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From: Knisely@his-phoenix-multics.arpa
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: RE: Atari Expansion
Message-ID: <12156@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 10-Apr-84 11:06:00 EST
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.12156
Posted: Tue Apr 10 11:06:00 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 15-Apr-84 09:13:58 EST
Lines: 25

When Atari announced the XL line a year ago, there was an expansion card
box to be available.  It was to have the capability to handle a number
of expansion cards connected to the parallel bus.  It WAS real, not a
joke -- and has been dropped.  See the discussion in Info-World of two
weeks ago and about 4-5 weeks ago.  The CP/M box was also real --
product literature with descriptions and pictures of the prototypes
handed out at CES -- and it's dead, too.  Atari currently has no product
to use the parallel expansion bus on the 800XL that I know of, and only
the memory expansion for the 600XL.  Third party companies seem to be
taking a wait and see approach, ie:  will the XL sell well enough to
keep Atari in business in spite of themselves?

The comments on the "serialness" of the Atari drives is accurate, but
one *potentially* interesting possibility was omitted.  The 1450XLD
machine, still alive officially but barely, has/would have had a built
in drive which appeared to be a 1050 with a new controller to allow it
to be hooked into the parallel bus.  The second empty slot is/would have
been wired for a second drive for expansion.  The drive is also supposed
to be double sided, so it might not be a 1050 at all, despi e
appearances.

I wish I could figure out what this company has in mind -- there has
been so much largely untapped potential in the Atari line all along.  It
justs frustrates me that they persist in marketing it like it was only a
games machine!  ....  sigh ....  Dick K.