[Coco] Was the CoCo just another game console? Re: The Coco Zelda Clone

[Bill Loguidice]

I think the use of cartridges for the CoCo was an obvious direction for
Tandy. Certainly there were plenty of predecessors like the VideoBrain,
Exidy Sorcerer, TI-99/4, Atari 400/800, and others who "blazed the trail"
if you will, but the benefits for home use were clear. Not only were
consumers already familiar with the convenience of cartridges from game
consoles, it was also a way for the new computer owner - who could not be
counted on to have any pre-existing knowledge - to easily do something with
the machine. It was literally the only plug and play thing you could do at
the time short of type in a BASIC program, and even that was kind of a
"next step" thing. Certainly plugging in a cassette recorder and using it
was not particularly difficult, but there were still fiddly bits that could
be intimidating. Naturally, there were other benefits for Tandy as well,
such as more robust copy protection and fewer support calls afforded by the
format.

===================================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director; Armchair Arcade,
Inc.<http://www.armchairarcade.com>
===================================================
Authored Books<http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Loguidice/e/B001U7W3YS/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1>and
Film <http://www.armchairarcade.com/film>; About me and other ways to get
in touch <http://about.me/billloguidice>
===================================================


On Tue, Jul 9, 2013 at 1:25 PM, Steve <6809er at srbsoftware.com> wrote:

> If you compare the CoCo with more modern computer then yes, it looks to be
> another "Cartridge" game console.
>
> But back in late 70's the only way to load programs (games) on the Apple
> II or TRS-80 Model I was to type them in or use a the cassette player.
> (Floppy disk were very expense or not out for the system yet.)
>
> Both methods were long and problematic and program packs (like on the
> Atari 2600) was a good solution.  Not only Tandy but Atari and Commodore
> saw to it that their new computers would have "Cartridge" ports to quickly
> load games and other programs.  The Atari 400/800 and Commodore VIC-20 all
> had ports for quick installation of programs.
>
> Cartridges was just the sign of the times.
>
> I will tell you that Tandy saw the Color Computer for the household and
> the TRS-80 Model X as the office systems.  Being for the household, they
> tried to keep the cost down and have big selection of software to sell.
>
> By the time of the late 80's rolled around, the 8-bit computer was dead
> and most walking into a radio shack wanted a home computer just like the
> "real" IBM computer back in their office.
>
> Steve
>
>
>