[Coco] Another Radio Shack Article

[Boisy Pitre]

> Re - Boisy's mention of something that appears in what would seem to be an excellent book. 
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> "The fact that people were using the original CoCo for things other than games initially surprised them. Dr. John Patterson makes that obvious in his quote in the book too." 
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> Yes, our use of first a Coco2 and then a Coco3 to run a four terminal point of sales system at Delmar Company provoked some curious responses. 
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> It was what got use of an internal pre-release copy of Windows 3.0 from some visiting IBM engineers (and the weirdest comparison a Coco has ever faced - "kind of like a System360". 
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> Oh, and it was that preview copy of Windows that both drove us to adopt G-Windows and set in motion a strong difference of opinion between me and Ed Gressick. 

Ed often spoke of this setup. I wish I could have seen it.

> BTW - I'm really tired of the constant mention of Mark Seigel "the Father of the Coco3" - not. 

The “father” of the original CoCo is Dale Chatham. The “father" of the CoCo 2 and CoCo 3 is John Prickett. I would give Mark Siegel and Barry Thompson the title “Evangelist” which I think is more appropriate. There is no denying that Mark had an appreciable influence on design decisions on the CoCo.

> What will be disappointing in Boisy's book will be the lost perspectives of so many that are no longer with us, didn't contribute, or have forgotten vital details. 

Obviously we could not interview (or speak for) the dead. Nor could we force the very small number of people who either refused to respond to our interview requests or insisted on terms we could not agree to, to provide their perspective.  We did, however, interview a large number of people and went farther than I think anyone has ever gone in compiling the history of the CoCo.  Naturally, recollections are often flawed, but wherever possible, multiple perspectives and hard evidence were used. 

I look forward to your review of the book.