[Coco] A bit more of CoCo history dies...

[Paul Fitch]

There is a lot you can do without electronics.  If you made the plactic
on-site recycleable, you could do some interesting things.  Like I hate
doing the dishes<g>.  So give me some patterns for spoons, knives, forks,
and tupperware!  When I'm done using them, I just drop them in the sorting
and cataloging bin, and poof, fresh replacements are made.

Give it a generation or two, combined with the bubble memory logic we were
talking about a couple of weeks ago, and some mini-method to forge metals
and you have the makings of a full on replicator technology.   

> -----Original Message-----
> From: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com 
> [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] On Behalf Of Bill Cousert
> Sent: Saturday, August 08, 2009 12:47 AM
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
> Subject: Re: [Coco] A bit more of CoCo history dies...
> 
> Very crude, Right now it's limited to parts made out of 
> plastic. The second generation unit will use other materials. 
> Eventually they expect it to be able to build circuits. The 
> goal is to create a unit that can build just about anything 
> you can imagine, including copies of itself. a "Santa Claus 
> Machine".You'll just need raw materials and some open source patterns.
> 
> I know, this is considerably off topic, but I think this is 
> the future of electronics. The engineers and hobbyists will 
> use cad software to design goodies for the rest of us to print out.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: John Donaldson <johnadonaldson at sbcglobal.net>
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Friday, August 7, 2009 8:46:35 AM
> Subject: Re: [Coco] A bit more of CoCo history dies...
> 
> Kinda like a crude Star Trek Replicator.
> 
> John Donaldson
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bill Cousert wrote:
> > My memory is a little corrupted. I had a friend who had 
> spent about $5k on a similar system. Maybe it was the printer 
> that made up the difference.
> >
> > How will engineers get their start? I don't know. As time 
> goes on, I'm certain we'll see this trend continue. Some 
> people think we'll be soon using 3D printers to create our 
> own electronics at home. When they break we'll toss them in 
> the compost pile and print out another one. The Rep Rap 
> (http://www.reprap.org) may be the first generation of that 
> 3D printer. Click on the URL and watch the video if you have 
> a few minutes.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Christian Lesage <hyperfrog at gmail.com>
> > To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> > Sent: Thursday, August 6, 2009 12:23:11 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Coco] A bit more of CoCo history dies...
> >
> > Bill Cousert wrote:
> >  
> >> But I don't think the situation is as bad as it looks. 30 
> years ago, a TRS-80 model I with dual drives, expansion 
> interface and 48k RAM cost nearly $5,000 (probably more than 
> $10,000 in 2009 dollars). 
> >>    
> >
> > 5 grands? I don't think so. Here are the 1979 prices:
> >
> > TRS-80 Model I System w/ 16K RAM Level II....... $988 (includes 
> > monitor) Expansion Interface w/ 32K RAM............................ 
> > $697 Disk Drive 
> > #0........................................................... $499 
> > (includes TRS-DOS) Disk Drive 
> > #1........................................................... $499
> >
> > That's "only" $2,683. And in 1980, the first two item were 
> about $100 cheaper ($849 and $597 respectively). On the other 
> hand, I agree that some printers were quite expensive 
> (ranging from $220 to $1600).
> >
> >  
> >> Today I can get a really nice notebook computer for less 
> than $400. I think the savings more than make up for it.
> >>  
> >>    
> >
> > Well, in terms of money, it looks like it makes sense. But 
> the cheap prices don't make up for the huge, growing 
> electronic waste problem that the world is facing. Moreover, 
> we no longer can buy "Made in the USA" (or Canada, Australia, 
> France, UK, etc.) consumer electronic devices, which means we 
> "benefit" from some other people's cheap labor in other parts 
> of the world... probably the same people to whom we ship some 
> of our hazardous electronic waste.
> >
> >
> >
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