ColecoNation #8 Published

[Albert]

The April issue of ColecoNation is now available. ColecoNation #8 includes the following features to satiate your Coleco hunger:

• An interview with Dave Johnson [Director of Video Graphics at Coleco from 1982-85]
• Reviews of Spectar, Magical Tree, and Lady Bug
• ColecoVision Repair Tips #2
• A spotlight on the ADAM Family Computer System
• All the latest ColecoVision news

To read the latest issue as well as back issues, please visit ColecoNation.

 

[joeybastard]

Another great issue for CN. I particularly enjoyed the interview with the guy from Coleco and the reviews of Spectar & Magical Tree.

[tyranthraxus]

The Dave Johnson interview was one of the most interesting articles I have read about Coleco is a long time.

However I am a dissapointed that there was never any follow up questions to a few things he mentioned

like the Tunnels and Trolls demo. It would have been great for him to talk a bit more on that. He did

talk about the demo productions they would do but the fact that this one survived to be circulated on the net

is sort of the mystique of this unreleased game. Or some info on Lord of the Dungeon would have also been

great.

 

I'd also of liked to know what his thoughts were on the old rumor about Coleco deliberatly doing a poor job

porting DK to the 2600 & INTV. And his memories when the market began to sour in late 1983.

 

Regardless it was a good interview with a lot of great information on the inner workings of Coleco.

[ColecoNation]

For the reply, head over to this thread: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...&gopid=1054213&

 

The Dave Johnson interview was one of the most interesting articles I have read about Coleco is a long time.

However I am a dissapointed that there was never any follow up questions to a few things he mentioned

like the Tunnels and Trolls demo. It would have been great for him to talk a bit more on that. He did

talk about the demo productions they would do but the fact that this one survived to be circulated on the net

is sort of the mystique of this unreleased game. Or some info on Lord of the Dungeon would have also been

great.

 

I'd also of liked to know what his thoughts were on the old rumor about Coleco deliberatly doing a poor job

porting DK to the 2600 & INTV. And his memories when the market began to sour in late 1983.

 

Regardless it was a good interview with a lot of great information on the inner workings of Coleco.

[Curt Vendel]

I Love ColecoNation, I read each issue when it comes out. I'm not knocking Joe Blenkle in any kind of negative way, but I read the Coleco Adam article and I was disappointed, he starts out by saying that the Adam came out at the same time as the TI and Kaypro and Commodore, this is incorrect as the TI and Kaypro were already well established and most of their product's were canceled as the Adam was just getting out the door and the Commodore CBM's were from the 70's and the C64/Vic20 were 81/82 respectively. Adam wasn't released until late 83 (announced as far back as 82' and canceled shortly there after), proceeded to have a good holiday sale season, then post holiday returns in early 84' indicated that Coleco's Adam Computer turned into the Adam Bomb

 

Also he mentions that Coleco oprhaned the system, fact was the system imploded upon itself with ridiculously high failure rates of its Stringy-Floppy wannabe tape drives, buggy software and a printer, that upon power up with irradiate any magnetic media near it Its being canceled was due in part to some suicidal management choices, like shutting down Colecovision production to ramp up Adam production, then having a customer service nightmare of biblical scale dealing with defective Adams. If not for those pudgy faced little Cabbage Patch dolls keeping Coleco afloat, the Adam would've been canceled in 84' instead of 85'

 

I was very envious and jealous of the Adam when I was reading about it in 82-83' being an avid Atari owner and wondering why Atari wasn't producing such a cool looking and featured system.

 

Again, I have loved every ColecoNation issue and all of Joe's other articles, this one I just wasn't satisfied with many of the facts of the article not being entirely correct.

 

 

 

Curt

 

 

 

 

<a href="http://www.coleconation.com/"><img src="/images/news/coleconation.jpg" border="0" align="right" hspace="5"></a>The April issue of <a href="http://www.coleconation.com/">ColecoNation</a> is now available. ColecoNation #8 includes the following features to satiate your Coleco hunger:<ul><li>An interview with Dave Johnson [Director of Video Graphics at Coleco from 1982-85]</li><li>Reviews of Spectar, Magical Tree, and Lady Bug</li><li>ColecoVision Repair Tips #2</li><li>A spotlight on the ADAM Family Computer System</li><li>All the latest ColecoVision news</li></ul>To read the latest issue as well as back issues, please visit <a href="http://www.coleconation.com/">ColecoNation</a>.

[ColecoNation]

Curt,

 

While I can't vouch for Joe's information regarding the history of the mentioned computers, I'm confused when you state that he has been incorrect on his reporting of the ADAM. He writes that the ADAM was released in the early 80s and that Coleco orphaned the system in 1985. Both statements are true. You give some speculations why Coleco dropped the ADAM. Joe choose not to speculate on the reasons why, but that doesn't make his article any less accurate.

 

Joe acknowledges that the ADAM was initally buggy and that technical problems did occur with the system, but he choose to focus on the positives of the computer and explain why it has lasted through the years. You see, most of us who never owned or used an ADAM (like you and I) look negatively, almost hatefully at the ADAM. We see it as a worthless product that killed the ColecoVision. However, that's not quite what happened.

 

The ADAM was rushed out the door to make it into stores before Christmas. Because of Coleco's actions, all types of problems occurred (everything from bad systems, to incomplete documentation, and poor initial customer support). The critics attacked the poorly performing ADAM and it showed in Coleco's sales. While this is where most of us end the story, Coleco did fix the peformance problems of the ADAM and it's technical support and the units that shipped after the Christmas rush were much improved. Unfortunately for Coleco and ADAM owners, they couldn't shake the bad wrap that was intially generated. Regardless of what most of us think, the ADAM did live on and it's apparent in the continued support that the computer has receieved over the years. Expandable Computer News (archived at http://www.sacnews.net/adamcomputer/) was a newsletter published for and by ADAM users that ran from March 84 to February 88. Today, ADAM users still use and develop their computers and meet and communicate regularly. If the ADAM computer was truly a horrible product, why have so many people continued to use it?

 

Joe wanted to write an article that was about the postives of the system. He wanted to let us know that the ADAM is still out there and that many people today still enjoy using it. It's apparent that if you were to write the article, the tone and focus would be a bit different. To write an article criticizing the ADAM and Coleco's decisions regarding is just as valid. One approach isn't better or more truthful that the other, it's just depends on how the author wants to approach the subject. You may have your views and opinions of the ADAM, but that doesn't validate your accusal of Joe's article as being false.

 

I'm glad you and everyone else have enjoyed ColecoNation. All of your support makes it worth doing and encourages others to contribute.

 

Thanks.

+Nathan

 

 

I Love ColecoNation, I read each issue when it comes out. I'm not knocking Joe Blenkle in any kind of negative way, but I read the Coleco Adam article and I was disappointed, he starts out by saying that the Adam came out at the same time as the TI and Kaypro and Commodore, this is incorrect as the TI and Kaypro were already well established and most of their product's were canceled as the Adam was just getting out the door and the Commodore CBM's were from the 70's and the C64/Vic20 were 81/82 respectively. Adam wasn't released until late 83 (announced as far back as 82' and canceled shortly there after), proceeded to have a good holiday sale season, then post holiday returns in early 84' indicated that Coleco's Adam Computer turned into the Adam Bomb

 

Also he mentions that Coleco oprhaned the system, fact was the system imploded upon itself with ridiculously high failure rates of its Stringy-Floppy wannabe tape drives, buggy software and a printer, that upon power up with irradiate any magnetic media near it Its being canceled was due in part to some suicidal management choices, like shutting down Colecovision production to ramp up Adam production, then having a customer service nightmare of biblical scale dealing with defective Adams. If not for those pudgy faced little Cabbage Patch dolls keeping Coleco afloat, the Adam would've been canceled in 84' instead of 85'

 

I was very envious and jealous of the Adam when I was reading about it in 82-83' being an avid Atari owner and wondering why Atari wasn't producing such a cool looking and featured system.

 

Again, I have loved every ColecoNation issue and all of Joe's other articles, this one I just wasn't satisfied with many of the facts of the article not being entirely correct.

 

 

 

Curt

 

 

 

 

<a href="http://www.coleconation.com/"><img src="/images/news/coleconation.jpg" border="0" align="right" hspace="5"></a>The April issue of <a href="http://www.coleconation.com/">ColecoNation</a> is now available. ColecoNation #8 includes the following features to satiate your Coleco hunger:<ul><li>An interview with Dave Johnson [Director of Video Graphics at Coleco from 1982-85]</li><li>Reviews of Spectar, Magical Tree, and Lady Bug</li><li>ColecoVision Repair Tips #2</li><li>A spotlight on the ADAM Family Computer System</li><li>All the latest ColecoVision news</li></ul>To read the latest issue as well as back issues, please visit <a href="http://www.coleconation.com/">ColecoNation</a>.

[jblenkle]

Curt...the facts you are questioning weren't even written by me!!! That part of the article was used with permission of The ADAM News Network at http://ann.hollowdreams.com/newadam.html

 

These guys have been with the ADAM since the beginning and I tend to think they know what they are talking about.

 

If the dates were incorrect about when certain computers were on the market, or released, I tend to think they were all lumped together as all these computers were of the same "generation" - heck, I know I had an Atari 400 and a TI994A before I had an ADAM, but I couldn't tell you when I had them - but I do know I had them all about the same time. Therefore, if I had an ADAM in 1983 I must have had those other computers then too.

 

And geez...it was well over 20 years ago the ADAM came out...do you really expect us old guys to remember particular dates when other competing computers were released? I forget things walking from one side of our house to the other.

 

Joe Blenkle

[tyranthraxus]

I think Curt is right about the date issue. Its important to have those correct because the year of its release was an important part of the ADAM's brief life

and its relation to the other computers. We all know how key 1983 was to the video game and computer industries, but the other computers had been

released earlier and were then beging to mature in the marketplace just at the right time that home computers became the hot ticket.

[else]

Coleco did fix the peformance problems of the ADAM and it's technical support and the units that shipped after the Christmas rush were much improved.

 

This is an important point that I don't think most people really understand. The later Adams were much improved from the early Adams, but because cosmetically they look almost identical few people know the difference. The later Adams have:

 

1) Completely redesigned Digital Data Drives which are much more reliable

 

2) Completely redesigned printer head mechanism which has much nicer print quality and is somewhat quieter (though still not as quiet as most people would have liked)

 

3) Lots of bugs were fixed in the SmartWriter word processor, though unfortunately there is still a page-break print bug which was never fixed. However, this bug can be easily worked around if you know the trick to avoid it.

 

But as other posters have said, the public was no longer paying attention to the Adam any more....which was really too bad becuase the later gen Adams are really pretty nice....

Edited April 23, 2006 by else