[Coco] Preserving old CoCo diskettes...

[Gene Heskett]

On Wednesday 19 May 2010, Brian Blake wrote:
>Here's the only real problem I see on this issue. As a consumer, I don't
>understand the competition aspect of this. I see innovation on both sides
> of the track, that will benefit me when I decide to make a purchase. Yet,
> this is not a large market, but, I'd like to think there's room enough for
> two similar, but, different products. Yes, there is some apparent
> similarity in function between the DrivePak and some of Cloud9's products.
> However, IMHO, it's only a similarity...
>
>Mark and Boisy, thru Cloud9, have created numerous products for CoCo
>enthusiasts: SuperIDE, TC^3, memory upgrades, DriveWire, keyboard adapters,
>etc... I am a customer of Cloud9, and will continue to be (I need to order
>another 512k kit...)
>
>Roger has created a number of great programs and products, and I'm
>salivating while I await my DrivePak to be shipped. As you might infer from
>that last statement, I am also a customer of Roger's, and will continue to
>be.
>
>Maybe in my simplistic view of the situation, I just fail to see the bigger
>picture, but, here's how I see it:
>
>FDC's for the CoCo are not being made anymore - not an arguable point.
>DS/DD 5 1/4" drives are not being made anymore - not an arguable point.
>CoCo compatible 3.5" (drives with jumpers for multi-drive systems) are
>getting more difficult to locate.
>
>The DrivePak eliminates these issues - I see it as a floppy drive
>replacement, with benefits. The benefits being faster loading, less clutter
>on the desktop, fewer disks required, and with CoCoNet, the ability to
>connect to a PC via bitbanger and mount images, etc... Yes, it does step on
>DriveWire functionality, however, I think there's room for both products;
>competition does drive innovation. Having used DW a little, and awaiting to
>use CoCoNet, I'll be in a better position comment on this when my DrivePak
>comes in and I've used it.
>
>The C9 storage solutions are just as impressive, yet fit another need - the
>desire to have a real CoCo HDD setup. There is something inherently cool
>about saying, "Yeah, my CoCo is hooked up to a HDD system" (one day I might
>be able to say that ;-) ). I see the set up involved in this to be much
> more intensive than what I know about the DrivePak, and a less advanced
> user may not wish to go that route. By the same token, smaller HDD's are
> getting harder to locate as well. Using a 50GB drive for a CoCo system
> seems like a huge waste considering the max partition size in HDB-DOS is
> in the 80MB range (if I understand the manual correctly). For these
> reasons, DrivePak is a viable alternative - again, my opinion.
>
>I only recently got DW working and have run into a couple of problems that
>I'm sure there are solutions to. The ability to connect to a PC to use as
> an image server is very cool, regardless of which product you use
>(DW or CoCoNet), and really replaces the floppy drive by itself. The
>downside is they both add to the necessary set up to load disk images to
>your CoCo. Used purely as a floppy replacement, the DrivePak should shine
> in this capacity.
>
>Are they competing products? Probably - however, I see the products as
>targeted to different user's skill levels.
>
>As a consumer in this wonderful CoCo market, I would think (hope) that any
>developers would show a desire to work together to produce the best
> possible products. Regardless of whether they support a company or do it
> on the side thru a website, this is still a hobby and nobody will get rich
> from it. Even with the tenuous relationship between product engineers and
> coders, I'd like to think there's room enough for all egos here ;-).
>
>Without the products guys like the three of you create, there wouldn't be
>much of a CoCo hobby here. Keep up the great work guys.
>
>
>Later,
>
>Brian
>
I'll second this message, it says it better than I did.  Thanks Brian.

Now, I see I am going to have to be off list for about 3 days, as I'm voting 
with my feet over verizons crappy telephone service (nearly 3 weeks total 
without a telephone since the first of the year), and will be back via 
shentel cable, hopefully by friday evening.  In the meantime, use my gmail 
dot com address, same name, or gheskett at wdtv dot com if you need to 
contact me.

-- 
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
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