[Coco] Re: Is this a discussion about a new Coco?

[Nickolas Marentes]

> The idea would be interface to PS2 style keyboards, mice and VGA 
> monitors. 

> Right now some of the pieces are inplace to add on to the existing 
> COCO. I am investigating feasability of a microATX size or even 
> smaller motherboard with the HD63B09E as the core processor. 
> The real nuts and bolts is to reduce a specialized chip that is 
> commonly called the GIME chip. I am hoping to have that done in 
> an FPGA and start testing this summer. An ideal dream would be to 
> incorparate the GIME and the 6309 into one chip.  Right now it will 
> be crawl before run scenario.


How about some sort of micro internal expansion bus like the Disto
Controllers had?

We need to find a use/purpose for this CoCo4. Just giving it VGA, PS/2
keyboards and mice doesn't really give it a unique purpose.

Most of us have owned a PC or MAC with these functions for the last 10 years
and the software for these leave anything on the CoCo for dead. I can't see
anyone writing a new word processor for the CoCo4 when most currently use a
commercial word processor like Word or the various free Linux applications.

Unless we want to develeop the CoCo4 just to satisfy the die-hard nostalgia
buyer but how many of these are there? Does it warrant the time and expence
to do such a project? It can be done for fun but I personally would feel
better if my hard work went amounted to something that is of practical use
to others. Just my feeling I guess.

My suggestion is to chase the microcontroller market. Give the CoCo4 the
ability to be used as a controller/interface to real world applications. I
can see a market outside of the current active CoCo community where people
could buy a CoCo4 to run a home sophisticated alarm system, garden sprinkler
system, control of real world devices. 

Sure, this can be done with a PC but wouldn't it be much better to have
something compact, easy to configure and program and that can boot instantly
into the control application?

Nick Marentes