rarest computers. was: RE: Xerox Alto Restoration + Emulation

From: Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk_at_yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed Aug 4 16:19:22 2004

On Wed, 2004-08-04 at 00:29, Antonio Carlini wrote:
> > > > RML 480Z metal-cased system
> > >
> > > And one of those _somewhere_...
> >
> > I'm not sure how many ended up with the metal cases; a
> > guesstimate would
> > be somewhere above 50 though.
>
> Only 50 worldwide? Why didn't you say a year os so ago -
> then I'd have asked for the one stuffed in a cupboard
> at my daughter's school :-)

Heh, could be thousands though for all I know though. They just seem
*very* uncommon in the UK at least (mind you, so do the plastic-cased
ones for that matter)

> We are talking about a 480Z
> in a black metal case (and black keys) that is otherwise
> identical to the beige plastic case variant that
> I already have?

Yep, that's the critter. Any chance there's still software lurking at
the school? Not much RML software seems to have survived which is a
shame.

> > But then 380Z's were common as
> > muck at one
> > time and all seem to have vanished too.
>
> Am I being greedy in having two then?

:-) Actually I've got a couple too, if you count the one running as the
network server. (and 8 480Z's, although only half of them currently work
and I've promised a few to people just to cut down on space)

By the way, we could do with more 380Z keyboards at Bletchley if you
ever find any. We've got seven or eight 380Z's but only two keyboards to
go with them all!

There's the dual 8" floppy drive unit at Bletchley which I should
photograph sometime. There can't be many of those about.

> I bet there are
> many of these stuffed in school cupboards up and down
> the land.

I don't know though, probably been thrown out long ago. I'd certainly
like to find network OS software for my network server as it's a dead
duck once the hard drive blows up...

> I've never seen a 380Z that was anything other than
> black. That's the way they should be ... otherwise
> you might miss the white button on the front :-)

True. :-) They look pretty good in white too though to be honest!

cheers

Jules
Received on Wed Aug 04 2004 - 16:19:22 BST

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