18 Jun
1998
18 Jun
'98
2:49 p.m.
At 07:44 PM 6/18/98 -0700, Bruce Lane wrote:
Where did you get the idea that tape is so fragile?
I'd wager the ones you
encountered were either of very poor quality or were stored under adverse
conditions (high heat, high humidity, etc).
A side note: I've got VHS tapes that are 10-12 years old and still look the
same when played. I find that most tapes fail with heavy use, not age
deterioration.
-
- john higginbotham ____________________________
- webmaster www.pntprinting.com -
- limbo limbo.netpath.net -
18 Jun
18 Jun
2:57 p.m.
John Higginbotham wrote:
At 07:44 PM 6/18/98 -0700, Bruce Lane wrote:
I _think_ you guys are confusing a refrence to 'tape' (sticky, sealing,
scotch, etc.), with 'TAPE' (recording).
Chuck
Where did you get the idea that tape is so
fragile? I'd wager the ones you
encountered were either of very poor quality or were stored under adverse
conditions (high heat, high humidity, etc).
A side note: I've got VHS tapes that are 10-12 years old and still look the
same when played. I find that most tapes fail with heavy use, not age
deterioration.
-
- john higginbotham ____________________________
- webmaster www.pntprinting.com -
- limbo limbo.netpath.net - 
19 Jun
19 Jun
2:42 a.m.
At 22:57 18-06-98 -0400, you wrote:
I _think_ you guys are confusing a refrence to
'tape' (sticky, sealing,
scotch, etc.), with 'TAPE' (recording).
Ya know, I got that two minutes after I sent my reply.
Oops! ;-)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272)
(Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)jps.net)
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
18 Jun
18 Jun
9:16 p.m.
At 07:44 PM 6/18/98 -0700, Bruce Lane wrote:
John Hickenbotham added:
Where did you get the idea that tape is so
fragile? I'd wager the
ones you
encountered were either of very poor quality or were stored under adverse
conditions (high heat, high humidity, etc).
A side note: I've got VHS tapes that are 10-12
years old and still look the
same when played. I find that most tapes fail with heavy use, not age
deterioration.
To which I'll further add:
I have reel to reel audio tapes of field recordings I made in the
mid-sixties which are still quite playable. There may be a slight loss of
audio quality in the highs, but it's hard to tell since banjo picking
doesn't offer a lot of fidelity to begin with.
R.
--
Warbaby
The WebSite. The Domain. The Empire.
http://www.warbaby.com
The MonkeyPool
WebSite Content Development
http://www.monkeypool.com
Dreadlocks on white boys give me the willies.
10:41 p.m.
At 07:44 PM
6/18/98 -0700, Bruce Lane wrote:
John Hickenbotham added:
Where did you get the idea that tape is so
fragile? I'd wager the
ones you
encountered were either of very poor quality or were stored under adverse
conditions (high heat, high humidity, etc).
A side note: I've got VHS tapes that are 10-12
years old and still look the
same when played. I find that most tapes fail with heavy use, not age
deterioration.
To which I'll further add:
I have reel to reel audio tapes of field recordings I made in the
mid-sixties which are still quite playable. There may be a slight loss of
audio quality in the highs, but it's hard to tell since banjo picking
doesn't offer a lot of fidelity to begin with.
R. 
19 Jun
19 Jun
midnight
New subject: COMODORE=TANDY
I was looking around at http://www.patents.ibm.com
I discovered that Commodore Electronics held the
patent for the case of the TRS-80 CoCo2(3?), which makes me wonder if
they designed the rest of the computer for Radio Shack.
Any Edgeumacated guesses anyone...anyone :)
Chris Halarewich
3:46 p.m.
New subject: COMODORE=TANDY
Chris Halarewich wrote:
I was looking around at http://www.patents.ibm.com
I discovered that Commodore Electronics held the
patent for the case of the TRS-80 CoCo2(3?), which makes me wonder if
they designed the rest of the computer for Radio Shack.
Any Edgeumacated guesses anyone...anyone :)
I'd have to express some rather strong doubts. The CoCo 2/3 case was
essentially a streamlining of the CoCo 1 case, configured for the
non-chicklet keyboard and smaller mainboard. Point me to a specific
patent number -- I'm not saying it's impossible, but I was at Tandy
at the time and heard no rumors of deals with Commodore.
--
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_
22 Jun
22 Jun
3:01 a.m.
New subject: COMODORE=TANDY
I remember back in '98 when Ward Donald Griffiths III wrote:
Chris Halarewich wrote:
>
> I was looking around at http://www.patents.ibm.com
>
> I discovered that Commodore Electronics held the
> patent for the case of the TRS-80 CoCo2(3?), which makes me wonder if
> they designed the rest of the computer for Radio Shack.
>
> Any Edgeumacated guesses anyone...anyone :)
I recall that Commodore started buisness as a manufacturer of cases and
such, so this isn't too much of a surprise.
IIRC I read this in a book _The Secret Art of Computers_. I haven't
heard anything about the book in years, but I remember that it was pretty
interesting at the time (1987, 88?). My favortite part was the section
where the author examined programming in about 2 dozen languages,
from BASIC to FORTH to APL to SNOBOL .. and more.
Anyone know what happened to the book (I assume it is no longer published)
Matt
--
/* Matt Sayler -- mpsayler(a)zen.as.utexas.edu -- atwork?astronomy:cs
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/mpsayler -- (512)471-7450
Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations? */
25 Jun
25 Jun
6:56 p.m.
New subject: COMODORE=TANDY
On Mon, 22 Jun 1998, Matthew Sayler wrote:
I remember back in '98 when Ward Donald Griffiths
III wrote:
Actually, I think the _very_ first incarnation of Commodore was into
typewriter repair. From there they went into office furniture and
mechanical adding machines, then to electronic calculators and finally to
computers.
I'm constantly running into Commodore filing cabinets around here, in
places as diverse as The Montreal General Hospital, the Salvation Army
(which actually uses rows of Commodore book shelves with little metal "C=
Commodore" plates on them), local schools and even at garage sales. A
friend of mine had Commodore filing cabinets in his office where he worked
as a programmer, as well as at home.
My father had a Commodore programmable scientific calculator (PR-100)
which I have claimed, but which has unfortunately had its case smashed
to bits and is therefore now held together by glue-gun glue. That
calculator was my Dad's main mathematical tool for over a decade of
engineering work.
My father remembers seeing lots of Commodore adding machines where he
worked, too, and I've been hoping to find one in a junk shop somewhere,
but I've had no luck so far. (My brother has a Burroughs adding machine,
which is kind of cool.)
For a time, Commodore also made some digital watches, but I've never seen
one.
Apparently Commodore and Tandy were in negotiaions for the design of
Tandy's first personal computer, and Commodore showed them the PET but
failed to cut a deal. Probably because Radio Shack had just stolen
another machine and no longer needed Commodore's expertise. ;)
I've also read that Commodore attempted to buy out Apple, but Mike
Markkula got involved with Apple and convinced Jobs and The Woz not to
sell.
I don't know anything about Commodore involvement with the CoCo{2|3}
cases, though. Nor do I know why anyone would bother patenting something
like that.
The PET case maybe. It's pretty distinctive.
BTW, does anyone know what happened to the computer mockups that Porche
made for Commodore?
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/
Chris Halarewich wrote:
>
> I was looking around at http://www.patents.ibm.com
>
> I discovered that Commodore Electronics held the
> patent for the case of the TRS-80 CoCo2(3?), which makes me wonder if
> they designed the rest of the computer for Radio Shack.
>
> Any Edgeumacated guesses anyone...anyone :)
I recall that Commodore started buisness as a manufacturer of cases and
such, so this isn't too much of a surprise.
9677
days inactive
9685
days old
8 comments
8 participants
participants (8)
-
cad＠gamewood.net -
chrish＠knet.kootenay.net -
ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca -
gram＠cnct.com -
higginbo＠netpath.net -
kyrrin＠jps.net -
mpsayler＠zeke.as.utexas.edu -
rax＠warbaby.com