[Coco] coco 2 vs coco 3

[Bill Loguidice]

To be fair to the user bases of the Atari 8-bit and C-64, I don't think we
can so easily generalize what users did or didn't do with their computers.
With the Atari 8-bit, you're talking a couple of million users (which may
or may not have been roughly the same number of CoCo users), but with the
C-64, you're talking anywhere from 12 - 30 million users (I've never been
able to definitively nail down the numbers to my satisfaction, but it's
definitely in that range; that's not even counting the 5+ million C-128
series computers that were sold), which is exponentially more than the
combined Atari 8-bit and CoCo user bases. With those kinds of numbers, even
with the most conservative estimates, you would still have huge numbers of
people "more interested in learning how to use the computer," likely far
more than the CoCo's total user base. Just like it's not good for others to
generalize about the CoCo platform, it's not good to do the same for other
platforms without clear evidence. Even today, in practical terms, you have
far more people doing far more non-game stuff with those other two
platforms, though of course they also have the benefit of lots of new games
as well (just like in the old days).

===================================================
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
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in touch <http://about.me/billloguidice>
===================================================

On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 4:10 PM, Nick Marentes <nickma2 at optusnet.com.au>
wrote:

> On 30/09/2014 5:22 AM, Bill Loguidice wrote:
>
>> Definitely. While the IBM PC is the obvious champion when it comes to
>> long-term value from a single platform (1981 - present), the CoCo is
>> easily
>> in the upper echelon of the top 10 along with platforms like the Apple II,
>> Atari 8-bit, C-64, and MSX (one could argue Macintosh is in the mix (1984
>> -
>> present), but the multiple changes in architecture break up the chain a
>> bit). Of course one could also argue it's amongst the worst of that group
>> in terms of mainstream support and of course modern day recognition and
>> fan-base, but there's no denying it's still part of an elite class of
>> platforms. No one can ever take that away.
>>
>> -Bill
>>
>>
>>
>
> There was a large fan base at the time. Just look at the number of people
> attending the Rainbowfests back then. Oh don't forget the large
> distribution of the long running Rainbow magazine (and Hot CoCo, Color
> Computer Magazine etc)
>
> I think the CoCo enthusiasts were a different crowd to the C64 crowd. CoCo
> people were more interested in learning how to use the computer. We had a
> better BASIC, A Unix like OS (OS-9) and a great CPU (6809).
>
> C64  and Atari people were more the games and graphics.
>
> I must admit, I too was a games and graphics guy but I saw the C64 market
> as saturated and decided the CoCo had a market opportunity for games.
>
> Of course, the fact I was always a "Tandy guy" since I bought my TRS-80
> model 1 in 1980, I was an employee of Tandy for awhile and I just preferred
> the 6809 over the 6502 helped swing my preference. :)
>
> Nick
>
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