Info about Z80 machine

On 25/09/2013 07:21, Mouse wrote: This debate is as hold as the hills. I see the same argument mentioned everywhere, I hear it with "software bloat" and cars with computers but , and I guess its the same in the US as in the UK. No one will admit to buying a phone or a piece of software or a car or a TV because its simple to use. No we buy it because its "feature rich". It been a while but look at any comparison list in any "buyers" magazine and it will contain grids of features and folks buy them because of the more features. I remember when I was working supporting Microsoft Exchange to PROFS/SNADS connectivity tools in the UK, around 1997. There was a tick box next to Outlook saying you could use Word to compose your Exchange e-mails. At the time Lotus Notes was the main competition and Gartner was predicting a 50/50 split between Notes and Exchange. So as Notes didn't have that "tick box" lotus came out with a "Feature" that allowed you to compose e-mails in Notes with Word.It was totally useless as you could only read the mails with Word and I don't know any one that used it, but it filled in the tick box! Madness.... I guess it goes back to this mis-quote :- "You can fool most of the people some of the time... which is just long enough to get elected... But I would disagree with "it is difficult", it isn't!... expensive perhaps but difficult no! In the UK simple mobiles are widely available. I have a brand new Nokia C1-02 as provided by my employer. It sits in my pocket for about a week till it beeps as its battery is getting low and it wants feeding. Worse than a cat. Its revued here:- http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/nokia-c1-02-review-50003257/ but note it gets 3.5 out of 5, and Nokia can't make money out it and have sold out to Microsoft. Why , well in the UK networks subsidise most phones. Some one who buys a simple phone is usually some one who isn't going to make many calls, or spend on data. They have it for essential use. Some one who has say a Sony Experia T (my personal phone) will probably buy extra services like data, so the network makes money, the phone maker gets their phones subsidised by the networks and make money, and we fall for it every time. I make more calls per month on the Experia than I do in a year on the Nokia... By the way I don't think there is any difference in call quality between either phone. The Experia T is fine. As for VOIP much dep[ends on the "last leg". My son lives in an apartment block in Salt Lake City and when he "Facetimes" my wife, Ipad to Ipad (Skype for apple users btw) it works fine if he leaves the apparment with shared broadband and goes to the local cofee shop. Full Duplex voice seems fine given the path length and propogation delays.. (analogue voice east pondia to west pondia never was good for duplex because of the echo cancellation required)... By the way if you want a real simple easy to use phone "Doro" are also good and available in the US... http://www.dorousa.us/ but again pricey, and in many ways the on-screen dialling on the Experia is as easy to use as as the buttons on the Doro my dad had till he passed away last Christmas... Dave G4UGM -- Dave Wade G4UGM Illegitimi Non Carborundum