being
touted at one of the last West Coast Computer Faires here in San Francisco.
Anyone have a copy?
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
sinasohn(a)crl.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
At 08:38 AM 6/25/97 -0400, you wrote:
>technical - foul - It seems that the Lisa should do better here, but I
> really think the engineers blew it. The original OS is too innovative,
> so much that the computer is nearly unuseable.
I wouldn't think that "too innovative" would result in a lesser rating for
"technical" aspects (at least in the realm of computer history/collecting;
the "real" world is a different matter (see "success"...))
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
sinasohn(a)crl.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
At 11:33 PM 6/24/97 -0400, you wrote:
>And don't forget the Workslate from Convergent. It was the slickest laptop
Anyone know where to find one of these? I'd sure like to add one to my
collection!
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
sinasohn(a)crl.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
In a message dated 97-06-22 05:13:35 EDT,maynard(a)jmg.com (J. Maynard Gelinas)
wrote:
> I have an opportunity for an original Apple II. Keyboard
> works, the system prom boots, but unfortunately he lost the disk
> controller. He still has the old full height 5 1/4" drive, however. This
> thing is quite dirty, and a few keys will have to be cleaned carefully
> with alchol, but it looks good. I'm curious to know if I need to find
> anything other than the floppy controller. Didn't Microsoft Basic come on
> a prom card? Or was that on the floppy controller card? Or was there at
> one point a mixed controller/BASIC card?
Any Apple disk II controller will work. Apple originally offered an Integer
basic card (which contained integer basic in rom) for the Apple II+ series.
This solution was replaced by the 16K language card in slot 0. As part of the
boot up sequence DOS 3.3 would determine which basic was resident in rom and
load the other basic into the 16K on the language card. There was no mixed
controller/basic card. Language cards are plentiful and cheap so you should
have no trouble finding one.
Hope this helps.
Lou
> Remember it? If it's what I am thinking of, I was doing it a couple of
> weeks ago. You are talking about a 'Coconut', right (explanation of that
> codename also on request - it has _nothing_ to do with the Tandy CoCo).
> Nowadays I do something similar. I create a GROB with the right bit
> patterns, use the SystemRPL 'Get' routine to remove the header, and thus
> create new objects.
Wouldn't it be easier to create the object on something else (like that
PDP-11 sitting in the corner) and then just download it using Kermit?
I built a set of macros for M80 to create Chip-8 code I could download
>from my DECmate, but I never cobbled together a real assembler for the
beast...
Roger Ivie
ivie(a)cc.usu.edu
Why do I play with old computers?
I love collecting oddball stuff, just to consider what people could do...in
what directions the industry could have gone. I play with old software
(Visicalc, Concurrent DOS, and others) and trace their influences on
today's WINtel products...and you know? as clunky as those old programs
are, today's software is a direct descendant of many classic programs.
I'm a trivia freak, and computer trivia's fun. Old computers are great
trivia. (here's a good one for everyone...does anyone remember "synthetic
programming"? Explanation on request.)
I recondition old PC's, because -- then -- it puts an *affordable* PC into
someone's hands. Unused machinery distresses me. Good machinery trashed
makes me really ill. Why do we (USA) throw so much away?
I loved computers from my first programmable calculator (1978...a TI-58). I
lusted after many higher-priced units of the day. I can satisfy my ex-lusts
now for -- sometimes -- a few bucks.
I see the earlier stuff I have on the shelf increasing in value. Hey I'm
not in business for my health!
And...so you watch TV in the evening. Well, I hate TV and don't watch it.
Does that make it bad? I read old issues of Punch Magazine, sci-fi and play
with old machines. We all should have *something* different to do, or else
we'd be alike, and who would I talk to, to keep me interested?
