Greetings Ed!
EV>> Before I bought the C=64, I would play with the different PC's in
EV>> the stores, One thing I remember is for a minute or two I couldn't
EV>> get a TI99/4a to even print my name until I tried first pressing the
EV>> Function Key and pressing the P key and lo and behold I saw the word
EV>> PRINT appear on the screen.
RW>> Getting the TI to do anything required more than pressing a
RW>> key. It either needed a program cartridge inserted and waiting
RW>> for it to load, then doing something to make it respond to your
RW>> input. It was something like the MACs of the day, requiring
RW>> more money than brains to use.
EV> I didn't know if the store had a cartridge in the (only) TI99/4 I
EV> ever tested,
They usually didn't come with any. There was only 12k of memory in it and
you had to write basic programming to run it. There was also an 'extended
basic' cartridge that brought the system up to par with most other
machines that could run basic. If you wanted to use it to keep books, you
had to have a cartridge with a book-keeping program on it.
EV> I just fiddled with it to see if IT could print something on the
EV> screen that I typed on the keyboard, the Function Key on the bottom
EV> row of the keyboard worked that day and I just thought it had ROM
EV> BASIC as the Commodore64 did.
Yes, but very little to work with.
EV> It was maybe 6 months or over a year before I learned the ATARI 400
EV> and ATARI 800 needed a BASIC cartridge plugged in the slot on top,
EV> but I had already written it off as the computer I wanted to get
EV> because of that.
I had already bought a TI99 because a friend of mine had one. Wish I had
waited longer.
EV> Same with the MacIntosh the Apple Dealer had for people to play with.
EV> When the salesman said BASIC wasn't built in and I could buy it for
EV> $200.00!
Well, the TI only cost $49.00, but you had to invest in cartridges or
write your own basic programs, which were then saved to a cassette tape.
EV> He must had never heard about Cheap LIDS like me.
And me.
EV> I could see buying WP or Spreadsheet software, but not BASIC, which
EV> (almost?) all the computer magazines had pages of programs to type
EV> in.
My wife's mother signed her up for IBM basic progrmming at a community
college in San Diego, c1982. I basically took the course and she passed
the exams with my help. I still have the book around here somewhere.
EV> I'm sure glad I didn't desire to get a AMSAI(sp?) PC for my first PC.
My first exposure to a PC was an XT setup in my boss' garage. I figured it
for just another 'game machine' and paid it no 'never mind'..
EV> But a friend did let me use his ELF for a week or two long before I
EV> got interested in getting any PC.
EV> I already had a 12" B&W monitor for my Netronics ASCII Keyboard +
EV> Video Board that I used for RTTY and Packet Radio, that I used to
EV> connect to his ELF to see how it worked.
EV> I found out real soon entering Code from a Hexadecimal Keyboard
EV> wasn't any fun at all. It was better than flipping switches and
EV> pushing a button to enter Code on a AMSAI though.
EV> I can't remember if my friend was still using a TRS-80 II(?) or
EV> already had his C=64 when he loaned the ELF to me. It was nice of him
EV> to let me use the ELF at my house for a while. I don't think his ELF
EV> had any way to save programs to tape, turn it off and the work is
EV> GONE!
My hunting partner had a Trash 80, but his kids used it to play games on,
so I didn't get much of a chance to use it.
EV> The program I entered was a drawing of the Star Trek Enterprise
EV> space ship.
And it's been roaming around the internet ever since. 8^)
Have a day!
R\%/itt - K5RXT
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