18 Nov
1997
18 Nov
'97
7:42 p.m.
On Tue, 18 Nov 1997 20:39:02 -0500, Roger Merchberger
<zmerch(a)northernway.net> wrote:
Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep
deprivation, Bill Richman said:
Did I say they would? I said "If they were made for more than 2
years... there'd be lots of them, and probably clones". How long was
each of those models manufactured? More than 2 years?
How about making the rule something to the effect
of "Systems older
than 20 years, or which were actively produced for less than _x_ (2?)
years running" ? Too complicated?
Worse than just complicated... I own 15 classic machines, and I seriously
doubt any of them would fall under that rule...
At least it would cover almost all
of the "unique" machines. If they were made for more than 2 years,
they probably didn't end up being all that unique, because there would
be lots of them, and probably clones to boot, if they were that
successful.
Since when would a CoCo 1/2/3 be a clone??? They're rather unique (uses the
MC6809, had a realtime, multiprocessing, multiprogramming OS available for
it... etc.)
How about the MC-10? Only computer on the market (that I know of) to use
the MC6803 processor, etc.
The Tandy 600 -- first laptop with a built-in floppy...
Atari ST series-- first computer (again, that I know of) that came with
MIDI ports as standard equipment...
Amiga series -- first computer to come with a voice generator as standard
equipment...
What's _your_ definition of unique? Even with all my systems, I would have
to sorrowfully say goodbye to the list... <sniff> :-(
I guess it depends on your point of view. My collection includes:
IMSAI 8080 (which I built when they first came out), NorthStar
Horizon, KIM-1, MC-10, Compaq luggable, H-89s, Timex-Sinclair 1000s,
CoCos, PC-Juniors, C-64s, VIC-20s, Panasonic Pocket Computers, many
varieties of PC and XT, Tandy 1000, TRS-80 Model 1's (with the voice
synthesizer in the silver particle-board box!), some Zenith laptops,
Mac 128, Mac Plus, and a bunch of mechanical and discrete-transistor
calculators from Friden, Victor, HP, TI, etc. I'm not here to argue
over the validity of the technology - just to enjoy the company of
others who love the stuff as much as I do. I suppose now that they're
no longer produced, my Virtual Boy, i-glasses, and Power Glove will be
"classics" someday too. Most of the things in my collection are
"unique" in some way; I thought the discussion was about how to
verbally define what it is we talk about here in 10 words or less.
(By the way - does anyone remember the Tandy Computers 1978 catalog
with the Z-80 chip picture on the front? The one with the Vector 1,
IMSAI, Xitan, Equinox, Poly 88, Sol, SWTPC, Intecolor, and other S-100
goodies in it? I found the one I've been saving for the last 19 years
just the other day - I'd forgotten about it. And does anyone have an
Intecolor in their collection?)
-Bill Richman
bill_r(a)inetnebr.com
http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"When they took the fourth amendment, I was quiet because I didn't deal drugs.
When they took the sixth amendment, I was quiet because I was innocent.
When they took the second amendment, I was quiet because I didn't own a gun.
Now they've taken the first amendment, and I can say nothing about it."
-www.paranoia.com