7 ms·

Surprisingly sexy. Way ahead of it's time and beyond the scope of ideas that a commercial entity would deem even remotely acceptable.

flohofwoe 3y ago
This sort of open and stackable expansion module system wasn't uncommon at all for 80's home computer systems though.
- CharlesW 3y ago
  The TI-99 "sidecars" examples is new to me, and don't remember other "stackable expansion" examples from the time. What do you have in mind?
  - colanderman 3y ago
    Some examples of "nonflexibly-attached expansions" I can think of, though not arbitrarily expandable like the TI-99/4A: * Sega Genesis (CD, 32X, Modem, Sonic & Knuckles, Game Genie, Power Base Converter -- most of which could be attached at once [1], and a few games even required both the CD and 32X) * Nintendo GameCube (the Game Boy Player attached to the bottom) [2] * Epson HX-20 laptop (various expansion units could attach to the side, though only one at a time) [3] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y55ZBT_UcmU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y55ZBT_UcmU [2] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/GameCube-Game-Boy-Player.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/GameCube... [3] http://www.decodesystems.com/epson-hx20.jpg http://www.decodesystems.com/epson-hx20.jpg
    - CharlesW 3y ago
      Fun, thanks! Those examples reminded me of the amazing PowerBook Duo and DuoDock combo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_Duo#Duo_Dock_(M7779)_(1992),_Duo_Dock_II_(1994),_Duo_Dock_Plus_(1995) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_Duo#Duo_Dock_(M7779)...
  - cancerhacker 3y ago
    More of a “back car” - the Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 used piggybacking RAM with passthrough to other peripherals. It was a really fragile setup - the ram pack in particular would glitch out when typing.
  - kalleboo 3y ago
    The IBM Convertible let you stack on options on the back, including a printer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htl_JbZIcUU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htl_JbZIcUU
  - porterde 3y ago
    The ARM based Acorn Risc PC [1] from mid 90s had a case with up to 7 stackable slices. It made the internal volume larger and you installed a longer backplane for expansion cards. Someone built a pizza oven in one of the slices [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risc_PC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risc_PC [2] https://www.houseofmabel.com/personal/computers/riscpc/ https://www.houseofmabel.com/personal/computers/riscpc/
  - flohofwoe 3y ago
    The East German KC85/2../4 line was one example of this (scroll down for an 'expansion tower', theoretically such a tower could be 64 units high (the system could address up to 256 expansion modules, and one expansion unit had 4 slots): https://floooh.github.io/virtualkc/p010_kc85.html https://floooh.github.io/virtualkc/p010_kc85.html I also remember a similar module system for the Sinclair ZX computers, but my google fu is failing me at the moment. Such 8-bit home computers usually had their entire system bus exposed via a connector at the back or side, so even if the original manufacturer didn't support a stackable module system, 3rd parties could jump in and offer a solution.
  - kryptiskt 3y ago
    PC/104[0] was enormously popular for embedded systems, it consisted a stack of cards sharing an ISA bus (later PCI and PCIe). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC/104 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC/104
- saagarjha 3y ago
  Note that this sort of open and stackable expansion is illegal to build in most American cities.

flohofwoe 3y ago

This sort of open and stackable expansion module system wasn't uncommon at all for 80's home computer systems though.

CharlesW 3y ago
The TI-99 "sidecars" examples is new to me, and don't remember other "stackable expansion" examples from the time. What do you have in mind?
- colanderman 3y ago
  Some examples of "nonflexibly-attached expansions" I can think of, though not arbitrarily expandable like the TI-99/4A: * Sega Genesis (CD, 32X, Modem, Sonic & Knuckles, Game Genie, Power Base Converter -- most of which could be attached at once [1], and a few games even required both the CD and 32X) * Nintendo GameCube (the Game Boy Player attached to the bottom) [2] * Epson HX-20 laptop (various expansion units could attach to the side, though only one at a time) [3] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y55ZBT_UcmU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y55ZBT_UcmU [2] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/GameCube-Game-Boy-Player.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/GameCube... [3] http://www.decodesystems.com/epson-hx20.jpg http://www.decodesystems.com/epson-hx20.jpg
  - CharlesW 3y ago
    Fun, thanks! Those examples reminded me of the amazing PowerBook Duo and DuoDock combo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_Duo#Duo_Dock_(M7779)_(1992),_Duo_Dock_II_(1994),_Duo_Dock_Plus_(1995) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_Duo#Duo_Dock_(M7779)...
- cancerhacker 3y ago
  More of a “back car” - the Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 used piggybacking RAM with passthrough to other peripherals. It was a really fragile setup - the ram pack in particular would glitch out when typing.
- kalleboo 3y ago
  The IBM Convertible let you stack on options on the back, including a printer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htl_JbZIcUU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htl_JbZIcUU
- porterde 3y ago
  The ARM based Acorn Risc PC [1] from mid 90s had a case with up to 7 stackable slices. It made the internal volume larger and you installed a longer backplane for expansion cards. Someone built a pizza oven in one of the slices [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risc_PC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risc_PC [2] https://www.houseofmabel.com/personal/computers/riscpc/ https://www.houseofmabel.com/personal/computers/riscpc/
- flohofwoe 3y ago
  The East German KC85/2../4 line was one example of this (scroll down for an 'expansion tower', theoretically such a tower could be 64 units high (the system could address up to 256 expansion modules, and one expansion unit had 4 slots): https://floooh.github.io/virtualkc/p010_kc85.html https://floooh.github.io/virtualkc/p010_kc85.html I also remember a similar module system for the Sinclair ZX computers, but my google fu is failing me at the moment. Such 8-bit home computers usually had their entire system bus exposed via a connector at the back or side, so even if the original manufacturer didn't support a stackable module system, 3rd parties could jump in and offer a solution.
- kryptiskt 3y ago
  PC/104[0] was enormously popular for embedded systems, it consisted a stack of cards sharing an ISA bus (later PCI and PCIe). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC/104 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC/104
saagarjha 3y ago
Note that this sort of open and stackable expansion is illegal to build in most American cities.