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From: rb@ccird2
Newsgroups: net.micro.6809
Subject: Re: New Coco III
Message-ID: <793@ccird2>
Date: Fri, 25-Apr-86 03:49:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: ccird2.793
Posted: Fri Apr 25 03:49:00 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 14-May-86 07:18:42 EDT
References: <807@ihwpt>
Lines: 59

In article <331@ius2.cs.cmu.edu> ralphw@ius2.cs.cmu.edu (Ralph Hyre) writes:
>In article <2439@watale.UUCP> rsanderson@watale.UUCP (Roger K. Sanderson P.Eng.) writes:
>>In article <807@ihwpt.UUCP> knudsen@ihwpt.UUCP (mike knudsen) writes:
>>>Last weekend I got some pretty solid rumors ... about the new
>>>Coco III.  Are you ready?
>>>Lower case (at last!!!) and a Shift-Lock key.  That's it.
>>>
>>>80 columns?  40?  128K?  OS9 Level II?  Control key?
>>>Escape key?  Monitor out?  UART? [nope].
>Think big!  Ask Tandy for a machine with AT LEAST the above features, plus:
>
>	- A faster 6809 (E version?)
>	- A memory management unit (6821)
>	- 256K memory expandable to 1 Meg onboard
>	  (can the 6821 handle this?)
>	- OS9 level II to go with above
>	- A 680X0 coprocessor/high-bandwith expansion port, to provide for
>	  moving up to 680X0 OS-9.  Imagine! Real multiasking on an Atari ST
>	  or Macintosh class machine.
>	  (presumably the high-resolution graphics would be on the 68K card)
	- SCSI interface - so WE can get some of those neat 3'rd party
	  products RS won't produce.
	- Put the "High Res display adapter" as an accesory.  Possibly on
	  the SCSI, then Tandy could sell one "display manager" for all
	  of its machines, and other SCSI based machines.

>Hopefully Tandy isn't too smug about their IBM Clone successes, and they'll
>see the need for a Mac/ST/Amiga class machine in the product line.

Good Ol' Tandy, "Last years technology in next years product".  I think
they are the only ones left actively producing a 16K, 32Col,16 line,
8bit computer, let alone selling it for the "bargain price" of $70.
Then of course, there's that $300 SS/SD disk drive.  For $5 more, I can
get 64K, 40Colx25line,8 bitter, with more storage.

Actually, they have Mac/ST/Amiga class hardware.  The model 16, and 6000
are even slightly better (they have REAL memory management).  Of course
price is no object to Tandy, you can pay as much as they want you to :-).
Does the 6000 have high res graphics?

Considering the underwhelming support Tandy has given it's other computers,
especially the CoCo, I can't see even looking at the $1000 1000.  Tandy
wants a monopoly on their hardware/software/peripherals.  That's OK with
me, I'll look elsewhere.  For the price of a 1000, I can get almost twice
the memory, twice the speed, twice the disk storage, AND DMA.

Tandy has a great marketing organisation, but their engineering department
seems to come out with a real price/performance innovation about once
every 2 years, then abandons it for "more interesting" persuits.  Meanwhile,
the prices are relatively "fixed" to uncompetitive levels, driving any
potential support away.

It's too bad Tandy can't go after the small third party developers the way
Amiga and Atari did.  Can you imagine the benefits of the distribution
channels!!! :-).

Way to go Tandy :-).

Burned once :-(.