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> If only there had been a popular 6809-based computer with better hardware than the CoCo. That wasn't really the issue, the C64 wasn't much better yet became

by bsder 4y ago

> If only there had been a popular 6809-based computer with better hardware than the CoCo. That wasn't really the issue, the C64 wasn't much better yet became the best selling computer of all time. At Tandy, the owner died right in the late 70s. And then, I seem to recall that Tandy had not one but two embezzlement scandals at points when the company needed to have vision because the underlying business economics were shifting.

fsckboy 4y ago
I read what he wrote differently >> If only there had been a popular 6809-based computer with better hardware than the CoCo. > That wasn't really the issue, the C64 wasn't much better the 6809 was a really nice "ultimate" evolution of the 8-bit CPU. The C-64 was just another primitive 6502. So I think GP meant "I wish there was a 6809 I could get that wasn't the CoCo, because I want a 6809!" rather than meaning that the hardware doomed the CoCo or something.
- jejones3141 4y ago
  In a way it did. Tandy offloaded every possible function onto the processor to lower part count and hence cost, resulting in the infamous bit banger serial port and the equally infamous high resolution mouse adapter, which made the CPU time the discharge of a capacitor to figure out where the mouse pointer was, so you learned quickly to keep the mouse at the top left, minimizing that time, unless absolutely necessary. DMA for disk I/O? Only with third party hardware.
Teckla 4y ago
My first computer was a TRS-80 Color Computer. My second computer was a Commodore 64. Other than the CPU, the Commodore 64 was better in every way. Graphics, lowercase, SID for sound, real interrupts for data, keyboard... so many other reasons. The Commodore 64 was better than the TRS-80 Color Computer. Much better.
- bsder 4y ago
  You are correct; my memory was faulty. I was remembering the VIC-20 which was the contemporary of the TRS-80. Yes, the C64 was quite a bit better. But it came out roughly 2-3 years later, and was triple the price of a CoCo2 until the first round of price cuts (at which point it was still double).

by bsder 4y ago

fsckboy 4y ago

I read what he wrote differently >> If only there had been a popular 6809-based computer with better hardware than the CoCo. > That wasn't really the issue, the C64 wasn't much better the 6809 was a really nice "ultimate" evolution of the 8-bit CPU. The C-64 was just another primitive 6502. So I think GP meant "I wish there was a 6809 I could get that wasn't the CoCo, because I want a 6809!" rather than meaning that the hardware doomed the CoCo or something.

jejones3141 4y ago
In a way it did. Tandy offloaded every possible function onto the processor to lower part count and hence cost, resulting in the infamous bit banger serial port and the equally infamous high resolution mouse adapter, which made the CPU time the discharge of a capacitor to figure out where the mouse pointer was, so you learned quickly to keep the mouse at the top left, minimizing that time, unless absolutely necessary. DMA for disk I/O? Only with third party hardware.

Teckla 4y ago

My first computer was a TRS-80 Color Computer. My second computer was a Commodore 64. Other than the CPU, the Commodore 64 was better in every way. Graphics, lowercase, SID for sound, real interrupts for data, keyboard... so many other reasons. The Commodore 64 was better than the TRS-80 Color Computer. Much better.

bsder 4y ago
You are correct; my memory was faulty. I was remembering the VIC-20 which was the contemporary of the TRS-80. Yes, the C64 was quite a bit better. But it came out roughly 2-3 years later, and was triple the price of a CoCo2 until the first round of price cuts (at which point it was still double).