[SPAM] [Coco] philosphical ... discussions

[John R. Hogerhuis]

On Tue, 2004-10-05 at 14:46, Kevin Diggs wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> 	Before we design the quattro (sp?), I think we should answer the question:
> 
> 	Why did you dig this heap out of its box? (Or for some:  "why did you 
> not pack this thing up and stick it in the attic where it belongs?) To 
> put the question another way, what differentiates this thing from your 
> PC or Mac? Something is unique about it or it would have been stored 
> away under that box of eighties clothes, the lava lamp, and your beta VCR.
> 


1. The coco was the second incarnation (for me) of my first computer,
the coco 1. So, it was the start of a hobby that I continue with today,
even though computers have supposedly left the domain of hobbyists.

2. You can know everything about the machine. With ROM disassemblies,
service manuals with schematics and memory maps, etc. you can know as
much as you like about the machine and at the same time know what
everyone else's machine is like at the hardware level. Not really so
with PCs where you have widely differing chipsets, many sound cards,
video cards, plug-in devices, etc. The coco is a fairly limited
universe, and that gives similicity for programmers.

3. Because of (2) programmers and hardware engineers can really push the
machine to its limits. As a hobbyist it's always cool to see hardware
you own do something it has never done before. It's like someone just
walked up to you on the street and handed you $1000. You bought this
machine thinking you knew what it could do. You used it for years in a
certain way and all of a sudden it can do something you never thought.
Think of the progression... OK prompt->canned Cartridge
programs/cassette programs->magazine type-ins->OS-9 and a real command
prompt + multitasking, OS-9 level II with windowing and more usable
multitasking, etc. Similarly for gaming

4. Never underestimate the narcotic effect of nuclear green and a
reassuring OK prompt. And when that wears out, the intense satisfaction
you get from making a custom bootloader with OS-9 Level II + windows set
up to your most efficient configuration and a ram disk for speeding up
your C program compiles. Wow it boots! Deep breath... Ahhhhhhhh....

5. Community. This is a huge factor, to know that there are many folks
out there who enjoy the same hobby you do, and some of whom provide
service and support. For a long time our community was a lot of one-way
conversations through RAINBOW et al. Today it has moved to the net

6. Being able to do things with less that other folks couldn't do with
high powered high prices alternatives. We were ahead of the DOS world
for a little while with OS-9 Level II, on an 8-bit machine!

I'm sure there are other things.

Can this be recaptured in a newer computer? I don't know. Here's the
closest I think you could come:

a) Don't make it a PC.
b) Be on the cutting edge. Go where a PC can't since they have to
maintain compatibility and we don't. I don't mean it has to be the
fastest thing on the market. Just cutting edge on the whole.
c) Choose a new OS that really does have great new ideas. Not Linux, not
Windows, not Mac. The future probably isn't in 20 or 30 year old OSs.
Where is the next frontier in computing?
d) Open hardware, open software. Everything about the machine should be
knowable, extendible, changeable.
e) Old and new... make it hook to a TV or a composite monitor or an
off-the-shelf RGB monitor. Have flash card slots. Make it do some off
the wall interesting things, like be able to connect to the keyboard
port of a PC.
f) Preserve the past. Have coco mode (both RS-DOS and OS-9 Level II)
implemented in compatibility subsystems of the OS.
g) Low cost add-ons that let you do unique things. Maybe productize one
of those print-in-plastic devices to go with it.
h) Connectable... built in wireless, ethernet, serial.

I'd like to see it be portable, 20+hours battery life like the Model 100
but that's my particular agenda these days.

-- John.