[Coco] Blue Coco

[KnudsenMJ at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/24/04 2:20:58 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
neilsmorr at hotpop.com writes:

> Apparently the blue Vidtex
>  > terminal was made just for the AgVision network. I don't think the
>  idea really worked, as most farmers are by nature low tech. That's
>  changing,
>  > but only the big farms rely much on technology.
>  
>  Really? I got the impression that most farmers were now on the net,
>  and many use tools like global positioning and satellite images to
>  help them.

People in the profession of synthesizing complex organic structures using 
solar energy do tend to use a mix of traditional and low-tech, plus whatever 
high-tech helps them get their jobs done.  Emphasis on helping with the work.

The Vidtex terminal was about as simple as such a thing could be -- hook it 
to your TV, jack the other port into the phone line, dial the number, and go.  
I guess the farmer had to type some kind of password or account number once 
there, then follow a text menu to get the desired crop price and weather info, 
but any simpler would be hard to imagine.

BTW, in my early Coco days CompuServe had an "online mall."  Big deal today, 
but it was all done with straight 32x16 text menus at 300 Baud.  I was able to 
find an astronomy shop, read details of their simple telescope kit, and order 
one via credit card (secure?  How do you spell that?) for my kid, all on a 
Coco 1 at 300 Baud.

I'd bet some farmers were getting pretty detailed info out of that AgVision 
net -- if not, it wasn't their fault, or the terminal's.  --Mike K.