[Coco] CoCo 3 FPGA? (Really long message)

[Jim Cox]

Hi Gary:

Regarding your views on commercialization of the CoCo FPGA 
I totally agree with you about the CoCo FPGA not becoming 
another Atari 2600 on-a-stick.

What I was suggesting when I included the link to the 
Parallax Hydra card was that the CoCo FPGA could become a 
system not only for CoCo enthusiasts, but also an 
educational tool to to help younger people learn about 
computers and the art of hacking (as in learning about and 
improving on something, and not the negative definition.)

Here again is the link for the Hydra card:

http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=32360

Jim


On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:09:39 -0500
  "Becker, Gary" <Gary.Becker at amd.com> wrote:
> 
> I also need to explain my stance on commercialization. I 
>am not against
> someone developing an adapter board that plugs into this 
>development
> board to give more capabilities. Or even a new board 
>that includes
> everything a hobbyist / student needs. I would be glad 
>to work on
> development with someone, I have a few expansion ideas 
>myself. I can
> easily see additional storage options like IDE / Compact 
>Flash. Or even
> something like a full analog joystick interface. I 
>believe a prototyping
> area and a CoCo compatible ROM slot is mandatory. What I 
>would prefer
> not to happen is someone package this system up for mass 
>market
> consumption similar to the $25 arcade games based on the 
>Commodore 64
> platform that you see at Wal-Mart.
> 
> Oh yea, one other thing. With the help of John Kent, the 
>creator of the
> 6809 core I am using and System09, the CoCo3FPGA is now 
>running at
> approximately 16 MHz. But I still have some testing to 
>do to make sure
> it is reliable.
> 
> Gary
>