Micro$oft Biz'droid Lusers (was: OT email response format)

From: Jeff Hellige <jhellige_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Wed Apr 24 11:15:09 2002

> > I haven't looked at the insides of the COCO2 I've got sitting
>> here, but I
>> don't see any place for a FDD or a HDD. Are there serial
>
>Yep, that's a problem. Mine had a Floppy controller that plugged
>into the cartridge slot. The tape setup wasn't bad either, for the
>time.

        Considering the timeframe that it was first produced,
1980/81, the CoCo was ahead of a few of the 8bit machines aimed at
the home user. It certainly wasn't much different than most of them.
It's controller cartridge/external floppy setup did allow you to use
standard 5-1/4" mech's with it.

>Yeah, I'm certain there was a serial port, but I can't tell you
>about it. It's been a while.

        If memory serves correctly, the serial port was a software bit-banger.

> > if you compare the price of a typical PC Clone available the
>> same year the
>> COCO2 was offered, how do they compare in price, avaialble
>> software base, etc?
>
>There's lots of software for CoCo, but I don't have numbers.

        Plenty of software, including things such as audio spectrun
analyzer cartridges. Why would you compare the price of a typical PC
with that of a CoCo though? They were from totally different schools
of thought, aimed at totally different markets with different
requirements. The 64k PC of 1981 cost a great deal more than the
CoCo and wasn't even as capable in the graphics department. If
you're going to make comparisons between different platforms at least
do it in a way that is at least relevant. I just don't see the point
in comparing a sub-$1000 home computer with a ~$4000 PC aimed at the
business market.

        Jeff

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Received on Wed Apr 24 2002 - 11:15:09 BST

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