majestyx Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Even back in the early 80's when I was just a lad, I found Texas Instruments' naming and descriptions of their products to be quite pretentious. I'm not sure why they had to give things a string of words when one or two would have sufficed. Here are a few examples: - Solid State SoftwareTM Command Module = cartridge - Solid State SpeechTM Synthesizer = Speech Synthesizer - Solid State Thermal Printer (as opposed to, what, a tube style amp, I mean, printer? And, HEY! Where's the TM?) - Wired Remote Controllers = joysticks... really horrible joysticks which may lead to carpal tunnel syndrome (this one really annoyed me, as "wired" and "remote" just didn't seem to go together) - Texas Instruments Program Recorder = tape drive - (from the backs of numerous Solid State SoftwareTM Command Module manuals): Adds nK of active memory with stored program to your TI Home Computer = adds mores ROMs and thus is unavailable for you to use as RAM for programming - ADDENDA / ADDENDUM sheets - what product DIDN'T come with at least one of these? - and let us not forget: Texas Instruments invented the integrated circuit, the microprocessor, and the microcomputer. Being first is our tradition. I'm sure that other people can think of more examples, but these are the ones I remember most vividly and that I find quite humorous. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RXB Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Solid State was a term coined by Texas Instruments in the early 70's to make sales to the military. It implies toughness. Can not pin down the exact time it was used but Solid State was on much equipment made for the Military at the time. I could not find a civilian reference before Military applications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 what was the other guys selling 'liquid state' electronics or maybe 'gaseous state'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertLM78 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 what was the other guys selling 'liquid state' electronics or maybe 'gaseous state'. I always assumed it meant more 'solidware' as opposed to 'software', since carts were essentially ROM devices. But Rich's point makes more sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 I was always under the impression that 'solid state' referred to transistor and chip based products as opposed to tube based. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Huh? The term 'Solid State' was popularized in the 50's and 60's to describe the difference between components such as diodes, resistors, transistors and vacuum tubes. TI did nothing more than romanticize and integrate the term into their marketing - hence the pretension. By the 70's, there was absolutely no reason to describe home computing products as being designed with solid state components. Of course they would be. Describing their hardware and software as 'state of the art' would have made a lot more sense. I made reference to the 'solid state' term a while ago and joked that vacuum tube filled cartridges would never fit in the cartridge slot, but I don't think anyone "got" it. This thread validates the humor that was lost. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ti99_forever Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 "Wired" as opposed to "wireless". Originally, the 99/4 was to have wireless joysticks, with more than one value returned. -4 to 4 for halfway, -8 to 8 for full way. I missed the memory added info when they changed to the newer style manuals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Huh? The term 'Solid State' was popularized in the 50's and 60's to describe the difference between components such as diodes, resistors, transistors and vacuum tubes. TI did nothing more than romanticize and integrate the term into their marketing - hence the pretension. I made reference to the term a while ago and joked that vacuum tube filled cartridges would never fit in the cartridge slot, but I don't think anyone "got" it. This thread validates the humor that was lost. I wonder how big a Parsec cartridge would be made of vacuum tubes? Come on kids lets roll out the Parsec cartridge, careful the cart doesn't roll over your toes. Johnnie, be sure that 210v socket is plugged in nice and tight. Sue, crank up the A/C, it got a bit toasty in her last week when you tried to break level 30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Ref.: Marketing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RXB Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 (edited) I was always under the impression that 'solid state' referred to transistor and chip based products as opposed to tube based. Very true as the Integrated Circuit was invented by Texas Instruments. Edited July 10, 2014 by RXB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed in SoDak Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Somebody coined "hollow state" for tube-based gear. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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