[Coco] Thoughts on modern computers (sort of off topic)

[Robert Layten]

I remember my TRS-80 Model one when I first got it back in 1977 (I was in
the 3rd grade), it had a whopping 4K or ram.  By the 6th grade, I had
managed to upgrade that machine to an expansion interface, 2 disk drives, 2
tape drives, and  an enormous 48K, the following year I had a Percom double
density controller and had managed to get some double density disk drives.
I did a lot of programming on that machine.   Its amazing how much I had
managed to save from my allowance and mowing lawns in the neighborhood.  I
spent lots of money at Radio Shack in those days.

Now days, if I step foot in a Radio Shack once every 6 months, I'm doing
good.


On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 4:39 PM, Patrick Wilson <gotitdownpat at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Remember the old days when you considered how to slice up control phrases
> to use individual bits to control actions on memory mapped machines???
> That was when a 16k was "a lot of real estate"!  We did real tight and very
> carefully designed code back then...
>
>
> From: Aaron Wolfe <aawolfe at gmail.com>
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Thursday, February 2, 2012 12:57 PM
> Subject: Re: [Coco] Thoughts on modern computers (sort of off topic)
>
> On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 12:52 PM, Louis Ciotti <lciotti1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Like I said before....  There is no Computer available today where
> > you can take a totally green person, and have them writing code faster
> than
> > the CoCo or similar machine of its day.
> >
>
> This is true, and I wonder what effect it will have on CS long term as
> those of us who do actually have some concept of what the code we
> write is making the hardware do become more and more rare.
>
> It is an unavoidable fact that today's PCs are much, much more complex
> than the machines of the CoCo era.  That the average person can use
> these devices at all is a testament to how good our software really
> is.  However, to expect a programming environment that is as simple to
> learn as the CoCo just isn't practical when you've got something so
> much more complicated going on inside the box.
>
> If somebody wanted to learn programming today, I think the the CoCo is
> just as good a tool as it ever was, in no small part because it is a
> simple machine.  I doubt you'd lure many kids into the world of code
> with one today though.  Making your name appear on a TV screen just
> isn't as magical as it used to be.  For someone young or old who is
> truly interested to learn programming though, I'd think a CoCo would
> serve nicely.
>
> $0.02
> -Aaron
>
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