22 Apr
2007
22 Apr
'07
4:50 p.m.
On 22 Apr 2007 at 1:44, Jim Leonard wrote:
I wonder how many of the
PC-compatible-yet-goofy-hardware 808x clones
have been lost to the ages. I still own my AT&T PC 6300, proprietary
640x400 (not a typo) monitor and all, and consider it just barely
compatible enough to hold onto. (I have pretty high standards; I can
count the number of apps/games that will never run on it on both hands).
The Stearns was crippled by the fact that it used its own 16-bit bus
and cards (I think it had a single "works most of the time" 8-bit ISA
slot) It was boosted by some of the CDC and ETA contingent because
it was made in Minnesota.
One other fairly popular "nearly compatible" that I recall is the
Mitsubishi PC. Like the Convergent-designed 6300 It was a headache
for a lot of applications. Not really inferior to the 5150, but
different enough to be frustrating.
IIRC, the AT&T box was promoted pretty aggressively by the Sears
retail computer store operation. I remember dropping in at a nearby
store and asking about IBM gear and being told "We can order it for
you, but wouldn't you really like to buy an AT&T 6300?"
...while Sorcim's SuperWriter word processor -- a
fairly creampuff
app -- would lock the machine up.
If memory serves, Superwriter was not initially developed within
Sorcim. Most of Sorcim's internal effort concentrated on SuperCalc
and was probably the sole reason that CA acquired the company--after
the sale, most of the principals went their own way, with the
exception of Martin Herbach, who stayed on mostly as the repository
of SC knowledge. Building the product was a nightmare, involving
separate steps done on a VAX 11/730, a Compupro 85/88-equipped box
and a 5150. There was a substantial hunk of x80 code that had to be
automatically translated, as well as pieces of code in Pascal/MT and
x86 assembly. SC was a real patchwork--Marty was one of the very
few people who knew how to build it from scratch.
I've still got a never-used copy of SuperWriter--I refused to use it,
preferring to use their converter from WordStar. WYKIWYL--"what you
know is what you like". There was also SuperProject, project-
tracking software, which I never bothered to use.
Cheers,
Chuck