[Coco] [Color Computer] Re: Why USB would be nice.

[Boisy G. Pitre]

On Sep 2, 2005, at 11:31 AM, James Diffendaffer wrote:

>> Rob, I see what you are saying,
>> But you are asumming that people can't find parts. My point is  
>> that if
>> people look, the parts are out there! Between e-bay, cloud9 and
>>
> sites like
>
>> my online store, Parts, are not only avalible, they are fairly
>>
> reasonably
>
> "sites like my online store"
>
> Why is it that almost everyone that knocks this project has something
> to gain by it *not* working????
> But maybe I'm just imagining that.

I believe that one reason your ideas come under suspicion is because  
of your incessant criticism of the work of others, most notably  
Cloud-9, of which I am a part.  I noticed in your last few posts that  
you were careful not to appear as overtly aggressive to our products,  
and I suppose that was progress, but in this message, your behavior  
is regressing.

> And for the rest of the world referbished means CHEAPER.
> A NEW USB drive is definately cheaper even with the Flash Card
> interface built in!
>
> And those old drives don't approach the storage of even a USB floppy
> let alone a flash device.

I cannot disagree with you here.  USB does present certain advantages  
that are appealing for CoCo users.

You've been promising a USB solution for the CoCo for some time now.

> Well, if some of us get some time from regular work (and it looks like
> that might happen for me) we can have some modern development tools
> and could develope new software along these lines.

Modern development tools are already here: rma/rlink as well as the  
mamou assembler.  A release of the C-Cubed Compiler is planned for  
the next few months.  There's also NitrOS-9, whose existence you seem  
to ignore in every post.

>
>> You are mistaken (A bit) in the IDE controller that Clould 9 sells,
>>
> It has
>
>> multi-purposes, not just for a hard drive. It also can be use for a
>>
> CD Rom/
>
>> Burnner, and it has a compact flash card on it. Also there is (is
>>
> you hunt)
>
>> IDE internal Zip Drives, and probably a ton of other devices that
>>
> can be
>
>> hooked up.
>>
>
> It's IDE and IDE was designed strictly for drives.  It's not a
> universal interface.  Are there CD ROM drivers for OS-9?

Cloud-9's SuperDriver does indeed support CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs under  
NitrOS-9.  Chris Hawks is working on a CDF file manager which will  
allow the use of ISO 9660 CD-ROMs on the CoCo, but for now, RBF CD- 
ROMs are definitely readable under NitrOS-9.  We have full  
information about this and other products at http://www.cloud9tech.com/

> Superboard... I think it's expensive but it's not like anyone else is
> making new CoCos.  But then it's not out yet either and you had to pay
> in advance.

All true, but it is being worked on, and from people who have a  
proven track record of delivering.  So far you're track record has  
been talking, talking and more talking.

Ever since you popped up on this list some months ago, you have  
defined yourself as someone who criticizes the work of others without  
any deference to them or respect for their efforts.  You slight  
others by emphasizing your promise to create better solutions at a  
cheaper cost.  And, you continue to pile projects on yourself (the  
GCC port, etc) without any indication of completing them.    Please  
stop using this forum as a way of advancing your ideas and projects  
by disparaging my work and the work of my colleague; instead, mute  
your criticism and complete projects that will be beneficial to all  
CoCo users.

Boisy