x=usr(1536)

All of which makes sense. Let me phrase the hypothesis differently: where releasing the Aquarius as a US clone of the ZX Spectrum may have made sense would have been software availability. By the time the Aquarius hit the market, the ZX Spectrum had already been on the market for a year and had good momentum behind the titles available for it. Those could have been used to seed the launch, with Mattel's own titles being included on top of them (and licensed for European distribution on the Spectrum). Ultimately, though, I have to agree with you that the budget end of the market in the US was radically different to the same market in other parts of the world. Having a wider software library available might have bought the Aquarius a full year in the marketplace, maybe even two. But it's doubtful that it ever would have had any sort of meaningful impact regardless.

We should pass the hat around the forums to raise funds for a booth at the NY Toy Fair. This booth will hand out tacos to passers-by, and the wrappers will read, "We shipped. They didn't." Many a lulz will be had, and many a taco consumed.

Armor Ataco

Much like game consoles, Mexican food gives you choices. Don't want an Xbox? Buy a PS4 or Switch. Don't want a taco? Have a quesadilla, or enchilada, or any number of other delicious dishes. Ataribox doesn't give you choices - only vague promises of an outcome that may very well go unfulfilled. It's the equivalent of the Moon Bases of the Future from the April, 1948 issue of Mechanix Illustrated. Don't let Ataribox get you down. Enjoy some Mexican food today! This Public Service Announcement has been brought to you by the Foundation For Mexican Atari Cuisine.

Something I want to mention re: preproduction console hardware: until the first devkits are sitting on programmers' desks, there's no way to know what the final hardware will look like. And even then it can still be a crapshoot. Of course, Atariboxcorp, Inc., doesn't need to deliver devkits since anyone can install gcc and the appropriate libraries on a Linux box if it didn't come installed with them to begin with. Just know which compiler flags to throw at it at build time, and you too can make your very own Ataribox game! Here's the problem with that approach: making a video game that people are likely to want to actually buy requires game developers, and, strangely enough, they usually expect to be compensated for their not-inconsiderable investment of time and effort in developing said game. Then there are royalties and bonuses to figure out... Oh, and distribution, too. Just because it's squirting down the Intertubes into your Ataribox doesn't mean that it's free to develop or deliver it to said device. Now, I'll admit that all of this assumes that there is an actual device to deliver it to, but I'm playing devil's advocate here, so bear with me on this one. Who will be developing software for the Ataribox? All of the other practical considerations aside, I have yet to hear one developer - established, indie, or otherwise - make any sort of announcement regarding their commitment to the platform. I'm willing to stretch to the idea that they can pull off the emulation part and attendant frontend out of Kickstarter or seed fund money - but if there's nothing at launch time other than a bunch of titles that people already have or have access to freely, then there's no compelling reason to not buy delicious, delicious tacos instead. And no, media streaming is not a value-add these days; we're no longer in 2007 so it's just something you sort of expect to be there. And, if it isn't, no big deal, because you probably already have 27 other devices that do that already. Even if they get this thing to market, it's like they only kinda/sorta grasp the realities of the market as it is today. There're some modern approaches to it going on, but so many more that are stuck in a decade-old (or older) model - at least, from what we can be derived from the lack of meaningful communication.

Dude, you totally don't have to worry about any of that! Just look at our awesome brand! It's awesome! And it's a brand! Totally awesome! I'm hedging on taco futures ahead of the Ataribox for the foreseeable future.

If they were to call the game something like 'TacoArea', they could possibly do a recreation of TacoZone without getting sued by the people they sold the IP to!

The only way that those could be more like tacos would be if they were bought from a cart or the side of a truck. Still, those are real tacos and no doubt about it.

Differences aside, I am sorry to hear of this. There is nothing good about a loved one who is suffering, and while I am glad to hear that this is not serious, I do hope for a speedy recovery for your wife. Take care of the things that are important. We can go back to dickering over pointless crap later.

That's an interesting tidbit right there, and I appreciate the memory jog. One thing that I now recall from the time when Sean was hanging around the tech groups I was involved with: he also did PC repair and web design. It's doubtful that I still have it, but I remember him giving me one of his business cards back then. If I ever run across it, I'll scan it and post it here. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Can I get it in shart?

Sweet, thank you! Those should give me some good starting points.

A taco hat would only be stupid if it sold for less than $149.99.

Can 'buy a Dremel' be a funding stretch goal?

I like the sounds of that. Will it also suffer interminable delivery delays? I like those too.

Will it increase or decrease my likelihood of obtaining tacos? That much can probably be revealed without giving away its actual purpose.

This is a good point, and I always felt that the Aquarius may have had more of a chance if it had been a clone of the ZX Spectrum - or at least compatible. Then again, given that Timex/Sinclair probably still held the US rights to Sinclair's hardware, that was not very likely to happen.

All I know is that I have a future financial decision to make: AtariBox or tacos? I'm going with tacos. They have a better chance of reaching production, and also taste better than plastic.

Correct. That happened in the 1999-2002 timeframe. Yes, at that time. My understanding is that at some point after his release from prison he moved out of the SoCal area for a number of years, then returned. I do not know exactly when he left or returned, but I believe that it was prior to his involvement with the Coleco Chameleon (c.2015). If he was, I'd be surprised if he wasn't aware of Sean Robinson's activities. Word about him and his scams got around quite extensively at the time. That I will not speculate on. However, I will say this: if from no other standpoint than that of enlightened self-interest, that would be an exceptionally bad course of action for Mike Kennedy to undertake in relation to the Coleco Chameleon project. Apart from the inherent dishonesty and deception in doing so, the instant it became known that Sean Robinson's name was attached to the product it would have meant facing a shitstorm of very bad press once that fact got out. Granted, but be careful not to conflate the two documented sets of activities that he was involved with. Similar motives and methods, definitely, but at two very different times.

Somewhat off-topic, but related: does anyone have recommendations for overviews of the types of copy protection used on Atari disks (or tapes or cartridges, for that matter)? I've been following some of the stuff that 4am has been doing with Apple ][ copy protection, and it's been fairly fascinating. Is there anything out there for the A8 in a similar vein?

Glad it helped. Couple of things: It's possible that your friend received a unit for Christmas in 1977, but there are a some things with your unit that point to that not being likely. 1) If it's a light sixer, it wouldn't have been manufactured until 1978. 2) It contains ICs with 1981 datecodes on them. Without receipts for repairs, etc. there's no good way to explain the datecodes on the ICs other than them being indicative of 1981 or later manufacture. I hate to say it, but your friend's mother may not be aware of when the 2600 hit the market, or possibly be mistaken regarding when it was given to her son. All available evidence points to it being a unit from a 1981 run.

Please check the replies in your original thread on the subject.

Take a look at the following video; it'll help with figuring out if it's a heavy or light sixer. Given the Taiwanese manufacture and some cosmetic giveaways on the unit you have, I'd be leaning towards yours being a light model. Other than that, I'd say that this unit was probably manufactured somewhere in 1981. The copyright dates on the box and on the motherboard do not necessarily reflect year of manufacture.

My pleasure. People need to know who - and what - they're dealing with. Without recovering my notes from when all of this was going on a lot of the specifics are now hazy to me, but I can say that the seven counts of Grand Theft that he was hit with were the tip of the iceberg. IIRC, we had a list of around 40 people who had in some way been ripped-off by him - and I doubt that even that would have been anything that could have been considered complete. The part about this that specifically pisses me off: this took place after he had his felony charges reduced to misdemeanors in 2006, followed by their dismissal under a Petition for Relief once they had been reduced to misdemeanors. In essence, it's as though he never committed any crimes. And it was a smart move on his behalf, because having both this and the bad check felonies on his record would have put him one step away from three strikes territory. Having said that, that doesn't mean that the original court cases (and subsequent ones in which the reduction of sentence and petition for relief) aren't public record. They still very much are. However, I'm not sure that this would allow a court to take evidence of his past behavior into account should he ever be in front of a judge for the same thing again - and, given his pattern of behavior, I wouldn't be surprised if this were the case at some point.

Think it might be something on your end - it's acting normally for me today.