1 May
1998
1 May
'98
12:32 a.m.
Okay, first, where do we stop with the 'was:' things as an interesting
thread evolves!?
There may be a limit to number of nested parentheses in a subject line! ;-)
At 16:52 30-04-98 -0500, Doug Yowza <yowza(a)yowza.com> wrote:
On Thu, 30 Apr 1998, Christian Fandt wrote:
Anybody know of a URL or printed reference to a photo of an Ampere, MINDSET
or eMate machine? Heard of them and I would like to see what they're like.
I have somewhere in my archives old Popular Electronics and Byte mags which
I'm sure show the others on Doug's list. Those NeXT machines were indeed
pleasing to look at. I wish I could find one nearby here to see up close
or/and purchase.
--Chris
-- --
Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian
Jamestown, NY USA
Member of Antique Wireless Association
URL: http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/
Thankfully, the metal/plastic boxes our old
computers were made with have
virtually no value as 'interior decorations' (yet). However, there could be
exceptions for maybe a couple of models. I recall some list members here
had commented upon some as being rather attractive in appearance. I haven't
come across those yet.
Hmm, a list of computers that look good enough to display as art? Here's
mine (most are laptops):
IMSAI 8080
GRiD Compass
Ampere WS1
MINDSET PC (good enough for MOMA, anyway)
NeXT Cube
eMate 300
-- Doug 
1 May
1 May
6:09 a.m.
On Fri, 1 May 1998, Christian Fandt wrote:
Anybody know of a URL or printed reference to a photo
of an Ampere, MINDSET
or eMate machine? Heard of them and I would like to see what they're like.
I have somewhere in my archives old Popular Electronics and Byte mags which
I'm sure show the others on Doug's list. Those NeXT machines were indeed
pleasing to look at. I wish I could find one nearby here to see up close
or/and purchase.
First, a clarification. When I said "here's mine", "mine" refers
to the
list, and not the computers on the list. Unfortunately, I only own about
half of the machines on the list, and I'm still looking for the other
half.
Anyway, URLs:
Ampere WS1:
http://www.insset.u-picardie.fr/museum/english/pages_museum/ampere.htm
MINDSET:
http://www.trailingedge.com/~dlw/comp/template.html?mindsetpc
eMate:
http://www.newtoninc.com/product_info/devices/emate300/emate300.html
-- Doug
1:41 p.m.
>Hmm, a list of computers that look good enough to
display as art? Here's
>mine (most are laptops):
>
>IMSAI 8080
>GRiD Compass
>Ampere WS1
>MINDSET PC (good enough for MOMA, anyway)
>NeXT Cube
>eMate 300
The big iron, well, tends to be just a bit too big for art, but the
cube-shaped Connection Machines surely belong on the list. Crays,
especially the newer ones, are quite pleasing to look at.
Computervision racks had strips of finished hardwood running down the
front panel, just for looks. Too bad the rest of the machine was rather
yucky.
Speaking of which, what are the ugliest machines?
William Donzelli
william(a)ans.net
4:56 p.m.
On Fri, 1 May 1998, Doug Yowza wrote:
On Fri, 1 May 1998, William Donzelli wrote:
That was only applicable to the Robie which was all 'dressed in black'.
It was a very different box from the usual Kaypro.
- don
donm(a)cts.com
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Don Maslin - Keeper of the Dina-SIG CP/M System Disk Archives
Chairman, Dina-SIG of the San Diego Computer Society
Clinging tenaciously to the trailing edge of technology.
Sysop - Elephant's Graveyard (CP/M) - 619-454-8412
*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*
see old system support at http://www.psyber.com/~tcj
visit the "Unofficial" CP/M Weg site at http://cdl.uta.edu/cpm
with Mirror at http://www.mathcs.emory.edu/~cfs/cpm
Speaking of which, what are the ugliest machines?
Kaypros. I've heard that George Morrow referred to them as "Darth Vadar
Lunch Boxes".
-- Doug 
6:32 p.m.
On Fri, 1 May 1998, Doug Yowza wrote:
On Fri, 1 May 1998, William Donzelli wrote:
I vote for the IBM PC. It made blandness an acceptable standard in
exterior case design. Before the PC more machines than not were
interesting to look at from the outside.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't blame me...I voted for Satan.
Coming in September...Vintage Computer Festival 2.0
See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!
[Last web page update: 04/25/98]
Speaking of which, what are the ugliest machines?
Kaypros. I've heard that George Morrow referred to them as "Darth Vadar
Lunch Boxes". 
4:40 p.m.
William Donzelli wrote:
Speaking of which, what are the ugliest machines?
Zenith desktop PCs, the ones that were delivered for all of those
federal contracts in the late 80s. Their laptops at that time were
things of beauty, but the "regular" machines were butt-ugly. A case
can be made for much of the AT&T 3B2 series as well, though that was
a rare case where the bigger boxes looked better than the smaller
unlike say Sun's.
--
Ward Griffiths
They say that politics makes strange bedfellows.
Of course, the main reason they cuddle up is to screw somebody else.
Michael Flynn, _Rogue Star_
6:35 p.m.
On Sat, 2 May 1998, R. Stricklin (kjaeros) wrote:
On Fri, 1 May 1998, William Donzelli wrote:
I'm actually keen on the contemporary Compaq designs and the cool Acer
designs with the neon colors and artistically drilled venting holes in the
dense pattern.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't blame me...I voted for Satan.
Coming in September...Vintage Computer Festival 2.0
See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!
[Last web page update: 04/25/98]
Speaking of which, what are the ugliest machines?
Apollo DOMAIN computers and every last intel based PC manufactured since
1993 and _especially_ since 1995. Except the new IBM GL machines which are
actually kind of nice. 
7:56 p.m.
This doesn't just apply to the visual aspects of the computer, right? As
far as the most artistically-funtional machines I've seen, the new HP
Vectras are my favourites. A true tool-less design, everything is designed
with ingenious slides and hooks and brackets. It also has some nice curves
on the front panel, but is otherwise very plain looking. Granted, one of
the fun things about working with classic systems is the nifty tools you
tend to accumulate, but it's easy to appreciate the thought and
inventiveness that has to go into making a machine that can be completely
disassembled using nothing but a coin.
Aaron
9731
days inactive
9732
days old
9 comments
8 participants
participants (8)
-
aaron＠wfi-inc.com -
cfandt＠servtech.com -
dastar＠wco.com -
donm＠cts.com -
gram＠cnct.com -
red＠bears.org -
william＠ans.net -
yowza＠yowza.com