Xref: utzoo comp.sys.cbm:4622 comp.sys.mac:54239 comp.sys.ibm.pc:50114 comp.sys.amiga:56659 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!usc!wuarchive!udel!princeton!phoenix!edsger!bskendig From: bskendig@edsger.Princeton.EDU (Brian Kendig) Newsgroups: comp.sys.cbm,comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: What is the All-Time Best-Selling Computer ? Message-ID: <16058@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Date: 6 May 90 17:22:54 GMT References: <1455@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca> <29462@cup.portal.com> <17782@well.sf.ca.us> <2426@uniol.UUCP> <2428@uniol.UUCP> <23118@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> Sender: news@phoenix.Princeton.EDU Reply-To: bskendig@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Brian Kendig) Followup-To: comp.sys.cbm Organization: Princeton University Lines: 62 In article <23118@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> jma@beach.cis.ufl.edu (John 'Vlad' Adams) writes: >In article <2428@uniol.UUCP> neumann@uniol.UUCP (Frank Neumann) writes: >>HOWEVER - >>there was a kind of keypad available for the VCS (I think, the number keys >>plus "#", "." and one or two more... even better, the old Atari brochures >>showed a "Basic Programming language Module"...never seen it myself, but >>I must have existed somewhere... so, the VCS _IS_ the best selling >>computer ever, no !?! :-) :-) :-) > >Yes, there was a BASIC cartridge which came with a keypad. I've used >it before. Was actually easier to use than the Sinclair/Timex 1000. There were actually two sets of keypads made for the Atari VCS. The first was a pair of telephone-like keypads onto which you could fit overlays. It came with the BASIC Programming cartridge, which let you program in a weird dialect of that language (it even let you view the stack and the values of variables as you ran programs, something I've not seen on *any* computer since. It even had windows! (Well, distinct horizontal bands on the screen, each of which was used for different output, but still that's the first time I had ever seen anything like that.) The keypads could be hooked together to make it easier to use them to program with. (I seem to remember two other cartridges coming with the BASIC cart and the keypads -- anyone remember what they were?) The second kind of keypad was shipped with Star Raiders (a game which, IMHO, should not have been ported to the VCS. It was *baad*...). It was incompatible with the earlier keypads, having different wiring. Apparently it was intended to be used with several new games which were never released (among them Combat II, which I read about in an Atari catalog I got with a cart). A third-party company (!) made a machine-language monitor for the VCS. It snapped into the cartridge port and rested on the top of the console; you plugged a cartridge into it and, by flipping switches and pressing buttons on the unit, could (temporarily) modify the program stored in the cartridge. The magazine "Electronic Fun with Computers and Games" once did a review of it where they modified all the sprites in River Raid. Also, getting even more off the subject, another accessory was made to copy cartridges -- you plugged a game into the handheld unit, pressed a button, then removed the game and plugged the unit into your Atari. Voila -- you had a copy of the game until you either erased or overwrote it. And how about the tape-recorder attachment for the Atari? Another company (who was it? Anyone?) made a box which plugged into the Atari and a cassette recorder; you would then load a game off tape. *Much* higher quality than the normal hardware cartridges, if you didn't mind waiting eight minutes for your game to load. The first publically-available software media! Ah, those were the days. The Intellivision II and Coleco both had Atari expansion units available, allowing you to use VCS carts on those systems. Now, why can't someone make one for the Mac? << Brian >> | Brian S. Kendig \ Macintosh | Engineering, | bskendig | | Computer Engineering |\ Thought | USS Enterprise | @phoenix.Princeton.EDU | Princeton University |_\ Police | -= NCC-1701-D =- | @PUCC.BITNET | .. s l o w l y, s l o w l y, w i t h t h e v e l o c i t y o f l o v e.