1983 Micro prices (was Re: The Origins of DOS)

[Chris M]

--- Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk at yahoo.co.uk>
wrote:

> ...whilst the impression I've got of the US was that
> people were far more willing 
> to upgrade systems reasonably frequently to whatever
> the latest thing 
> available was.

 I think the problem with endlessly upgrading an older
machine was getting support somewhere down that road.
Software issues come to mind. Older hardware can get
goofy too, so unless you have an ee degree, it's
probably often more cost effective to toss the old
system (for businesses at least).  I think the
disposable pc is alot more of a reality today then in
the 80's though.

> In education, yes. Not so much for home or business
> use, though. What 
> timeframe are we talking - say 1982 to 1985 or so?

 The Nimbus probably came out in o about '85. I don't
know alot about any of their other products, just that
they're still around. And that cerulean blue and red
logo looks positively lovely against a creme
background ;)

> ...but there were also a huge 
> number of business people making use of the same
> machines that were found in 
> the home. Often these people were talented enough to
> write their own bespoke 
> software to manage their business, but there was a
> healthy market in 
> 'business' software written for these machines too.

 Yes, and there were quite a few small business run
with a Commie 64. Generally though programming was not
that much delved into. I've often felt *ducking* that
some of the niftier pd warez (i.e. those concocted by
amateurs) came out of Europe. 

> > I still want the blooming Nimbus
> 
> Good grief, why? They're pretty nasty. If you want
> something from RML, go for 
> a 380Z or a 480Z - those are 'real' computers; the
> 380Z has that lovely rugged 
> 'military' feel to it with all the fun of a modular
> system (albeit without a 
> rigid backplane :-) whilst the 480Z is a great
> example of good design, both 
> hardware and packaging.

 Nasty in what way? Incompatible (largely my
understanding) - I know ;). I place in somewhere
between a Tandy 2000 and a Mindset (both used the same
80186). There is talk of "improved sound and graphics"
which could mean asics, or possibly just something
like a 7220 and an actual dedicated sound chip (which
the 5150 didn't have). It appears to use the same
Mistubishi made monitor as the Tandy 2000 (640 x 400 x
8), so I'm wondering if the data on old-computers.com
is accurate. "That" monitor was also available for the
Leading Edge Model M/Sperry PC, but it was only
capable of CGA resolution, and had the most awful dot
pitch. So there were variations.
 I do have a few z80 based machines, but I concentrate
on Intel based stuph.

> cheers
> 
> Jules
> 



 
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