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From: ekijak@ARDEC.ARPA.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: Re:  Atari Artist & Movie Maker file formats wanted
Message-ID: <8701291613.aa20046@ARDEC-3.ARDEC.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 29-Jan-87 16:13:14 EST
Article-I.D.: ARDEC-3.8701291613.aa20046
Posted: Thu Jan 29 16:13:14 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 30-Jan-87 06:40:28 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 14

I recently saw a drawing-type tablet device for inputting sketches to a home
computer.  It had a drawing surface and mounted on it was a two-piece arm
hinged at the 'shoulder' and 'elbow'.  At the 'wrist' was a stylus which
you used to trace your sketch.  It was available for 8-bit Ataris and Texas
Instruments home computers.  The Atari version came with software contained in
a plug-in cartridge (ROM), so you didn't even need a disk drive!  The department
store selling it seemed to be trying to get rid of them and the price was
about $25.   I suspect the 2 'hinges' may have been connected to pots
(potentiometers - rotary variable resistors) that fed into the Atari's paddle
(joystick) inputs.  The software then computed the x,y coordinates of the
stylus from the angular rotation of the 'hinges' and the lengths of each arm.
This would let you draw a freehand line drawing, and then by using the stylus
as a pointer to a menu, perhaps color it.  The store is not near my home so
I'm not able to go back and get the name of the device and its manufacturer.