Re: World-wide 8-bit computer sales (all-time)?

[vairxpert@hotmail.com (vairxpert)]

On Sat, 28 Jun 2003 13:24:00 -0500, Exegete
<millers@noneofyourbusiness.com> wrote:

>
>
>Sam Gillett wrote:
>> Exegete wrote ...
>> 
>> 
>>>2. TI was losing millions already. The Coleco announcement was merely
>>>the "final straw", there was no way TI could put together a bundle like
>>>Coleco did at anywhere near $600 and still make money.
>>>
>>>
>>>>Hmm.. well, we Commodore users surely thank God daily for Coleco's mercy
>>>>on us during that time.
>>>
>>>The C-64 couldn't touch the Coleco, because at the price they had only a
>>>VERY poor DMP, and their infamous tape system.
>> 
>> 
>> The C64 does not have a poor DMP, whatever a DMP is.

hehe...he knows it does not have a poor DMP yet he doesn't know what a
DMP is?
  

>Dot Matrix printer.
>
>And they did at that time.

Agreed, I don't know of any DMP's that were worth a shit at that time.
I remember saving for an eternity and buying a Radio Shack DMP-110 for
my Model III.  Special two strike hammer system with multi font....NLQ
my ass, the print out was downright horrible.  I threw away $400 on
that thing.  Daisy wheel was the only way to go at that time.

Towards the late 80's manufacturers got it right.  I purchased a Star
NX1000 II for around $200 mail order.  Fast, beautiful letter quality
print and the ribbons last forever.  That printer is 2' away from me
and hooked up this computer.  Still works as good as the day it
arrived nearly 15 years ago.  For about a year I replaced it with a
new Xerox ink jet.   Replacement cartridges cost more than the printer
(which included the ink) and the print head lasted about 1 year.  Imo
ink jets are the biggest consumer scam.  Practically give the printer
away but rape the customer when it comes time to replace the ink,
which lasts about a week.

>Remember, the bundle was, CPU, storage system, printer, and WP software 
>suitable for letters, and school papers.
>
>If it has anything to
>> do with display, the VIC (Video Interface Chip) in the C64 was the most
>> advanced display processor available in a low cost home computer in 1983.
>> As for the tape system, at least it worked in a reliable fashion.  And, for
>> the $600 price tag you mentioned for the Coleco, by 1984 you could get a C64
>> and a disk drive.
>> 
>> 
>>>And it wasn't Coleco's "mercy", it was the toy company's incompetence in
>>>selling such a complex, expensive machine. By the time the bugs were
>>>worked out, no one would touch the machine. That, and the video
>>>game/home computer shake out caused Coleco to pull the machine in
>>>January 1985, less than 18 months after going on the market.
>> 
>> 
>> Coleco just couldn't compete with Commodore I guess.  The C64 was alive and
>> well for many years after that.
>
>You guessed wrong.
>
>How many people will buy a computer when they hear that the machine 
>destroys it's storage? The major weakness with the ADAM in the fall of 
>1983 was that the high speed tape system wasn't debugged yet. It would 
>sometimes turn both spindles in opposite directions (not good!) or lose 
>blocks, so that the 256K tapes could quickly be 128K tapes, etc. All the 
>bugs were worked out, disk drives were released as well as CP/M (the 
>ADAM used a Z-80 at 3.56 mhz) software other than games was being 
>release, but the machine had earned a bad rep, because management 
>wouldn't listen to the engineers.

How many consumers back then actually knew it destroyed its data
packs?  I was very much into computers and this thread is the first
I've heard of the ADAM having a flaky storage system.  There was no
internet and the average mom and dad buying their kids a new computer
didn't research a dozen different magazines.  Did the ADAM have a high
rate of returns due to this problem?

I used to drool over the ADAMS tape drive system.  Compared to my
Model III's 1500 baud cassette, the ADAM was light years ahead.  Plus
it was upgradable to a dual drive system.  The one kid I knew who had
one never had a problem with the tape drive.

Atari and Commodore were dedicated computers that already owned the
market.  The ADAM was a great idea released at the wrong time.  Also
there was all the hype of the Colecovision's expansion slot accepting
a real computer system.  With all that hype and the confusing sales
flyers I doubt most consumers even knew there was a stand alone system
and thought they automatically had to own a CV in order to use the
ADAM.  I'm sure the thought of having to purchase a CV for an
additional $200 was a big turn off for many people.

Also look at other game systems that had the computer hype of the time
attached to them.
The impressive looking O2 with the full membrane keyboard which was
nothing but an inferior game system.
All the crap surrounding the Intellivisions computer add on which
resulted in the joke known as the ECS.

After that how could anyone take a game consoles "computer add on"
seriously?

George