CoCo3's & Legitimacy of the Ten Year Rule. - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

26 Jan 1999

On Sun, 24 Jan 1999, Roger Merchberger &lt;zmerch(a)30below.com&gt; wrote:
Subject: CoCo3's & Legitimacy of the Ten Year Rule.
] >On Sat, 23 Jan 1999, Bill Yakowenko wrote:
] >> 2. Nothing PC- or Mac-compatible can ever be classic.  Sorry, that's
] >>    just an indisputable fact.  :-)
] 
] But what about a "Mac Classic???" ;-) Methinks they're over 10 years old,
] and they have *classic* right in the name!!! ;-)

Oh boy, they guys at http://www.classic-computers.com/index.html must
be thrilled to suddenly be "on-topic"!  :-)

] >> 5. The ten year rule should apply to the date when a thing dropped off
] >>    in popularity; if it was still in common use eight years ago, it is
] >>    not yet classic.  (Justification: if it is still in common use,
] >>    there will be other places to discuss it.)
] 
] Erm, sorry... I (and I think most others would agree with me here) don't
] believe that would work correctly, either. My beloved CoCo3 is more than
] easily considered a classic here, as they *started* production in 1986 (and
] mine was the first one in over a 50 mile radius of my area), but they were
] still in production at least into 1990, and I know they were still in-stock
] items in Radio Shacks & RSCC's in 1990, maybe 1991.

I'm sorry to say this, being a bit of a CoCo nut myself, but if they
peaked within the past ten years, they are not yet classic.  Of course,
they are right on the edge here, so you'd get no flames from me for
posting about them.  I mean, they couldn't have peaked in popularity
after they were no longer being sold, right?  So that puts them at
eight or nine years; almost ripe.  But again, slightly off-topic !=
on-topic.

I'm guessing there will be a bell curve of opinion for any machine.
Maybe I'm in one of the tails.  Does everybody else think that this
should be an "everything but this-year's x86" list?

] Due to active production and showroom floor presentation, I submit they
] were in common use less than 10 years ago... yet considered a classic by
] most everyone (and me) here.

I just had a little revelation.  To me, classic means something more
than being old.  And being terribly common, like being in every house,
negates that.  When I think of classic computers, I think of machines
that had some personality, like a unique creation from an old sci-fi
movie.  Electronic brains.  Blinky lights.  Arcane OS's.  High voltage.
Made you feel like a mad scientist just to be able to dork around with
one.

CoCo's, as much as I like them, can't be that.  Those and Atari's and
Commie's and, yes, even Apple-2's are just too darn ordinary to be
classic in that way.  PDP's are classic because nobody (well, almost
nobody) has them at home.

I guess I'm unique in that.  So I'll stop the tirade now.  You've
still got to count my vote though.  :-)

	Cheers,
	Bill.

] BTW, my CoCo3's serial # is 102404... anyone know if there are different
] serial number series for US-sold versus Canadian-sold CoCo3's? I purchased
] mine in Canada; much cheaper!
] =====
] Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- zmerch(a)30below.com
] SysAdmin - Iceberg Computers
] =====  Merch's Wild Wisdom of the Moment:  =====
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