[Coco] The evolution of the Coco..

[John R. Hogerhuis]

On Fri, 2005-04-22 at 16:42 -0700, Steve Bjork wrote:
> interface would be almost as simple as writing a BASIC program.
> 
> Commands like Open, Close, Read, Write, Get and Put are all you need to do 
> basic file I/O.  As for the graphics, we could use simple basic commands to 
> create the graphics.  Why stop there, add sprites and block graphics (with 
> large scrolling maps) so you write an arcade quality Zaxxon game (and more) 
> in basic.
> 
> This is the type of expansion that I was talking about earlier with the of 
> the emulator specs.  Why limit the emulator to what the CoCo 3 can do?  Why 
> not make a 21th century CoCo 4 and end the "I wish the coco had ..." forever!

Issues of ownership on dare I say obvious ideas (to a programmer anyway)
aside, I think either idea is good and they are both basically the same
thing. A coco "interface" on a modern PC. Imagine typing EDIT and having
vi or emacs pop up but still on a 32x16 screen, or whatever WIDTH you
happen to be at. Or typing PINE at BASIC and it pops up your email
client.

All software project: we could make a custom mastered Live CD that w/ a
hacked up coco MESS and Linux managing all the real hardware. The coco 4
then is a scriptable "environment" gateway.

Again though I'd prefer at least to make a variant of this as an
embedded system. We can make a rockin portable out of it that way.

Such a machine has at least one aspect of a coco. When you boot it, it's
basically saying "Program Me." and nothign else.

OK

-- John.