John Perkins's Blue Ram Notebook

[ballyalley]

It's rare that I find new-to-me Bally related items that I didn't know existed in any form. While looking on Archive.org today, I found a 24-page hand-written notebook that John Perkins wrote to "Bob" (I presume, Bob Fabris, the editor of the Bally Arcade/Astrocade Arcadian newsletter) when the Blue Ram was still in development (probably around 1980). The Blue Ram is a RAM expansion unit. You can read John's notebook here:

https://archive.org/details/ballyalley_John_Perkins_Blue_RAM_Notebook

This notebook was uploaded by "Sketch the Cow" on November 12, 2015. I wonder how he came about acquiring it?

 

I have transcribed the first page of the notebook:

"Bob -

"This notebook is intended to provide you with a glimpse of the potential of our 'Blue Ram' accessory. The full potential is too vast to be adequately treated in a book 10 times the size. This is because the 'Blue Box' provides the Bally Arcade with many of the features of a normal personal computer about which volumes have already been written. What I hope to provide here is a sketch of what the 'Blue Box' can do as well as some sample "experimental" applications."

 

The notebook provides quite a few details and sketches. This is a great find!

 

Adam