Now, wait a minute ... I think somebody's got this backward ...
There were lots of computers that had, literally, a toy at their heart.
Somebody pointed out, however, that the SONY PS2 had been modified to run
LINUX. I doubt, somehow, that it is in any sense a "low-powered" computer
even though its host PS2 is certainly a toy.
The confusion may arise from the fact the vendors of those early "computer
toys" such as the ones I pointed out originally were not sure whether they
wanted to play in the computer market or in the toy market. They'd put out
what was, to some people, a gaming console, and to others, the start of a
computer system. Then they waited to see what sold enough to warrant the next
step. In some cases the sales were enough to warrant another step in each
direction. I don't know where that would ultimately lead, but there's
evidence of this in the range of devices sold for some of the Commodores.
It's not likely that either the term TOY or the term COMPUTER should be viewed
as a pejorative. It all depended on what you wanted at the time. There's
ample proof about that a toy could become a computer, and not just an
underpowered one, and there's ample evidence that a computer can become a toy.
Just look around you.
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cameron Kaiser" <spectre_at_stockholm.ptloma.edu>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 3:30 PM
Subject: Re: Micro$oft Biz'droid Lusers (was: OT email response format)
> > > Exactly my point. Calling a lower-power computer a "toy" is simply an
> > > artificial and needlessly pejorative designation.
> >
> > This statement is true about the Apple ][, but a Commodore 64 is really
> > just a toy :)
> >
> > (At least all I ever used one for was to play games :P
>
> Naughty. :-P
>
> > > He was on comp.sys.cbm for awhile but I haven't seen him recently.
> > > Another Inland Empire Commodore guy along with Todd Elliott and myself.
> >
> > Isn't the "Inland Empire" moniker only supposed to describe the area east
> > of Pasadena and north of San Diego county (i.e. Orange county and up)?
>
> Orange County isn't east of Pasadena :-) IE refers to Riverside County
> specifically although usually south San Bernardino County is included also.
>
> --
> ----------------------------- personal page:
http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ --
> Cameron Kaiser, Point Loma Nazarene University *
ckaiser_at_stockholm.ptloma.edu
> -- One learns to itch where one can scratch. -- Ernest
Bramah -----------------
>
>
Received on Sat May 04 2002 - 22:26:11 BST