If you could design a $300 homecomputer today, what would you choose?

[ajpalacios@netscape.net (Aristarco Palacios)]

I really wouldn't design a $300 home computer. Way too many models of
home and "productivity" (read Palm) computers out ther. Let's focus on
the hobby computer. Why is the hobbist so underestimated and
underpriced today?

The Ideal Hobbist computer would be an Atari-like portable computer.
CPU? maybe Z80 or 6502 derivative. A low power RISC or CISC Chip, but
powerful enough to avoid the flickers and glimpses in audio and video.
And it must have a modest enough memory space for you to write neat
apps that don't need 3 CD's to install, but cartridges or Smart Cards.

Since no HD or CD is desired, SmartCard or PCMCIA or FlashCards are
desirable as storage media. Also, the back panel must have serial,
parallel, and "user" ports. User port should be an Atari, CBM or Apple
flavor. So every pin of the CPU and every usable signal in the system
is available.

Language? If BASIC is not allowed as the main language, then it should
be the rapid prototyping language option, accesible thru software
commands or a small switch. But BASIC MUST be included. The main
language could be Pascal, but remember that rapid prototyping means no
time for detecting every single variable to declare.

Video? Well, since our system is intended to be a field-usable system,
an LCD is mandatory. I don't think an SVGA resolution is needed. But a
VGA is desirable, and a quarter-VGA is good enough. We want to test
system parameters, sensor response, GPS tracking, missile trajectory
plotting, or just fish bank detection to be instant represented with
our supercharged Game Boy, right?
But remember, we are planning a Hobby Computer, so most of the
graphics could be displayed in a TV. Composite Video and VGA outputs
are the only two choices.

Audio? Well, it must be CD-quality. No more, no less. Remember we
cannot hear beyond 20kHz, so why should I buy a computer able to emit
a supersonic or subsonic sound I can't detect? Well... Maybe for Dog
training or Subwoofer testing! But anyway, CD is just what we need.
And complete control over the waveform thru software.

Internet? Yes! A 10/100 base T interface so I can connect my hobby
computer to the local net and download any data I gathered in the
field. Just like an internet "appliance". But this could be added with
a PCMCIA card.

Maybe what we're trying to figure out is a new, VGA, networkable
version of the Radio Shack Portable Computer sold in the early
eighties, with an open, well-documented architecture. I can see it: in
one hand my hobby computer with a bunch of cables attached and a piece
of custom hardware sending codes to the machine. Or maybe, a credit
card interface attached to an electronic cashier just like in
Terminator 2. Ooops, there are some disadvantages, but just don't see
'em.

I think I'll start designing it, since a computer like that is for us,
the inhabitants of the dark, underground world of electronic hobbists.
A customizable, in-house expandable, easy programmable box that can be
instantly attached to any project just to test or diagnose or
in-system emulate. But then again, it sounds like my old Atari!