--- Cameron Kaiser <spectre_at_stockholm.ptloma.edu> wrote:
> > > Sure, but my point was, for instance, the C64 had drives that used
> > > what basically amounts to a straight serial (or is that parallel?)
Serialized IEEE-488, essentially - Tramiel demanded that Commodore not
be stuck not being able to buy enough connectors for the next generation
of product. There was some sort of supply problem with them in the
PET days.
> And there's IDE64, which is also parallel through the expansion port.
Yes. I have one. Got a 20MB HP Kittyhawk 1.8" IDE drive on it (talk
about *tiny*) I did think of that, but I declined to mention it because
it _is_ an external drive controller of the sort that Dick was railing
against in the first place.
I have no problem calling the C-64 a "toy" (it's been called much worse
over the years, especially by Atari and Apple zealots ;-) Nevertheless,
it was one of my favorite machines; it got me my first job 20 years ago,
and I spent countless hours programming it, building doodads for it,
etc. It took the Amiga to get me to shelve my C-64, and even then,
for the first year, I used the C-64 more because I could get more done
with it (Kickstart 1.1 sucked! I switched to the Amiga when KS1.2 came
out and the market began to open up and disgorge useful goodies for it).
It took a combination of the Web and cheap SPARC hardware to get me to
give up the Amiga. I haven't powered on my A4000 in months. :-( I
suppose the moribund nature of the Amiga market was a contributing
factor, too, but AMosaic on a tiny screen just doesn't cut it. At least
I had ethernet, or I'd have dumped the Amiga long, long ago.
These days, my personal criteria is "no ethernet == toy" (for stuff made
after 1990) The iOpener or Audrey as shipped is a toy; add USB Ethernet
and it graduates to "potentially useful tool".
-ethan
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Received on Thu Apr 25 2002 - 11:49:35 BST