🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:24:29 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

>
>Jon Kirwan wrote:
>> 
>> On Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:35:49 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
>> <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:
>> 
>> >Jon Kirwan wrote:
>> >>
>> >> On Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:27:48 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
>> >> <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >
>> >> >Jon Kirwan wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> On Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:34:29 -0700, "Joel Koltner"
>> >> >> <zapwireDASHgroups@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> >"Nico Coesel" <nico@puntnl.niks> wrote in message
>> >> >> >news:49baa239.1285504281@news.planet.nl...
>> >> >> >> Good question. The traditional PIC is soon to be overtaken by the ARM
>> >> >> >> derivatives.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >For some markets, sure... but in many commodity items like remote controls it
>> >> >> >doesn't make sense to use a $1 32-bit ARM when a $0.10 8-bit PIC still works
>> >> >> >just fine.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Not to mention pinout.  When they start packing 32-bitters into
>> >> >> SOT23-6 -- at similar pricing to 8-bit versions -- let me know.  I'd
>> >> >> be interested.  I'm getting them at about 25 cents each and I buy in
>> >> >> very small qtys.
>> >> >
>> >> >   So, you're using '2 bit' processors?
>> >>
>> >> Hehe.  I wonder how many younger folks will understand.  Which reminds
>> >> me that I'm getting too old, that I even know what you mena.
>> >>
>> >> Jon
>> >
>> >   Most of them would freak if they ever looked at the 8008 and what
>> >little it actually did, for the price.  Or the early 'S100' 4K * 8
>> >memory cards that were $1000.
>> 
>> I think I paid $295 each, for two.  Neither worked, as designed,
>> though.  In fact, it was their failure to operate that forced me into
>> learning a lot more electronics than I'd wanted to before.  I couldn't
>> afford that kind of disasterous result, being mostly penniless at the
>> time.  Just after figuring out a workable solution, MITS mails me a
>> nice letter telling me about the 8 (I think, memory serving) patch
>> wires they recommended to make the design work.  A week too late to be
>> of help.
>> 
>> >I bet 99% of them never heard of the Exorcisor bus.
>> 
>> I knew of it, but never had that kind of money floating around.
>
>
>  We had two Metrodata computers based on the Exorcisor bus in the early
>'80s.  They each had six low res NTSC graphics cards for a CATV
>headend.  One had a pair of 8" floppy drives from SMS, while the other
>had 48K of DRAM to store the text files.  United Video paid over $60,000
>for the pair, the drives and a HP computer terminal.  The sad thing was
>that a Commodore 64 computer for $395 had better video nd you could use
>a single drive to load the data into multiple computers.  I was told
>that that was what they did, a few years after I quit.  Metrodata was
>out of business, and the one guy supporting them insisted on being flown
>to your location, so a simple problem could cost a couple grand and take
>weeks to fix.  They would just spend $85 for a new C64, and kept a few
>new ones on hand.

The first computer I bought for my business in 1979 was an Apple II
with a Microsoft Z80 plugin, 9" monitor, and floppy drive. It cost
around �1000. We run cpm and used edlin and the assembler for software
development. Even in 1979 we saw the benefit of a hardware independent
OS.

In 1982 we got our first couple of IBM compatables from Columbia Data
Products along with Z80 plug ins so we could still run the same cpm
programs.