[Coco] [Color Computer] [Color Computer Questions]

[Joel Ewy]

chargeron wrote:
> Does anyone have an estimate of how many Color Computers there are in use right now in the world?
> 1000?
> 4000?
> Do landfills or has recycle places claimed more CoCos than exist today?
> Is there an intelligent way to estimate how many might be enjoying the nostalgia?
> Is the word "use" important?
>   
Who knows?  I suppose we could ask Dennis how many subscribers this list
has.  Undoubtedly there are people out there who have unsubscribed to
the list in anger who still have their CoCo stuff.  But it would likely
give a rough estimate of a bare minimum number of people who at least
still remember the CoCo.
> Do you think there are more people enjoying the CoCo in emulation than actually firing up an actual CoCo???
> I have a large collection of coco stuff.
> Is there anyone who knows how many people have hoarded like me?
> lol
>   
I still have every bit of CoCo stuff I ever got my hands on, and I can't
imagine ever willingly giving it up, except maybe in trade for other
CoCo stuff.
> Is Ebay any indication of what volume there still is out there?
> Sometimes I think there is only maybe 200 people who at any one time actually do care for these machines enough to do something about saving them or preserving all the history (time) we put in these things.
>   
Maybe.  But people drop in and out.  Somebody comes up with a new game,
designs a new peripheral, writes an article, or just asks an interesting
question, and interest peaks, then ebbs away.  Perhaps some new
collaborative project can generate a new plateau of excitement, if
people can get over all their hurt feelings and bruised egos.
> I used my CoCos  hard and long ... I have a ton of memories recalled as I go through all these  floppies and read thoes lables. During the years we were using the Color Computer for our work and fun I always had the feeling we were on the cutting edge of technology....didn't you think so?
> I think today when I use my pc there is no drive to innovate...like there used to be..because frankly...any program you can think of is usually out there waiting for you to download.
> Where is the cutting edge now? 
>
>   
I'm not sure if it was ever really cutting edge, but it had tremendous
untapped potential.  And the 'untapped' nature of it is what I think you
are talking about.  CoCo owners could see a product available for the
Apple ][ or the Commodore 64 and ask why nobody has marketed one for the
CoCo yet.  And those computers were simple enough that amateur efforts
could actually produce a successful product.  This is what interests me
so much when it comes to the prospect of a CoCo in an FPGA.  There would
be tremendous potential for amateurs to learn, and in doing so,
contribute to the improvement of the platform -- in ways that were never
possible on the original CoCos.  Yet you could still have some of the
charm and features that made the CoCo great, and that have been lost in
the intervening years.  I really miss being able to power a computer on
and have it immediately ready to respond to my commands, and to switch
it off whenever I feel like it, taking care only that my work is saved,
but having no concern that in pulling the plug I will corrupt the
filesystem.

JCE
> Remember voip? Calling someone for free on the computer...anywhere!!
> that was cool then taken away for $$ 
>   
> 1080i? or 1080p Video?
> palm / blackberry stuff?
> or going backward and using the CoCo to keep the flame?
>
>
> Sorry for the stupid questions..I am old
> Ron Delvaux
>
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