[Coco] Beyond disks (was Re: Coco -> Arduino -> Drivewire and back again... the arduino code... for connecting via the serial)

[Aaron Wolfe]

On Fri, Jun 20, 2014 at 4:31 PM, Nick Marentes <nickma2 at optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
>
> Would anyone seriously use internet access on the CoCo? Once the novelty
> wore off, I think people would do their serious browsing on something more
> capable.

"Networking" would have been a better label than internet access, but
yes, lots of people seriously use networking on their CoCos.  Browsing
the web is not something anyone does that I know of, but there are
many useful things you can do.

I use networking to grab programs from RTSI and other online software
archives.  Much easier than downloading with a PC, transfering to a
disk image, mounting, etc.  Some of Bill Pierce's software uses it to
grab updates just like a program on a more modern PC would.  Lots of
people prefer to use a modern PC screen and keyboard and then telnet
into their CoCos, especially since you can have multiple windows open
to the CoCo, use copy and paste, etc.   And if you want to transfer a
file from your CoCo to your PC, its hard to beat just clicking on it
in a web browser (httpd in os9 provides this).

For developing software, it's pretty awesome to have files synced
between the CoCo and a modern machine (or even between multiple
CoCos).

>
> Midi is usable, but midi can also work directly off the serial port. How
> many people actually use their CoCo for midi? I know a handful of people but
> that's it.

Using MIDI via the serial port requires a MIDI in port on the PC,
which very few people have.  Doing it via DW works on pretty much any
computer that has sound, no hardware required.  As for how many people
use it, not many according to the survey.  However, this may be due to
lack of knowledge as Bill mentioned, I don't know.  In any case, I
have personally greatly enjoyed exploring the huge library of music
created on the CoCo.
It's all been preserved on various CoCo archive sites, but most people
don't have the hardware needed to listen to it without DW.

>
> Printing? Does anyone really use a CoCo for serious document creation? I
> know serial printers are hard to come by so I can understand that there is a
> need to print some basic text data at

Not sure.  There are a couple people who I know do use the printing
capability, and I can see it being handy in a role similar to MIDI, to
allow exploration of archived content.  This would be more true if I
ever finished the DMP support, right now only Epson stuff works.

>
> I'm all for making the CoCo do things it's not suppose to but sometimes I
> think there is a wide gap between novelty and practicality.
>

I suppose that depends on the user.  Networking I use almost every
time I turn on my coco.  Printing and MIDI less so, but I still enjoy
them as see value beyond their novelty.