[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
On 1/27/07, Tom Brough <tombrough@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > For those that where interested (on a now purely academic note) my disks > where for a 3" model. Unfortunately my PCW8512 broke (floppy drive > failure), due to drive belt (rubber band) perishing, so you see back in > those days computers really did rely on rubber bands. I just couldn't be > bothered to fix it in the end. > > I used mine during my college days for doing documentation. By some > strange quirk of fate I went to work BEFORE I went to college. So I > could afford a PC (8086) (Amstrad 1512) and the Amstrad PCW8512 I got > while I was working. I would write code and test it on the 8086 then > turn to the PCW to write documentation (before the days of virtual > terminals / work spaces). Not bad for a Z80 chip and arguably function > for function the locoscript software covered 90-100% of what people > still require in a word processor today ..... It was woefully under spec > even before it was released but it served a purpose - word processing, > and developed quite a user base, church newsletters up and down the > country where never quite the same again. > > Unfortunely this has triggered my reminiscing routine so you may wish to > leave now..... > > For those that are (still ?) interested in the origins of the 3" drive > and microcomputer 80's trivia .... > > The electronics industry in Japan where interested in standardising > hardware (pre IBM PC) and came up with a project called MSX - the idea > was that you could get your MSX system unit from Supplier A and buy an > MSX joystick from Supplier B and it would all be compatible. It never > caught on as the microprocessor market was very diverse and MSX was > always crippled (because of the standardisation) in one way or another > when compaired to other offerings (BBC Microcoputer, Amstrad CPC, > Commodore 64, Amigas, Sinclair ZX / QL and Atari etc ... etc...). Anyway > as a consquence of this the suppliers from Japan had a warehouse full of > 3" drives nobody wanted. > > In walks Mr Sugar, buys the lot for a song and thus the 3" drive became > default on CPC's and PCW's (up until PCW9512). I seem to remember that the 3" drives were made by Hitachi and that by some strange SIDRAT technological quirk a 3" floppy disc seemed bigger than the new-fangled 3.5" floppies And the MS in MSX stood for Microsoft. -- Martinus Scriblerus scripsit -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html