Chuck Guzis wrote:
More prowling around yields more stuff...
I've discovered that I've got the full set of developer's documentation for
the Atari ST (regular and Mega) from around 1988 or so. This is a thick
hunk of paper--I kept it in 2 3-inch binders and one 1 1/2" one. It
includes Volume 1, No. 1 and No.2 of the "Atari Forum" newsletter.
It's got lots of stuff about programming under GEM and TOS, datasheets for
the various components, engineering documents, Q&A's for developers, etc.
IOW, everything a ST software developer might ever need.
I don't think that I ever did anything with this after I unpacked it. The
material is in pristine condition.
I don't think that the NDA that I signed as part of this deal is in effect,
so I believe that I can pass it on without fear of whoever now owns the
Atari IP and licenses getting their revenge on me.
Is this worth anything or is this curbside recycling material?
*possibly* to a hard-core Atari geek. But it's more likely useful stuff
to a museum (the assumption being that it's obvious via the web say that
the museum has it). It might sit on a shelf for years before anyone asks
about it, but at least it's there for safe-keeping and might be relevant
to someone's project one day.
Better that than for it to get thrown out and for someone to find years
down the line that it was the last surviving copy!
Sometimes stuff like this also gives a nice insight into the way a
company works and how they produced their products too, which might be
relevant to a future museum display which focuses on that manufacturer
(I hang onto equivalent stuff from Acorn for that reason; it's nice to
see where some of their ideas and concepts came from and when they were
first thought of). Masses of work to plough through stuff like that of
course, but at least it's saved for a rainy day when someone wants to do so.
cheers
Jules