Re: Re[2]: lean + mean = "roll your own"

[Luis Commins <Luis@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Never heard of the CoCo!! C'mon, with a name like that...

And yes, I'm in England...my Blue Peter watching days are over!

And one more thing about those 'old' machines: They were tough, ok, the ZX81 had 'RAM pack wobble' (which looking back on it now almost seems like a feature...oh fond memories...) but you could still wiggle it back in and there you were. My first RAM upgrade was on a Spectrum: Open case, locate empty slot, plug in. These wee beasties were lugged all over the place in rucksacks, satchels and plastic bags with the power supplies often bouncing along inside with them.
And I don't mean 'rugged', which is a bit like 'water-resistant'. I don't want a water-resistant watch, I want a water-proof one!! Don't touch it, you'll break it!
I mean, I've got a Psion which I've had to buy a case for. The Psion Workabout is more 'rugged' but it ain't got what I need.
My 'old' Spectrum is now...what...nearly seventeen years old? And it still works.

Luis.


>>> "vic plichota" <atsvap@cgo.wave.ca> 20/07/99 20:44:58 >>>
>The 'Jupiter Ace' had a Forth on ROM

Hey don't forget the Radio Shack CoCo...  another astonishingly
robust + facile product.


>I think a lot of it had to do with 'openess':
>They were simple and easy to code for, no BIOS,
>no APIs!! APIs may be handy but it's another
>hurdle' to go through.

It is sooo often easier to roll your own, rather than struggle with
somone else's idea of "the perfect API" (which are never perfect at
all).  I am not in favour of re-inventing the wheel, but I hate
jumping through hoops...  'Open-ness', indeed!


>I liked the idea of having the display directly mapped
>on the memory, clean and simple.

That's exactly what I loved about the TMS34010.


>Look at the Transputer, no longer to be produced

Shit.  Too bad.


>...now where's that empty bottle of washing-up liquid...

You must be a Brit -- in Canada we say:  "dish-detergent".


:-)   - vic