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101090 discussions

Past Computer Manufacturers (fwd from mailbase)

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<8-Track was such a corporate 'Soap Opera'. I'm a little bit <surprised that endless loop recording wasn't used much for computer <data back then. You missed something then. EXATRON Stringy floppy (used tiny carts with 1/8" wide tape) There are at least two that used modified 8track drives. Forgot their names. I tried 8tr for data, it was ok but the wait even for a 3minutes loop was painful. Allison

28 years, 4 months

No Subject

by Marty＠itgonline.com

Re: Early PC kit mfgr? If I'm not mistaken this sounds like the MITS (Altair 8800) story. An excellent source of information relating to early pc history can be found in the book 'Hackers' by Steven Levy, published in 1984. It was available in paperback (mine is falling apart). Marty Mintzell

28 years, 4 months

No Subject

by Marty＠itgonline.com

Re: Possible source for parts Now that the Psychic Hotline so fervently pitched by Dionne Warwick has filed for bankruptcy (go figure > these were the REAL PSYCHICS, not those other phony ones) I suppose we should expect to see infomercials for 'The Gold Recovery Expert' on late night cable. I can't wait. Anyway, I don't think this guy is a crook, just another gold digger. I agree with Zane, don't expect to get any spare parts from this guy unless you want to pay by the Troy ounce. For a reputable scrap dealer look under scrap/salvage in your local yellow pages. Marty Mintzell

28 years, 4 months

Disk problems/questions.

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<Yes, the head widths are different, but I have always been under the <impression that using the /f or /f:360 switch with format changes the wri <current on the drive to adjust for the different coercitivity (sp?) of th Assuming the drive/controller are correctly configured. My FD55Gs have three different jumpers for write current, speed and a dual function one. Of course the media must match the write current/speeds. The narrower head is a big factor as it is optimized for a narrower track and the gap dimensions are tuned a bit for that. When I first encounterd it I could not understand it and then I O'scoped a pair of drives and the read on a 360k(48tpi) drive data from a track written on a 96tpi and the data waveforms were terrible. Too much noise from the periphery of the adjacent track and effectively less than half the magnetic strength imparted on the read head. Having played seriously with magnetics the media and head do have to be matched. This however does not solve the posters question. My cut on that is if the media was created on a know good 360k drive and it doesn't read right on a unknown drive, one of them is broken. ;) Allison

28 years, 4 months

Disk problems/questions.

by bmpete＠swbell.net

I have encountered a puzzling problem and hope for some insight; I've been trying to verify my box of DSDD floppy drives (On-topically >10 years old) so I set up a 386DX-33 (Consider it a perpiperal to my older systems) After configuring B: to 360KB, I can format/verify a diskette. When I run Norton DD, (Ver. 6.01, IIRC) it says the disk, and I assume the drive, is/are fine. When I run Scandisk (MSDOS 6.22) it says the Media Descriptor Byte is wrong and warns of dire consequences. It also says the FAT copy is wrong! I check the Media Descriptor byte, before and after Scandisk fixes it, and it's always $FD. Does Scandisk have a bug WRT 360KB disks? I'm tempted to ignore it, but... _______________ Barry Peterson bmpete(a)swbell.net Husband to Diane, Father to Doug, Grandfather to Zoe and Tegan.

28 years, 4 months

Real hackers

by photze＠batelco.com.bh

><From CLASSICCMP-owner(a)u.washington.edu Wed Feb 11 17:59:22 1998 > ><People try, but the age of hacking is gone. Right now, there is just ><nothing exciting in the computing industry. Wait till holographic ><memory, and so on. As for people who think that they are "hackers" and > >You got to be kidding. Just look around the edges at things like >autonomus robots and navagation to suggest a few. Theres plenty to be >done. Yes, and one of the most evedeint (to me) is Artificial Intelligence. If they're programmers that can do it, they'll probably be hackers. And, you can tie that in with robotics, etc. to make a true human-computer interface, something which could completely revolutionize what we're doing, or, better yet, trying to do.

28 years, 4 months

disk equals license

by higginbo＠netpath.net

At 09:23 PM 2/11/98 -0600, you wrote: >It really depends upon the company, I imagine, but I support the notion >that if your dumpster set is the last version purchased for that license, >(i.e., the former owner hasn't upgraded and is no longer using the program) >then sure, you can upgrade it. If, however, that's not the last version, >then it is not a valid version. But if you don't know if it is the latest version on that license, is it really hurting the company? If I'm dumpster diving for this stuff, it stands to reason that I wouldn't normally buy that same product in the store. >eliminate any of those, you can reduce the price. Downloading software >with on-line manuals eliminates the media and packaging cost, so that is >often cheaper. That's one thing that gets me: Software coming out today with no manuals still cost the same ammount when first released as earlier manual included packages. >The SPA has done that -- to set examples. But realistically, I wouldn't >worry about it. I never do. :) -John Higginbotham- -limbo.netpath.net-

28 years, 4 months

disk equals license

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 12:24 PM 2/11/98 -0500, you wrote: >Sounds legit to me. If I found a disk set of Autodesk 3d Studio in the >dumpster, just the disks, no manuals, I'd sure as heck use it, but wouldn't >expect any company support. If I then came across a higher version for that >product and it was cheaper if you already owned a previous version (say it >takes the older version disk to upgrade to newer, then I'd expect to pay >the cheaper price, because it is upgrading the program found on my original It really depends upon the company, I imagine, but I support the notion that if your dumpster set is the last version purchased for that license, (i.e., the former owner hasn't upgraded and is no longer using the program) then sure, you can upgrade it. If, however, that's not the last version, then it is not a valid version. As I see it, there is a reason for offering an upgrade discount. The cost of a piece of software is made up of several things: development costs, media/packaging costs, support costs, and (of course) profit. If you can eliminate any of those, you can reduce the price. Downloading software with on-line manuals eliminates the media and packaging cost, so that is often cheaper. If you sell a piece of software to someone who already knows how to use it, you can budget a lower support cost, hence the upgrade price. Fishing a set of disks out of the dumpster does not necessarily reduce your expected support needs; in some cases it may (hey, if you're dumpster diving for software, you're probably not a newbie) and in some cases, it might increase your need for support ("I installed this software, but it won't run" [three hours later] "oh, you're missing the frobnitzer disk. I'll send it to you."). (Note that making your software compatible with XYZ, the most popular program can reduce support needs as well, hence the competitive upgrade idea.) >I'm sure any cold blooded lawyer worth his salt could tear down my logic >and send me to the big house for having those disks and running them, but >how many would take the time, effort and money to try? The SPA has done that -- to set examples. But realistically, I wouldn't worry about it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/

28 years, 4 months

Slipsticks and calculators and a clock

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<At 16:37 2/4/98 -0500, Allison wrote: <><>My first one was the SR-10...the <><>"wedge". $110, IIRC....Was that TI's first? <> <>Not by a long shot. The first was in late '71 and went for about $140 <>(8digit 4banger). I had one going into EE school. < <But that WAS the SR-10. No it was not. the sr-10 was two years later and wedge shaped. This was barely pocket sized and not wedge shaped. the sr10 has a few things this one didn't like constant. I also have an SR11. Allison

28 years, 4 months

Early PC kit mfgr?

by wpe＠interserv.com

Someone related a story to me about a company (now defunct, and he couldn't remember the name) in the Southwest, that manufactured calculators... Supposedly, in an effort to obtain a loan (and thus, stave off bankruptcy), they told a lending institution that they wanted to "manufacture computers for the home hobbyist market, in kit form"... Supposedly, word got out, and they received copious orders (which I presume (never got the details)) they couldn't fill... Anybody know the "story behind the story", or was this guy "snowing" me? Will

28 years, 4 months

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