Re: Franklin Ace 2000

[Roy and/or Janet Miller <millers@inetnebr.com>]

**** **** wrote:

> Is
> there any reason that a smart SVGA card couldn't be done for the IIe?

How should I know? Most any of us can dream up some stuff like this, but it
takes engineers to make it work. I do know this, the TMS 9918/28 chip (which was
in the TI 99/4a, and the Coleco ADAM) is a video coprocessor. The cpu sends
instructions and data to the 9918, and it does the work, letting the cpu turn
it's attention to other matters. There have been video coprocessors for the
Wintel world, does anyone know if they could be interfaced with the ][? There
was a follow up to the TI chip, or rather two of them, but I don't know who made
the chips, one was called the 9938, the other the 9958. The latter was supposed
to do VGA like resolution and colors. However, the last time I saw a 9918 chip
for sale (Jameco?) it still cost $20!!

For any who cares, the product I was referring to was called "Sprite LOGO" by
the Logo Computer Systems, Inc. The review in the "Whole Earth Software Catalog
for 1986" said, "Jim McCauley: SPRITE LOGO is the most expensive LOGO (because
it comes with its own sprite board) and the most feature laden. It can do
anything APPLE LOGO can do, and it has 30 turtles and more work space. It is
more darn fun than any LOGO I've worked with yet. I recommend it for people with
a particular interest in computer animation."  Bob Albrecht said, "Unlike
turtles, sprites are dynamic. The static turtle lives in the central processing
unit and waits for your command before it can more. Sprites live outside, in
their own separate chip. You select a sprite, then tell it what shape to carry,
what color that shape is, what direction to move, and how fast to move.
Thereafter, that sprite moves independently of anything else; you can sit there
and write programs while all the sprites are going crazy on the screen. Sprites
offer kids easy arcade-game action. In 15 minutes I can teach a child who has
never touched a computer to make sprites dance."

The chip, as I said, was in the Coleco ADAM. I had the Coleco SmartLOGO, by the
same people who sold SpriteLOGO. I assume that the two products are very
similar. What Albrecht said was the case. The point, however, is that if there
is an interest in creating a new ][, without violating Apple's patients and
copyrights, it can be done by getting Franklin's or Central's and then creating
a faster, roomier, more colorful ][, that could also drop back and run the 8 bit
software. Of course, it wouldn't run GS software, but perhaps multiple ProDOS
sessions, 16 bit code (remember the 65802), and a faster, VGA like video that
doesn't use main cpu memory would be nice enough to spur someone to try.

Now, if I could just find my copy of Franklin's clone of ProDOS....

Roy