Is there life in the A8 in today's high-tech world?

[Tickled_Pink]

Just wondering if there's life for the A8 beyond use by hobbyists. It's something I've been pondering over for a while - ever since my sister bought a Vtech kid's computer for my niece that was so obviously 8-bit.

 

Anyone think that an A8-based system could be repackaged in a similar way?

[Tempest]

Someone told me that in California the US Postal Service was using Atari Falcons for something. I don't know if that's true or not.

 

At AGE last year someone had a cash register running on an 8-bit. It was really neat.

 

Tempest

[Cybernoid]

Ah yes, the cash register was Rick. I know him.

 

Here are the pictures from AGE:

http://www.a8maestro.com/sites/age2k3/age2k3h.htm

 

And the cash register:

 

 

Notice that he modified a disk drive as a recept printer and added a mono LCD to the XL.

 

 

The FUJI case to the right is a re-cased atari XL... I think

[Tempest]

Notice that he modified a disk drive as a recept printer and added a mono LCD to the XL.

 

 

That's not a modified drive, it's just an old 820 printer sitting on a 810.

 

Tempest

[www.atarimania.com]

Modified A8 computers were still being used in the late nineties as simple text display generators.

 

--

Atari Frog

http://www.atarimania.com

[Cybernoid]

I think that if we had the 8bit in an FPGA and maybe even an ASIC chip eventually (a whole 130XE on one chip say...), then it would be nice to see a handheld 8bit for a cool PDA... think of all the games your can play on the road.

[birdie3]

Things like word processing, accounting sheets, cash registers, etc.. should only need to be 8 bit as far as I can tell. Really, there is so much "CPU overkill" out there these days. In fact, some PEOPLE are "only 8 bit" so I am not complaining too much. There will definately be an 8 bit revolution/rennaisance some day if we aren't already in the beginning cycles of one.

[Cybernoid]

Things like word processing, accounting sheets, cash registers, etc.. should only need to be 8 bit as far as I can tell.

 

Yeah, you are right... We were on a hugh marketing rollercoaster when they made us believe that we needed to have a faster processor to be better. So, every 3 months you need to buy another computer... thanks intel!

 

The 8bit can be the brains/CPU behind many applications that do not require processing a vast amount to data in a short time or a bunch of graphics... our 8bit machines could control Scrolling Text signs or be a simple text only TV broadcast... we has a station here that used an Atari 8bit computer to do this. It could be used in restaurants for point-of-sale machines, for

 

For home use: games!!!

 

Hey, how about turning the 8bit into a controller for an alarm system or even to control a string of blinking LED lights (for Christmas)...

[Tickled_Pink]

Hey, how about turning the 8bit into a controller for an alarm system or even to control a string of blinking LED lights (for Christmas)...

 

Yeah. Thought about turning that alarm business and other similar ideas into a small business a little while ago. I felt it would be a good reuse of old systems that were surplus to requirements, rather than redesigning and manufacturing new ones.

 

There's so much old computer equpment out there without a use (from the ZX81 to the 486 PCs).

[Cybernoid]

Yeah, I know... If I could find a good small business for these old computers, I could make a good living in what TI (my work) throws away around here. Every day you can find some old computer by the trash... crazy.

 

I would still like to see an 8bit in a PDA formfactor... Even it is just a kid's PDA. Every one of my little cousins or other kids I show the old games to, they can sit and play for hours... You do not need a PS2 or whatever!!!

[conda]

Can someone ask that guy where he gets printer ribbons and paper for that 820. I have a working one, but the ribbon and paper are toast.

[Cybernoid]

You can send him email at sysop2004@a8maestro.com this month, then sysop2005@a8maestro.com next year.....

[Tickled_Pink]

Yeah, I know... If I could find a good small business for these old computers, I could make a good living in what TI (my work) throws away around here.  Every day you can find some old computer by the trash... crazy.  

 

I would still like to see an 8bit in a PDA formfactor... Even it is just a kid's PDA.  Every one of my little cousins or other kids I show the old games to, they can sit and play for hours... You do not need a PS2 or whatever!!!

 

Computers are not the only thing TI 'throw away'. Have received plenty of sample products from them ... hopefully I'll finally be able to do something with them soon (for the A8, of course ).

 

It's the same situation with Colleges and Universities - my Uni had been selling electronics equipment and 10Gb hard drives recently, but in my previous Uni there was a large skip full of old computers they threw out.

[+davidcalgary29]

I think that it would take relatively little to mod the A8 to fit the average computer user's needs. The XEGS could, for instance, be transfored into a simple entertainment "plug and play" unit with the following mods:

 

-video upgrade;

-DataQue's 65C816 upgrade, or equivalent;

-32 or so of the games built into the internal ROM, to replace "Missile Command".

 

Internet-readiness would probably be more of a problem, given memory, graphics, and CPU speed limitations, but a built-in USB port would sure help.

 

Well, maybe not so simple.

[+davidcalgary29]

Hm. Never mind the above post. It'd probably just be cheaper to reproduce the Commodore 65 and release it for consumption as a "starter" computer that could be sold, with monitor and printer, for less than $250.

[Cybernoid]

Oh, I don't know... If you built an old 8bit into a dvd player, settop box, or pvr/dvr, and make it so that it is one of the graphics layers (like Closed Caption or Teletext), you would have a nice selling point. Your Settop comes ready with personal, kid-safe computer. Make it so that you can download games and utilities over the internet and you are set!!!

 

I work making chips for HDTV. Some of the next generation TVs have a fast enough CPU in them, that I thought about porting Atari800 to these CPUs/chipsets. That way I can hack an Atari computer straight into the TV.

 

Well, I may be dreaming, but it is possible.

[mos6507]

I'm typing this message on a computer that is simultaneously running a Divx of Santa Clause 2 while an email client polls for email, plus I have a bunch of other programs still running idle in the background (Itunes, etc...)

 

Computers these days are more combined communication and entertainment devices than they are the glorified word processors and calculators they were in the late 80s. There is a lot of I/O going on in a PC. Lots of stuff streaming in and out of it all the time. Lots of stuff being compressed/decompressed.

 

So while my Atari XE was able to get me through college in the late 80s when most of us had already upgraded to 16-bit plfatforms, the argument that they are powerful enough to be your sole PC these days just doesn't fly anymore.

 

It's true that PCs are generally overpowered these days, but we're talking about a sweet spot in throughput that was hit around 1GHZ, not 1MHZ.

 

Modern media files are heavily compressed in a way that requires decent performance to decode.

 

When I had an Athlon 700 it was barely able to play a Divx file at fullspeed and it would stutter if I ran any other tasks in the background. Today's PCs can do that pretty easily, even with substandard graphics chipsets.

 

What is interesting, however, is that the PDA platform too is approaching throughput levels at the "sweet spot". The newest VGA PDAs with the 624mhz Xscales in them can do 30fps DIVX playback also. The new personal media players are really just closed-off PDAs.

 

If we start to see a lot of HighDef content come out, then the bar might get raised again, although I would guess that a 2.x GHZ machine with a good gfx card would still be able to handle it okay.

 

There are always a few uses for computers that will demand bleeding edge, but for most of us, as long as you can play music and movies on it while you surf the web, that's good enough.

 

 

I wouldn't fire up Atariwriter anymore, but I'd be glad to fire up Star Raiders. The obvious thing you use old home computers for is to play games on them, because some games are timeless.

[Cybernoid]

I wouldn't fire up Atariwriter anymore, but I'd be glad to fire up Star Raiders.  The obvious thing you use old home computers for is to play games on them, because some games are timeless.

 

This is all too true...

 

BTW, I am writing this, and most of my posts, from my Zaurus PDA.

[Tickled_Pink]

I wouldn't fire up Atariwriter anymore, but I'd be glad to fire up Star Raiders.  The obvious thing you use old home computers for is to play games on them, because some games are timeless.

 

Which is why a lot of games are still being re-released on different platfoms ... e.g Atari and Taito's games on the Sky Digibox. I suppose this could lead to a possibility if one Digibox manufacturer was brave enough to try it ... adding an A8 to a digibox. At the moment the 'Interactive card' slot is unused, so why not use that as a new means of distributing A8 games by including an A8 in the machine?

 

Actually, I think the simplest and cheapest way to do that would be to include a Sinclair Spectrum as that only has a single custom IC ... and that's only a glofied logic chip (unless someone can come up with the A8 on an FPGA )

 

The games could then be downloaded via the Sky Service. Let's face it, a Digibox, although it offers many more colours, is crap for playing games on as they are simply not cut out for it ... some digiboxes run slower than others. Fitting a dedicated gaming circuit into a digibox would improve things a lot.

[+davidcalgary29]

I wouldn't fire up Atariwriter anymore, but I'd be glad to fire up Star Raiders.  The obvious thing you use old home computers for is to play games on them, because some games are timeless.

 

This is all too true...

 

BTW, I am writing this, and most of my posts, from my Zaurus PDA.

 

I actually think that Atariwriter is an excellent package and might return to it again when I can get AtariWriter 80 to work properly with my XEP80, and a USB cart (with driver) so I can get a new Epson-compatible inkjet. Modern word processors simply have far too much junk built into them for the average user (I'm usually drafting memos, not publishing magazines!), and their "help" features are abhorrent.

 

I use my WinTel machine solely for internet access, legal database searches, and e-mailing; I don't use a PC for gaming, which is possibly the only reason of which I can think why it would be necessary to upgrade past the 16-bit level. It's possible that a 65C816 could handle all of these other tasks admirably. [/i]

[Goochman]

I got good use out of AW80 and the XEP80 way back - My girlfriend then used it for College as well.

[Big Player]

I used Atariwriter on my 800XL until I bought Paperclip. The staff of Antic magazine used Paperclip to write their articles and recommended it. I never went back to Atariwriter once I got it. There isn't an 80 column version of it, that I know of.

 

While there is a lot that I don't need on modern word processors, there are a few things such as undo and multitasking that save me so much time that I wouldn't want to step back to 8-bit. But I guess if you had enough RAM and a hard drive, these features could be implemented.

[Goochman]

THere was a 'promised' Paperclip 80 for the XEP but I think that was wishful thinking - I used Paperclip on the Atari and liked it also - but no 80 column made AW80 more attractive.

[Rob Mitchell]

BTW' date=' I am writing this' date=' and most of my posts, from my Zaurus PDA.[/quote'']

 

I wish I could say that I do the same thing with my HP200LX palmtop!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Brad2600]

Oh, I don't know... If you built an old 8bit into a dvd player, settop box, or pvr/dvr,  and make it so that it is one of the graphics layers (like Closed Caption or Teletext), you would have a nice selling point.  

Well, I may be dreaming, but it is possible.

 

I am wondering when they are going to bring the ability to "close-caption" things to home users?

 

If someone could modify an A8 computer to do this, that would be brilliant. I am deaf and I rely heavily on closed captioning in movies, TV shows and so forth.