[Coco] [Color Computer] Re: [Color Computer Questions]

[Mark McDougall]

>> Does anyone have an estimate of how many Color Computers there are
> in use right now in the world?

I would suspect you'd get a reasonably accurate figure by taking the number 
of people on this mailing list/group and add, say, 50%?!?

One statistic I'd be very interested in is the ratio, per computer, of 
machines sold versus the number of machines/users still in use/active today.

Perhaps it is my biased/skewed view on things, but it's interesting for 
example that the TRS-80 Model I/III/4 and Coco machines have a relatively 
small user base with not a whole lot happening on the development scene, 
whereas the Apple II has a much larger active user base with some pretty 
high-end development (hardware with production runs in the hundreds!) And 
the TRS-80 out-sold the Apple for quite a few years.

However, neither the TRS-80s or the Apples receive much "mainstream" retro 
coverage (aka, Retro Gamer magazine, a UK-based publication). I don't think 
the TRS-80 Model I/III/4 has even rated a single mention in 50+ issues, 
Dragon (Coco) games rate an occasional mention in passing, and IIRC they did 
a grand total of 1 article on the Apple II series.

Conversely, machines like the Sinclair ZX80/1 & Spectrum, and the Amstrad 
CPC machines have (AFAIK) very little going on, yet receive copious - almost 
exclusive - retro coverage in the above-mentioned magazine.

The C64 of course is no mystery at all, with plenty of coverage, a large 
current user-base, and plenty of development happening.

Regards,

-- 
|              Mark McDougall                | "Electrical Engineers do it
|  <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug>   |   with less resistance!"