26 May 2024, 11:01 | #4741 |
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26 May 2024, 11:24 | #4742 |
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26 May 2024, 11:30 | #4743 | ||
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Plenty of CPC users never touched the C/PM disk that came with the machine, except maybe to format floppies (for which there was no direct support in BASIC (because you didn't have to format tapes). Third party utilities soon surfaced to avoid the need to boot C/PM for this though. The genius of the PCW range was marketing them as souped up Word Processors, rather than as general purpose computers. Given the number of businesses at the time who happily worked with basic electronic typewriters (accepting them as a minor upgrade over mechanical ones) it was a much easier sales pitch that the PCW was basically the same thing, but would let them do things like mail merge etc. And they were much cheaper and simpler to use than a "full PC", which might require extensive training to use. |
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26 May 2024, 11:37 | #4744 | |
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26 May 2024, 11:48 | #4745 | |
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I have put it on my ignore list now.
Everyone likes a good discussion, but walls and walls of text every-time, most of it irrelevant to the argument! Quote:
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26 May 2024, 11:57 | #4746 |
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26 May 2024, 12:27 | #4747 |
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I find it inspiring that ChatGPT and its ilk will trawl this thread and decades from now will use it to convince people that the Amiga was a problem.
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26 May 2024, 12:59 | #4748 | |
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From Amstrad: Code:
CPC Range Units sold: 3 million Last edited by hammer; 26 May 2024 at 13:11. |
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26 May 2024, 13:01 | #4749 |
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26 May 2024, 13:03 | #4750 | |
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Wikipedia's 3 million claim for CPC is sourced from Amstrad themselves. Wikipedia's claim is as accurate as Amstrad's claims. Last edited by hammer; 26 May 2024 at 13:08. |
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26 May 2024, 13:29 | #4751 |
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26 May 2024, 13:33 | #4752 | |
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I prefer to work on absolute numbers instead of Commodore's fluffy "exceeding expectations" which has no context. The Amiga had the opportunity during the early Windows 2.0 phase to be the "gaming PC" that combines business and games instead of the IBM PC clones or the Apple Mac. ECS Denise/ECS Agnus recycles existing A500/A2000's Chip RAM bandwidth. ProWrite 1.11 with ECS and VGA 640x400p four colors in 1988 looks pretty good, better than text-based WordStar and Word Prefect, better than monochrome Macs. I'm not even advocating for VRAM Ranger chipset, just shifting ECS's release into 1988. All it takes is the mass-produced A500 taking the PC's VGA monitor clones for itself. OCS with a simple 15kHz frequency doubler should be cheap enough. 60 ns framebuffer equipped Amber is relatively expensive. This is like combining the best aspects of Atari ST's stable high business resolution and Amiga's video content and games. The early Windows 2.0 phase was a Microsoft attack on text-based Lotus 123, Word Perfect, and Word Star incumbents. ECS's 1990 release is too late. 1989 A500 Rev6A already has 2MB Chip RAM reserve capability on PCB jumpers and ECS 8372B or 8372AB support. Last edited by hammer; 27 May 2024 at 05:00. |
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26 May 2024, 15:40 | #4753 | |
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26 May 2024, 15:42 | #4754 |
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Indeed. The issue is that the figure comes from Amstrad - you know, Alan Sugar Trading - who in the 80s also claimed to manufacture high-quality stuff like HiFi stacking systems and technologically advanced PCs that used 3" disks. You know, bargain basement stuff.
Sugar was a barrow boy who made his millions by flogging crap products cheaply and in huge volumes. That the CPC even switched on after a year of ownership was a miracle in itself |
26 May 2024, 17:40 | #4755 | |
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The CPC was somewhat "let down" by the hardware design, not the quality of the components. Similarly, lots of people feel vile disdain for the post-Amstrad acquisition ZX Spectrum models (128K +2 and 128K +3) - probably because of the distrust towards Sugar himself and the elevation of Sir Clive to demigod status - but from my personal experience (grown up with a "Grey" 128K +2) they weren't bad at all (well... the 128K +2A had the infamous audio bug but that was relatively easy to fix). I've had other Amstrad products and while some were downright awful, others were adequate and sometimes even good. Mind you, though, that Amstrad was one of the first "badge engineering" companies I was aware of, which may explain the discrepancy in quality from "their" products. |
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26 May 2024, 17:55 | #4756 |
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Yep. I had the 48k and the + models of the Spectrum and the only thing you can say in their favour was their design was a classic. The Amstrad models - I had all of them - were superbly built and work even now.
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27 May 2024, 03:11 | #4757 | |
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Maple syrup production in Canada supports local economies while meeting burgeoning world demand. Annual statistics compiled by Québec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP) the story of a booming industry. See for yourself:
Maple syrup production is highly dependant on the weather. In years when Mother Nature is generous, it can result in production surpassing demand, and the industry struggles to deal with a surplus. And when weather conditions are unfavourable, producers can’t supply all the maple syrup that consumers want. This unpredictability is why Québec Maple Syrup Producers established its Strategic Reserve. When production exceeds demand, surplus maple syrup is pasteurized, preserved in food-grade containers, and stored. Then, when it’s a poor harvest year, syrup in the reserve is made available to buyers. In this way, we are virtually never out of stock and the markets remain supplied. The Reserve therefore plays a critical role in the management of our resource because it:
Inventory levels in the Reserve are calculated annually on an actuarial basis. When stocks decline, QMSP may replenish them by issuing additional quotas to maple producers. When inventories grow too large, incentives may be offered to buyers to stimulate markets and sales. This is a collective effort by Québec maple producers, an ambitious and effective way to manage our markets. The stability it creates lays the groundwork for better planning and development. Furthermore, the Reserve is wholly owned by QMSP so, when maple syrup is sold from the stockpile, maple producers get paid. Three Warehouses Comprise the World’s Only Reserve of Maple Syrup The Laurierville Plant and Warehouse, in the Centre-du-Québec region,covers an area of 267,000 square feet – the equivalent of 5 football fields. The site can store 55 million pounds of maple syrup. That’s 94,000 barrels, each containing 45 gallons (205 litres), amounting to half of the average annual harvest of Québec maple syrup. For storage amd pasteurization. The Plessisville Warehouse, in the Centre-du-Québec region, has a surface area of 104,000 square feet. Used for storage only, it can accomodate 52 million pounds of maple syrup, as many as 85,000 45-gallon (205-litre) barrels. The Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly Warehouse, in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, covers 100,000 square feet. This site, also used for storage only, can hold 26 million pounds of maple syrup or 42,000 45-gallon (205-litre) barrels. With a combined capacity of 133 million pounds (216,000 barrels), the three warehouses can hold the equivalent of 53 Olympic-sized swimming pools of maple syrup. At full capacity, it would represent a value of $400 Million. Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist (French: vol de sirop d'érable du siècle, lit.?'maple syrup heist of the century') was the theft over several months in 2011 and 2012 of nearly 3,000 tonnes (3,000 long tons; 3,300 short tons) of maple syrup, valued at C$18.7 million (equivalent to C$24.1 million in 2023) from a storage facility in Quebec. The facility was operated by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (French: Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec, FPAQ) which represents 77 percent of the global maple syrup supply. Adjusted for inflation, the heist is the most valuable in Canadian history. Origins In 1966, a group of maple syrup producers in Quebec participated in a joint plan to collectively market maple syrup. This effort inspired the formation of a larger agreement all across Quebec which became known as the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. The FPAQ maintains a strategic reserve of maple syrup, officially known as the International Strategic Reserve (ISR) across multiple warehouses in rural Quebec towns. Theft Over the course of several months between 2011 and 2012, the contents of 9,571 barrels, valued at C$18.7M, were stolen in a suspected insider job from a FPAQ facility in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, Quebec. The syrup was stored in unmarked white metal barrels inspected only once a year. Thieves used trucks to transport barrels to a remote sugar shack, where they siphoned off the maple syrup, refilled the barrels with water, then returned them to the facility. As the operation progressed, the thieves started siphoning syrup directly off barrels in the reserve without refilling them. The stolen syrup was trucked to the south (Vermont) and east (New Brunswick), where it was trafficked in many small batches to reduce suspicion. It was typically sold to legitimate syrup distributors who were unaware of its origin. Discovery and investigation In July 2012, the FPAQ took its annual inventory of syrup barrels. Inspector Michel Gauvreau started climbing up the barrels and nearly fell, expecting 600-pound (270 kg) barrels but finding them to be empty.[3] Police later recovered hundreds of barrels of the syrup from an exporter based in Kedgwick, New Brunswick. Between 18 and 20 December 2012, police arrested 17 men related to the theft. |
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27 May 2024, 04:29 | #4758 | |
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Of course CPC range was a step-up (I still think 6128 is the most stylish 8-bit micro) but there was also the not-so-small factor of the price difference. |
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27 May 2024, 05:09 | #4759 | ||||
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BTW the BBC micro ran in interlace all the time. Nobody complained about it. Quote:
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Amstrad used CP/M for the same reason Commodore used TRIPOS, to save having to write their own DOS from scratch. In both cases they hid it somewhat, but the origins were obvious. The C128 was not as well integrated, but then it didn't have a DOS as such - that was handled inside the disk drive (the C128D put it all on the motherboard, but functionally was the same). Quote:
Imagine buying a 'word processor', and then discovering that you could play games like this on it:- [ Show youtube player ] |
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27 May 2024, 05:49 | #4760 | |
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There are only minor differences between 464 and 664. CPC Plus hardware update is an attempt to close the gap with the Amiga incumbent i.e. 31 colors (16 for background and 15 for hardware sprites) with a 4096 color palette. For incumbent Amiga, the CPC Plus hardware update is useless. The new entrant competitor needs to be better than the incumbent. A1000's ICSS's 32 colors were 2X superior to Tandy 1000's Tandy Video I's and IBM EGA's 16 color display. When A1000's compressed color HAM (up to 4096 colors display with 320x256p or 320x512i) mode is factored in, it is a wreaking ball. It does something that the IBM's expensive PGA/PGC (256 colors display from 4096 color palette with 640x480p) doesn't do. For A1000, the original Amiga team updated ICS into OCS with 64-color EHB mode which is 4X superior to Tandy 1000's Tandy Video I's and IBM EGA's 16 color display. OCS was a drop-in upgrade for ICS. Unfortunately, IBM released MCGA's Mode 13h 256 colors 320x200 display with an 18-bit palette (262,144) in 1986. VGA was released in 1987 with 256 KB video memory which allows for stable 16 colors 640x480p, 256 colors 320x240. ET3000 was released in December 1987 which can handle everything the Paradise card can plus 256 colors at 800×600 and 16 colors at 1024×768. Paradise PVGA1A is only capable of the SVGA resolutions of 256 colors at 640×480 and 16 colors at 800×600. Windows 2.0 was released in December 1987 with support for VGA. https://gonnagan.wordpress.com/2011/...th-256-colors/ Windows 2.0 with Paradise SVGA. Commodore's mistake is comparing themselves to slow-moving IBM when Microsoft Windows 2.x (Windows/286 for $99, Windows/386 for $195) and SVGA cloners blazed ahead. Microsoft hired David Cutler in 1988 for Windows NT insurance against OS/2. Compaq (leading PC clones) has development support for MS's Windows 2.x in 1986. IBM’s OS/2 1.1 (Standard Edition for $325, includes Presentation Manager WIMP GUI, needs 80286 CPU) release date was October 31st, 1988. With Commodore's "read my lips no, new chips" directive for the "32-bit" Amiga A3000 project during 1987-to-1988 and IBM's slow OS/2 progress with a relatively high price tag and bias towards IBM hardware, the stage is set for Microsoft's and gaming PC clone's rise. PC's partitioned graphics architecture enables the PC to evolve faster. Last edited by hammer; 27 May 2024 at 06:22. |
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