11 Jun
1997
11 Jun
'97
4:09 a.m.
At 04:25 PM 6/10/97 -0500, you wrote:
Somewhere in the back of my head I had the idea that a
TDP-100
was a Coco with added serial hardware included so that Radio
Shack could sell it as a color video terminal. Does anyone
else remember this, or am I completely out of my mind?
They did sell a "VideoTex" terminal that sure looked like a coco. Sold it
for use with CompuServe, (among others,) as I recall. Perhaps this is what
you're thinking of?
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
sinasohn(a)crl.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
11 Jun
11 Jun
5:23 a.m.
New subject: VideoText
Somewhere in
the back of my head I had the idea that a TDP-100
was a Coco ... that Radio Shack could sell it as a color
video terminal.
They did sell a "VideoTex" terminal that sure looked like a coco. Sold
it
for use with CompuServe, (among others,) as I recall. 
12:38 a.m.
New subject: VideoText
Somewhere in the back of my head I had the idea that a
TDP-100
was a Coco ... that Radio Shack could sell it as a color
video terminal.
They did sell a "VideoTex" terminal that sure looked like a coco. Sold
it
for use with CompuServe, (among others,) as I recall. 
8:12 a.m.
New subject: VideoText
Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep deprivation, Jeff Lodoen said:
there are surely some in this crowd who remember the excitement over
VideoText back in the early 80's.
A little confusion. CompuServe had VidTex, which was a simple
protocol to automatically transmit and display graphics. (mono,
RLE encoded)
VideoText was something else...
Ah, yes, but "VideoTex" was something else, as well. There was a VideoTex
machine based on the CoCo1 from Radio Shack, and the name of the first
telecommunications package for the Color Computer was also called VideoTex
(still have my copy...)
One of the original (intended) uses for the standalone VideoTex was as an
affordable machine for farmers to get up-to-the-minute weather and crop
reports, IIRC. I'm also not sure, but CompuServe might have had a hand in
the project, prolly as the online connection to try to make this thing a
reality, and that might explain the similar names between the machine and
the protocol. Keep in mind that CompuSlurp back in those days was a
text-only online service, and that the weather reports (again, IIRC) were
supposed to include graphical data...
Hope this jars a few neurons for more important folk than I,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger
--
Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed,
Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should
zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.
Somewhere in
the back of my head I had the idea that a TDP-100
was a Coco ... that Radio Shack could sell it as a color
video terminal.
They did sell a "VideoTex" terminal that sure looked like a coco. Sold
it
for use with CompuServe, (among others,) as I recall. 
8:54 a.m.
New subject: VideoText
On Wed, 11 Jun 1997, Roger Merchberger wrote:
"VideoTex" was the name of all of the products we sold to connect to
CompuSlave. The terminal, the CoCo ROMPak, the tape and disk programs
for Mod 1/2/3/4 and for Apple ][. It was essentially a no-brainer
VT-52 emulator with the ability to display the in-line low resolution
graphics that CompuSlave sent. On the CoCo (as on the VideoTex
terminal), it wasn't too bad. The graphics was aesthetically very
deficient on the mono systems. The terms "VideoTex" and VidTex" were
interchangeable -- the filename of the software was "VIDTEX".
A little
confusion. CompuServe had VidTex, which was a simple
protocol to automatically transmit and display graphics. (mono,
RLE encoded)
VideoText was something else...
Ah, yes, but "VideoTex" was something else, as well. There was a VideoTex
machine based on the CoCo1 from Radio Shack, and the name of the first
telecommunications package for the Color Computer was also called VideoTex
(still have my copy...) One of the original (intended) uses for the standalone
VideoTex was as an
affordable machine for farmers to get up-to-the-minute weather and crop
reports, IIRC. I'm also not sure, but CompuServe might have had a hand in
the project, prolly as the online connection to try to make this thing a
reality, and that might explain the similar names between the machine and
the protocol. Keep in mind that CompuSlurp back in those days was a
text-only online service, and that the weather reports (again, IIRC) were
supposed to include graphical data...
"AgriStar" was a totally different setup, that we didn't get much call
for at my RSCC in downtown Los Angeles. I never saw it in action, but
it was much more than weather reports. CompuSlave was not involved,
to the best of my recollection. But by the time AgriStar became a
product, almost all of my attention and learning curve were dedicated
to the Model 16 series and Xenix. (As much of it continues to this
date, as I have a Tandy 6000 even yet, as well as AT&T 7300s running
their Unix variant by Convergent Technologies, SCO Xenix Unix and
OpenServer, AT&T SysV/386, Solaris and several packagings of Linux --
at work all I have is AIX and Solaris).
--
Ward Griffiths
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within
the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." --Claire Wolfe
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4 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
gram＠cnct.com -
groberts＠mitre.org -
jlodoen＠mega.megamed.com -
sinasohn＠crl.com -
zmerch＠northernway.net