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Well, the dust is settling on AdamCon 11, and in my humble opinion, it was a great success. One thing that always warms my heart is the know- ledge that it's going to happen all over again next year. This is in fact the case for this time around. The next AdamCon (the 12th annual) is to be called AdamCon 0Ch, and is to be held in the Toronto area in the year 2000. So block off the centre 2 weekends (13-16 or 20-23) of July until I pin down a hotel.
When will all of this happen? Toronto in the summer is usually hot and sunny. It will be nice weather then, even if you don't go outside for the entire schedule. The middle of July is when Toronto area has hosted previous 'Cons, and so I'll keep with tradition.
What will we be doing As always, AdamCon will be a combination of reunion and enriching sessions on everything from the latest in computer technology (with application relating to the Adam) to discussions of old favorite topics and trivia. It is as always a time of renewal of energy towards this machine we call the "Adam Family Computer System". In the weeks leading up to an AdamCon there is always a flurry of activity, to prepare seminars on all topics Adam, and as a result the fall out stirs up Adam interest, and spurs more activity.
Why AdamCon 0C Why you may ask is the twelfth annual international Coleco Adam computer convention called AdamCon 0Ch? Well, it turns out that the official name of the first AdamCon was somewhat jokingly called "01", which I always thought was hexadecimal. Well to prove it, I am calling this AdamCon 0C. It is a tribute to all of the engineers and programmers who ever worked on the Adam, or contributed to the Adam community. As is happening throughout society, the year 2000 is one to look back on past successes and especially future possibilities. That is the philosophy of this upcoming AdamCon.
Location, Location, Location The dedicated AdamCon staff are searching the Greater Toronto Area for the perfect venue. Because the year 2000 is the future, we hope to have jet packs, Virtual Reality goggles and gloves for everyone who attends. We are still researching for pricing on those components. The cost for this AdamCon is planned to be $300 US for a regular full delegate sharing a room for 4 nights (Thursday night to Sunday night) including all breakfasts, lunches and of course the Banquet. The big project will be to premier the Coleco Adam repository -- a CD-ROM with all of the best PD, articles, information and guides for the Adam that we can assemble in one place. If you have any electronic donations contact Dale directly.
Your's To Discover The Tourism Ontario slogan is Ontario "Your's to Discover" -- and that applies to before and after the AdamCon. The Toronto Zoo (who just celebrated their 25th annivarsary), is among the 10 top zoos world wide. The tallest free standing building in the world is next to the stadium where the Blue Jays play. Just around the corner from Toronto are the wine regions of Ontario and of course world famous Niagra Falls.
Open casting call As with all AdamCons, I am looking for volunteers for all aspects of the conference. That includes speakers to give key notes, lectures or hands on lessons. Also, I am looking for a hardware wizard, and help with other before hand setup issues. Finally, I am looking for equipment that can be brought for the conference for the hands on lab.
More to come Keep your eyes peeled, because there will be more bulletins on the way with rate schedule and all of the details as they come into focus. Look for this bulletin and more at: http://www.adamcon.org/12/
Sincerely, Dale Wick, Chairman of AdamCon 0Ch dmwick@home.com
ADAMCON 01 was an absolute success!!! The fine work by Monte Neese and MOAUG made for a wonderful convention. So much information was presented that it could be months before all of it is understood. Some of the people we expected to see were unable to attend; Sol Swift was with us in spirit only, Big John Lingrel was also unable to be there. BUT, there was no lack of ADAM experts, Tony Morhan, Ron Collins, Tony Patterson, and others too numerous to mention. Many old friendships were strenghtened, many new friendships were made.
All who attended will not forget the feeling of camaraderie. The ADAM wars were, for the most part, forgotten. The true spirit of sharing that marked the early days of the personal computer was clearly evident. There was something for every ADAM owner. Advanced ideas for the experts, and basic information for the novice. It was interesting to see a 16 year old ADAMite talking to a 60 year old. Both talked the same language, ADAM, and each was able to learn from the other.
Following is an overview of the events at ADAMCON 01. It may not give you the true feeling of excitement of being there but will pass along some of the information presented.
Saturday, October 7th, 1989
Sunday, October 8th, 1989
Monday, October 9th, 1989
Tuesday, October 10th, 1989
Random Thoughts
Saturday, October 7, 1989
--------------------------Jay Foreman, President of MW Ruth, then made the opening remarks. The news flash he started out with was the Hewlett-Packard wrote the operating system for the ADAM. They wanted to break IBM to the small computer market without using their name, which was associated with mainframes. Jay presented an overview of the history of the ADAM. The machines that were rushed into stores (95,000 of the 500,000 that were promised) were not ready. 90% of these were not working properly. This was in 1983. By the time in 1984 when the bugs were worked out, Coleco had problems too numerous to overcome. They took advice from the wrong people, had problems with the banks, and did not allow hardware add-ons to surface.
Some of the early newsletters began to surface. Expandable Computer News only lasted 3 issues. Alan Gerson started AUGment. Jay started the #1 Sprite Chaser. By early 1985, Coleco was passing the warranty cards received from ADAM owners to AUGment and #1 Sprite Chaser. Jay compiled a list of 40,000 ADAM owners. Coleco never had a list of owners! Jay determined the Coleco produced 1,000,000 parts worth of ADAMs, and assembled 250,000 complete. With some ADAMs sold as parts and assembled by the owner, Jay estimated that there are 250,000 to 500,000 complete ADAMs in existence. In 1985 Coleco had a speech synthesizer developed, but it was too late to market by that time. Then in January of 1985, Coleco dropped our ADAM. Jay felt that the future of ADAM would be in compatibility with MS-DOS. A reception followed, with people looking at name tags to see if it was someone they knew through a BBS, correspondence, or by telephone. A busy first day and it was only for a few hours in the evening.
Sunday, October 8, 1989
-----------------------Workshops At this time we broke out into smaller groups to attend the three workshops. Each group would spend about 1/2 hour in each.
A. CP/M Basics - John Vilillo + Ron Collins John presented some basic information about CP/M: Digital Research wrote CP/M in 1975. It is the forerunner to MS-DOS.
Some terms:
TPA = Transient Program Area
CP/M = Control Program / Monitor
He talked about the limited TPA in CP/M and how TDOS (a new version,
I think) will overcome some of these restrictions. John had a couple
of sheets of paper and said that this was all the important
information from the manual, which was very wordy. John and Ron
reviewed many of the Control and transient commands.
B. Developing New Hardware - Mark Gordon Mark went thru some of the steps required when developing new hardware and for that matter, software. Questions that should be asked up front include; Is there a real need?, How many can be sold?, Can you recover the development cost?. A crucial thing to remember is that we are in a home market, not a business market. People have less money to spend on hardware additions. Mark used the Powermate 2 he developed as an example. After deciding to go ahead with a project, more questions present themselves. What parts are available on the market that could be used? Is it better to use a shelf part or custom design one? A simple example is the enclosure for the Powermate. Custom designing one would have added cost in the form of design, minimum runs, lead time. An off the shelf enclosure, while it may not be exactly what you need, could be purchased as needed, keeping development costs lower. A hardware project is useless unless software is available. If you are not able to write the software yourself, it's another cost to have it done. Mark wrapped it up with a short demo of the Powermate. A more complete demo would be available in the afternoon.
C. Telecommunications - Alan Neeley + Terry Cairns Alan and Terry talked about using a modem to log-onto a Bulletin Board System (BBS). Alan owns the copyright to the A-Net BBS software used by 8 ADAM BBS's. Terry stated that many BBS's are going as high as 2400 baud and that 300 baud may become outdated. Coleco put out modem software which has since been greatly improved. ADAMlinkI Ability to log-on to BBS ADAMlinkII Adds the ability to download ASCII files. ADAMlinkIII Adds X-Modem which works with CP/M. ADAMlinkIII+ Adds more options. The afternoon general session was a discussion of ADAMCalc by Ed Snow. Ed is a new ADAMite and has worked with spreadsheet programs on many computers. He rated ADAMCalc very high compared with other packages. One thing that is common to most spreadsheet programs is poor documentation. Ed reviewed the steps to prepare a spreadsheet:
1. Define the purpose.
2. Define procedures.
3. Layout the spreadsheet.
4. Code spreadsheet.
5. Test procedures with small numbers.
6. Use the spreadsheet.
The ability to name cells in ADAMCalc and use those names in
formulas is a big plus. Another tip is that the controller joystick
will move the cursor faster than the arrow keys.
The afternoon was wrapped up with a number of product
demonstrations.
Syd Carter wowed the crowd with the unveiling of a sound digitizer
for the ADAM. This unit inserts into the cart slot on top of the
CPU. It will capture sound from any source and store it. You can
then playback this sound without the hardware. This will allow the
use of sounds in programs. Included with the digitizer is a
clock/calender. The built in 10 year battery eliminates the need for
resetting the clock.
After running a short program, this will add the current date when
saving programs. The date can be read with some file utilities.
Jim Walters and his twin brother Bruce demo'ed their cart version of
SMARTDSK. A pull of the cart reset presents you with a full range of
utilities that support all sizes of memories and disk drives. They
also showed LABELWORKS and the new game VASE OF TURR.
Mark Gordon Showed off his POWERMATE2. This is a nice stand-alone
hard disk drive. The interface fits in the center slot and includes
2 serial ports and 1 parallel port. The hard drive cabinet has it's
own power supply and can house two drives, either hard or floppy.
The POWERMATE4 can house 4 drives. The drives can be 10, 20 or 30
meg hard drives, or 360k 5 1/4", 720k 5 1/4", or 720k 3 1/2" floppy
drive.
Other demo's included The BBS that Alan Neeley set up. The news about the sound digitizer was out on the A-Net BBS within minutes of it's introduction. This shows the speed that we can get information out. Terry Cairns was showing some of the games he is adding to his BBS. These games are to be played on-line. Also during this time, Ed Snow was giving more info on ADMCalc. Monte Neese wrapped up the day with a few announcments: The ADAMCON 01 T-shirts were selling like hot cakes. Of the original 50 shirts, only 3 were unsold at 4:30. The E+T special on MegaRAM Expander Card ($115.00) would remain on special price thru the end of the year. M.W. Ruth will honor orders on the special AC01 form at 30% off until October 31st.
After most of us went our seperate ways, the hardware developers all sat down together. In light of the ADAM wars of late, it was very encouraging to see them talking. They met for quite some time and all walked away under their own power, so hopefully the wars are over.
Monday, October 9, 1989
------------------------ 1. Howard Pines - ECAUG
2. Terry Cairns - MTAG
3. Jim Notini - NIAD
4. David Colby - VISA
This was one of the liveliest sessions. The information presented
will be in a seperate write-up.
The workshops this morning presented more great information. PowerPAINT - Pat Herrington + Tony Patterson Many tips and tricks were presented: To erase more quickly use the INSERT option and space over the areas you wish to erase. If you want to change the color of a large area, MOVE/COPY will allow you to set the frame around an area. Then use CTR-D or CTR-U to move this frame to to next lower (D) or higher (U) frame, change the color, then move it back. A good way to see exactly what your picture will look like printed is to change the background to grey and foreground to black. Reedy software is about to release a new package called POWERTOOLS. It will work with POWERPaint and add many features.
ADVANCED CP/M - Ron Collins + John Villilo Ron demonstrated the terrific capabilities of CP/M in printing signs. The sign cannot be viewed on-screen, but the resolution in printing is fantastic. They mentioned a word processing program in the public domain, VDE266.
UTILITIES - Jim + Bruce Walters The Walters used their SMARTDSK in showing how to easily purge a disk of deleted files. Loading the entire disk into ram (assuming your ram is large enough) they purged the ram. Since there are no moving parts, this was done very quickly. Then the entire ram was transferred back to the disk. They also discussed RAMBOOT and
FORMATTER II Wrapping up the day, Monte encouraged everyone to wear their ADAM T-shirts to Church Street Station Tuesday night. With the afternoon off, many people took advantage of the attractions in the area, Disney World, Kennedy Space Center, or the water park across the street from the hotel, Wet 'n Wild.
Tuesday, October 10, 1989
-------------------------- The morning general session discussed where ADAM is going in the 90's and beyond.
On the panel:
1. Jim Notini - NIAD
2. Dave Snowden - LAUGH
3. Jay Forman - M.W. Ruth
4. Faye Deere - ECAUG
5. Pat Herrington - MOAUG
As with Monday's discussion on User groups the information was so
extensive that it will be the subject of a seperate write-up. I can
mention at this time that part of the discussion was the location of
ADAMCON02. Toronto was selected, partly due to the large contingent
of ADAMites from Canada.
The long awaited door prize drawing was then held. Compuserve $15.00 credits and ADAMZAP 'Buy one get one free' certificates were handed out to everyone. Attached is a list of all the prizes handed out. At lunch, Chris Braymen demonstrate his MIDI interface for the ADAM. This allows you to create music (using Videotunes for example) and play the music thru an external synthesizer or musical keyboard. This opens up more new worlds for ADAM. The afternoon product demo's started off with Tony Patterson and GODOS. GOBASIC defaults at this time and many demo's are on a seperate disk. The capabilities of this powerful operating system are fantastic! We can only hope that release of GODOS is very soon.
Other demo's:
Syd Carter - Sound Digitizer and clock/calender.
Eric Danz - ADAMZAP game.
Ron Collins - Hard drive interface.
Alan Neeley - A-Net BBS
Tony Patterson + Ron Collins - GODOS and Temple of the
Snow Dragon.
Phil Kosowsky - ADAM Repair
Walters Software - SMARTDSK cart, LABELWORKS and VASE
OF TURR.
The final event of the afternoon was the ADAM STORE!! Many people
brought used hardware and software and there were several ADAM
vendors selling their wares. Imagine!! Buying ADAM products 'off the
shelf'. It was a new experience for most. There were many great
deals.
The convention was wrapped up at Church Street Station in downtown Orlando. The dinner was excellent and all had compliments for Monte and MOAUG for the wonderful job they did.
SEE YOU ALL IN TORONTO NEXT YEAR!!!
Dean Roades
463 ADAM
Random Thoughts from ADAMCON 01: Did you know that COLECO stands for COnneticut LEather COmpany? During the off hours of the convention the best place to find ADAMites was not at the pool but at the ADAMs that were left set up. Sometimes till 4:00 AM. Some of the User Groups have very interesting names - MOAUG Metro Orlando ADAM User Group, MTAG Metro Toronto ADAM User Group, ECAUG Emerald Coast ADAM User Group, ALU ADAM Link of Utah, LAUGH Loyal ADAM Users of the Golden Horseshoe, VISA Vancouver and the Islands Senior ADAM, AUFG ADAM User-Friendly Group, IEAUG Inland Empire ADAM User Group... Neil Wick brought postcards he designed depicting an ADAMite sitting at his ADAM with ADAMCON 01 on the screen. These sold for $.25 ea. and Neil donated 50 special editions signed by him for door prizes. A special thanks to Alan Neeley of ALU. He was my roommate for ADAMCON 01 and I now count him as one of my best freinds. He was always willing to take the time to explain things to a novice. I find it remarkable that he runs his business and BBS out of his home and is 'Mr. Mom' also, raising his young son. Thanks Alan, ADAMCON 01 would not have been the same without you.
Dean Roades
463 ADAM
My son recently got me to drag my old ADAM out of the attic to see if it still worked. The data drive no longer worked but his curiousity was peaked. On my second try (the data drive on my first attempt didn't work either) I purchased a working unit on Ebay. Playing Zaxxon again brought back old memories - all my old high scores were still intact. I was amazed at how much fun some of the old Coleco and ADAM games were, especially considering the amount of RAM available. My son is having a blast with it. We have an Imac and a playstation, but he gravitates towards the ADAM. Anyway, I am interested in expanding the memory and I am curious on how much can be added, and how much more would actually be useful. I also am interested in either a disk drive or hard drive. If you sell this stuff can you give me an idea of the cost. ( Are many games programs available on diskette?) Is it possible to copy a digital data pack to the hard drive as these seem to be the weakest link in the system.
I was intrigued to learn about the ADAM conventions and my son and I hope to be able to attend one in the future. Thanks for any help you can provide.
Editor's note: "OLD" ADAM's don't die, they just rest for a while and wait for another generation of users to surface. We hope that the Delaney's DO come to the next ADAMCON!!!!
This one will turn out just fine. A very good friend of mine guarantees it.
Ron Mitchell
Here is the recipe!! Follow CLOSELY!!!!!
===================================================
> Fruitcake Recipe
--------------------------
> 1 cup water
> 1 cup sugar
> 4 large eggs
> 2 cups dried fruit
> 1 teaspoon baking soda
> 1 teaspoon salt
> 1 cup brown sugar
> lemon juice
> nuts
> 1 gallon whiskey
>
>
> Sample the whiskey to check for quality. Take a large bowl.
> Check the whiskey again to be sure it is of the highest quality.
> Pour one level cup and drink. Repeat.
> Turn on the electric mixer; beat 1 cup butter in a large, fluffy
> bowl. Add 1 teaspoon sugar and beat again.
> Make sure the whiskey is still OK. Cry another tup.
> Turn off mixer. Break 2 legs and add to the bowl and chuck in the
> cup of dried fruit. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets
> stuck in the beaterers, pry it loose with a drewscriver.
> Sample the whiskey to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift 2 cups
> of salt. Or something. Who cares? Check the whiskey.
> Now sift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table.
> Spoon. Of sugar or something. Whatever you can find.
> Grease the oven. Turn the cake tin to 350 degrees. Don't forget
> to beat off the turner. Throw the bowl out of the window.
> Check the whiskey again.
> Go to bed. Who the hell likes fruitcake anyway?
Unquote
Have a great day
RON !!!!
Notes for an address to the ADAMCON 03 convention: At the beginning of this convention, Lyle Marshand gave us an overview of ADAM’s beginnings and the state of ADAM today. In talking about ADAM’s future, I would like to go back to prehistoric time - the time before ADAM!
Sometime in the 1970’s a new toy came to the market: a machine that plays ping pong, tennis or hockey. This game, like so many others to follow, attached to your TV set and had a glorious black and white display. Well it gained so much popularity that imitations quickly followed in an attempt to get their share of the market. A little later, ATARI came out with its COLOUR video arcade game that you could play at home. And then came INTELLIVISION and COLECOVISION. Those who say the graphics on all these and a few other minor competitors were generally more impressed with the graphics quality of the COLECOVISION.
COLECO had also made a promise: COLECOVISION, the expandable home entertainment system. They fairly quickly delivered expansion module 1 so we could play the competitor’s cartridges, and then expansion module 2 so we could drive like the DUKES OF HAZARD. We then saw the super controller and roller controller, which helped create faster and more complex action on the game screen. While this was happening, COMMODORE was making its entry from a different venue: the VIC 201 This wonderful micro computer came with a built-in BASIC and a whopping 2K of memory, graphics capabilities, and a sequential tape drive that used ordinary audio cassettes for storage. This machine also played arcade games like its competitors and it was expandable: if you got enough boards for it, you could get BASIC to run with about 28K of usable memory. The VIC 20 flourished ...but of course, the competitors were on the way. Timex, Atari, Tandy, to name only a few. Of course, Commodore was not to be outdone as they were already working on their 64 which could be used as an upgrade to the VIC.
But where was COLECO in all this? They were making promises of the expansion module 3 for the COLECOVISION... the ADAM computer. Yes by then it had a name. Promises, production delays, more promises, and finally it came out... and in very small quantities. I was probably the first one in Ottawa to buy my expansion module 3 at about $600. What a bargain compared to the computer competitors who could only provide a fraction of what ADAM had for about twice the price. This was indeed the affordable computer. People started abandoning their VIC 20’s to buy a real computer. Whether it was an ADAM or not is unimportant. What matters is that the VIC became obsolete and quickly disappeared from the stores. The VIC did not die! User’s groups popped up all over. It seemed the more it became difficult to find hardware and software for the VIC, the stronger the users groups became. COMPUTE magazine was at first entirely devoted to the VIC 20. Gradually, this magazine expanded to provide support for the COMMODORE 64 and later the 128 and AMIGA. By the mid 80’s, it became virtually impossible to find anything in print on the VIC 20 or the VIC 20 itself. The VIC eventually died. Just when COLECO appeared to be topping the market in affordable home computers, their marketing problems began to take their toll. Faulty operating systems (R57 R59), bad SMARTBASIC tapes, bad tape drives, faulty printers, instruction manuals with typos, and perhaps the worst of all, waiting what seemed like forever for the first disk drive. Between these problems and the bad press aimed at COLECO, they finally decided to drop their TOY; after all if it came from a toy company it could only be a toy.
Did the ADAM die? No! We had learned from the VIC people
that users groups were the way to go. FAMILY COMPUTING,
to my knowledge, was the only magazine to publish ADAM
programs. But eventually they stopped. I belonged to
several pioneer user’s groups via newsletter
subscriptions: Sprite Chaser, AUGment, Garden of Adam,
Nibbles and Bits. Where are they today? Why did they
disappear?
Another means of support came form third party software
development. Most of these are not large companies. AJM
Software, for example, is composed of two people who
work on developments for the ADAM in their spare time.
While their might be little overhead, there is also
little profit to be made from the sale of ADAM software
....the market is just not that big.
Third party hardware developments gave ADAM a good shot
in the arm. We now have high speed modems, 80 column
interfaces, external printer capabilities, hard drive
capability, alternate sources of disk drives, etc. You
have probably seen most of these during the course of
this weekend; they help make the ADAM a powerful little
computer. There are also some impressive plans for even
fancier peripherals: the latest developments in the MIDI
interface, sound digitizers, VGA compatibility,
formatting on 8 drives simultaneously, and so much more.
Third party repair outlets are an essential part of the support system. After Honeywell (USA) and Integrated (CAN) stopped repairing ADAM’S, we had nowhere else to go. Some people gradually picked up the slack. But what will happen if no one wants to repair ADAMS any more? I am aware of 2 major sources of repair at the moment. When I read my SURVIVAL GUIDE I hope to find a few more. Are some of you interested in performing repairs in order to keep ADAM alive? Local and National users groups are perhaps the most important support networks. Thanks to these, we have been able to help each other out. ANN,(the Adam News Network), a very ambitious undertaking, has proven effective in disseminating information of general interest. You might think I know a lot about ADAM; I don’t know everything! ANN has provided me with additional information on my areas of primary interest, and also on other areas about which I often receive questions.
Yesterday, you heard about what ANN is doing and proposing to do. Their new projects include an ombudsman and the management of a national name/address list. Are you willing to support ANN by volunteering a bit ...okay a lot of your time to one or the other of their activities? The ADAM SURVIVAL GUIDE is another product that would have been impossible without support networks. Barry Wilson and Mel Ostler gathered information from several sources of expertise to compile the most comprehensive source of information on ADAM. Do you have your copy? Will you encourage other ADAMites in your area to buy one? (See page 2..Ed) The support systems I have been talking about are all essential components of recipe for the survival of ADAM. Unfortunately, support systems tend to be ephemeral. The users/clients must share the blame for the demise of suppliers and users groups. Rich Clee told us about MTAG (Metro Toronto Adam Group) and its exploits. While several groups are diminishing in size, MTAG is growing. I am very impressed and we could all learn a thing or two from MTAG’s dedication to the ADAM.
Our OTTAWA users group was founded by a zealous youngster who gathered an amazing amount of technical information and software (not all legally). The group almost collapsed when our founder left but it was revived by our current president Ron Mitchell. Existing members were reunited and we made a membership drive which swelled our ranks to about 50. This year, our membership is down to half that number; we may lose another half by next year .......why? Are people disappointed with the support they are receiving from the club? Are they leaving the flock to buy a REAL COMPUTER? If so, what is happening to their ADAMS?
I recently picked up a power supply and joysticks for the COLECOVISION at a garage sale. Being a frugal person, I feigned ignorance and asked the seller where these came form. He said COLECO of course and produced from the garbage a non working COLECOVISION unit which he gave me at no cost. When I took it home, it was working fine. So why was it in the garbage and why did I not find out more? Having forgotten at which of hundreds of garage sales I acquired this item, I could not get back to the owner. On another occasion, I came across a practically new ADAM system. Frugal to the limit, I examined this strange animal, pretending not to know what it was. The seller eventually appeared and asked for $500. As I could not get him to budge at all from that price, I left (this time I took note of the address). I had someone else contact him and tell him about our user’s group. He did not seem interested and repeated his $500 price. How do you behave at garage sales? How do you behave when you see one in the want ads? Are you an ADAM Ambassador?
We’ve done our best in our users group to advise our members about new developments and provide technical assistance. We bring an ADAM to our meetings, demo new products, and usually answer member’s questions on the spot. We get questions like margins for SMARTWRITER, cell attributes for ADAMCALC, changing colors in SMARTBASIC, etc. I personally have asked our club on several occasions: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR ADAM? They say LEARN MORE ABOUT IT. That is a hard request to fulfill since there is so much to tell. We have asked them for specifics like I WOULD LIKE TO BUILD A TAXATION PROGRAM or another request which defines the scope of learning. This has usually been to no avail. We have sponsored 2 contests -nobody entered. So what do they want? It is your job in each of your users groups to determine the specific requests and needs. If you have any magical ways of determining that, by all means let us know!
I used to subscribe to several national newsletters. For reasons which I will not disclose at the moment, I dropped out for a while. Now the time is right to renew my memberships. Continued subscriptions to these sources of information will ensure their survival... You might think that you are spending a lot of money to find perhaps one or two minor items of interest in each newsletter. But look at it this way: if the newsletter was not there, you would get NO items of interest. Now for the biggest problem ....hardware and software development. As I mentioned earlier, there are very few big developers out there; they are ill equipped to handle low distribution or piracy. A hardware developer may think that a mouse or a scanner is a good idea and spend hundreds of hours and dollars developing something for which there may be no market. Are you telling the developers what you want?
I had a lot of pirated software in my earlier days. I have since cleaned up my act either by deleting the pirated stuff I was not using or by sending a contribution for those that I am using. Prior to this weekend, I had sold about 15 copies each of DISK DOCTOR and INDEXER. Over the last couple of days I sold 7 of the 8 copies I had brought with me. Obviously I underestimated the demand for these programs. A few suppliers carry my products but I have received very little in the way of royalties in the last year. That says a lot about ADAMCON. It gets us fired up and people buy. For that I wish to express my thanks to those of you who will help encourage suppliers this afternoon at the store. I figure that I get a net profit of about $1 for each $10 item I sell. If I don’t get that $1 once in a while I will go out of business. Although pirated copies don’t create a loss of inventory like shoplifting, I need a lot of $1 sales to subsidize long distance charges, stationery costs, the mailing of public domain volumes, etc. IS it worth it to you to save $10 or $20 on software acquisition if you run the risk of depleting your sources of supply? How many developers have disappeared in the last decade? Why do you think they have disappeared?
I use my ADAM for enjoyment. Occasionally, I come across an idea for a program that may be useful to others. If others wish to buy it then all the better for me. Although sales are not that important to me, remember that other people depend on sales for their survival. So how do we stop piracy? Keep reading about piracy and talking to others about it. Another solution lies in the software developers. An item at $30 or $50 is more likely to be pirated than one at $10 or $20. If we keep our prices low we may reduce piracy and enjoy a greater legal circulation of our products.
Register your software! Most items come with some sort of regist- ration sheet. After you have experimented with your acquisition a bit, send it the registration along with your comments about the program. This accomplishes several things: 1. Confirms that you have a LEGAL copy or alerts the developer of a questionable source of supply 2. Tells developer what you like and don’t like 3. Gives developer food for thought for revisions/upgrades 4. Gives you first shot at revisions since developer has your address
Another touchy subject is BETA TEST versions. Developers will usually send a pre-release version of new software for testing. These are usually marked BETA -DO NOT COPY or have a version number like 0.9 -- don’t copy and distribute these, even if public domain, without the consent of the developer.
SO WHERE IS ADAM GOING? That’s what I was supposed to talk about in the first place. If the current trends continue, I can only predict that the bubble will eventually burst and that the ADAM will disappear in just a few years. It will become a relic like the VIC 20 -- If on the other hand, we revise our way of thinking, we can survive a lot longer. Rich Clee perhaps said it best when he talked about an esprit de corps in his users group. We are a team and everyone should be an ambassador. When I spoke of the public disappearance of ADAM, I mostly meant the disappearance of support networks, borderline users, and general visibility. I forsee a retired Guy Cousineau still plugging away at his ADAM, still learning more things about it and writing new programs. When I think of the uses that I have for a computer, there is nothing that I do regularly that I cannot accomplish on the ADAM. Speed? How much speed do you really need at home? Graphics? You might have a point there but look at the pretty pictures that COLECO had in their games. Are those not good enough? Even from SMARTBASIC, it’s possible to create such intricate designs. All we have to do is learn how. If you want more, what about VGA on the ADAM? Why not!
What else do we need for ADAM’s survival? From a hardware point of view, I think we have just about everything we need. What will real time clocks,scanners, mouses or is it meeces, sound digitizers, etc., do YOU need anything new in hardware? Have you told anybody about it? What do we need in the way of software? Often, developers guess at what might sell. During one of my numerous exchanges with Barry Wilson about the Adam Survival Guide, he asked me about sorting EOS directories. He had a program that worked some of the time. I asked him to send it to me and I’d have a look at it. After a cursory examination of the program, I decided to write one in FILEMANAGER style -- the birth of EOS DIRECTORY SORTER. I sent Barry a BETA test version, he thought it was ok or perhaps better than ok and now it is on the market. That’s how it should be done! So make up your wish list; not a frivolous one. What would you buy if it was out there? Do you want or need: More documentation? On what topic? SMARTBASIC enhancements: PRINTUSING? 80 column compatibility?
ADAM’s survival depends on supplying the support and development for those items of interest which will keep ADAMites USING their computer. Once the user loses interest the game is lost. Go back over your wish list and try to include the wishes of others, particularly those marginal users who are about to fall off the fence (on the wrong side). Think of the gripes and complaints you have heard and translate them into a positive and meaningful request. Once we have our wish list, what do we do with it? If you belong to a user’s group, pass it to them. If you don’t, you can send your list to the ADAM NEWS NETWORK or to me directly. One way or another, I hope my mailbox gets filled with hundreds of requests for new/improved software for the ADAM. I will compile the requests and try to put them in some semblance of order and priority based on the popularity of a request. In cases where the requested software already exists -- you might get a few surprises there -- we will pass that information along to the requestor. Where the rest of the wish list goes from there depends on the level of support we can get for the development of the software in question. I am confident that the developers will be happy to go out of their way to please you.
In conclusion, think of what you have invested in your ADAM. My hardware investment runs at about $2000; software... who knows? If ADAM dies, so does your investment. How much more will you need to pay to get another computer? Don’t think just of the computer, think also of the hundreds of dollars you’ll need to get a word processor, printer, spreadsheet, games, etc. Think also of the hours you will require to LEARN how to use all that new software. Is it worth your while to spend a bit more time and/or money to protect your investment? ADAM’s future is in all your hands!
Guy Cousineau
******************************
--This article originally appeared in the October 1991
issue of AWAUG and has been reprinted by permission from
the author, Guy Cousineau, on November 25, 1999.
Dateline: Comox British Columbia Canada (slightly upnorth from that
other place)
Immediate Release Source: Do-notsu Press
Observers at this far out, surrounded-by-water outpost were surprised to learn yesterday that the Coleco ADAM is in fact Y2K compatible. Following the past 48 hours' of media hype and unconcealed disappoint- ment publicly expressed by various on-air and print-based spin doctors, many were expecting the ADAM to be the first real case of non-compliance where loud screaming, head banging, and assorted off colour language would be enjoyed by all.
It never happened.
Interviewed by journalists at his home in this small Vancouver Island town (surrounded by water), ADAM owner Ron Mitchell, long a self-proclaimed virtual wannabe and online junkie in the ADAM commuity, reported with much smirking and glee that both of his ADAM computers when booted in the early hours of January 1 2000, correctly exhibited the last two digits of the new year.
Providing detail on the systems under test, Mitchell added that the oldest of his Coleco manufactured computers - last sold commercially in 1986 - had been fitted in 1990 with a special clock chip manufactured by a United States firm know as Orphanware. The other system employed an add-on clock chip produced by a Toronto firm, Trisyd Video products, which manufactured third party ADAM related hardware in the mid to late 1980's. Given the age of these two subsystems, concluded Mitchell, it was a complete and pleasant surprise that absolutely no Y2K related adjustments or patches were needed to bring his favourite computers into the new millenium.
Mitchell was last seen running up and down the street in front of his home, laughing, thumbs up, clapping and yelling incoherently about senility in Seattle, interspersed with shrill screamings of a cryptic phrase which witnesses claimed sounded something like, "ADAM LIVES!"
[original email inquiry]
I ordered a Technical Manual for the Coleco ADAM just after I bought my ADAM in 1983. Is this a rare commodity? It has the Original 3 ring Binder with the ADAM LOGO on it and such. Is is complete and very informative. It has a lot of source code listings for the various routines in the OS. Any input? ================================================================
[subsequent email rec'd]
I bought my ADAM in 1983, and ordered the Technical Manual in 1984 from Coleco via telephone support just after I went through a complete investigation of the operating system. I think the Manual was $175.00 in '84 when I bought it. That was a huge amount while I was in college eating Peanut Butter and Mac&Chz every night!
I was alas a hacker of sorts back then, and I wanted to use a cheap parallel printer so I went to Radio Shack and got the stuff I needed and built an interface. I chatted with some guy in Canada back then, and he helped me with some pointer on addressing and such. The interface I built fits into the big slot in the case, and a ribbon cable stuck up through the cooling slits in the top of the case. I did it right, because I built the interface to support more than one port. I think it could support 8 devices. One was the printer interface I built, and the other was the Speech synthisizer. Yes, a speech unit that I programmed from a Radio Shack SPO256 text to speech chip that I bought for $24.95.
I had to have some information in order to write the drivers for the devices, and I had no idea where to start. Since I was running CPM 2.2, I was able to insert my drivers into the CPM code, but I could not get the printer drivers or SPO256 speech synthisizer drivers to latch into the ADAM OS. I was relegated to using CPM only. I guess that wasn't a big issue because I had Wordstar, Dbase, and all the stuff I needed to do my work in CPM. All worked well, and since I have everything packed away with my ADAM, I would bet that it would still work today if I tried it! The speech thing was pretty neat. I set it up to dial my then girlfriend, and now wife to leave a message every now and then on her answering machine. I thought it was neat, and I guess she did too because she married me.
Now, I DO NOT want everyone to think that the ADAM is an aphrodisiac, but I can attest to those qualities being available in my rendition of the speech synthisizer! I thought that maybe I could get it scanned and placed on-line somewhere.
I think for my benefit it would be nice to keep the original with my ADAM system, but as far as the data goes, if we can make it available to others lets do it. I will try to make a copy of it and get it to you or someone out there with the means and connections to get it spread about Anyway, let me work on getting a copy of the Manual(s) up and running. I think there were two to the set!
Donald......
January 2000 ADAM NEWS NETWORK disk
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This the first disk of the new millinium for the ADAM and contains some old and some new material.
CALENDARS this is a program from Bob Tarnowski of NIAD
fame. it will create a calender for you for
any year up to 2024. you can also make up to
a 4 month calender and put approx 4 entries
per day as a reminder of things to do. You
must first run SmartBASIC then brun CALENDARS
NOTE: tdos users will have a CALENDAR.IMG file
which needs to be CLONE'd over to the freshe
EOS environment before use
CALENdoc the docs for the above program.
msg file needed for CALENDERS.
AC OC latest information received from Dale Wick
concerning ADAMCON OC (#12 to the rest of us)
ADAMCON1 a review of ADAMCON 1 from Dean Rhodes - from
the archives of ANN. Interesting reading....
DELANEY a word from a long time ADAM user who has
"rediscovered" something
Fruitcake a VERY good recipe for a delicious holiday
treat with DETAILED instructions
FutrADAM reprint of Guy Cousineau's reflections given
during ADAMCON 03
Mitch did or did he not welcome the new millinium
in with his ADAM
Peavey very interesting contact with a long ago
ADAM user who navigated the waters on his own
Resource the ADAMresource website is available, up and
running and waiting for you
Sales a few items that the Gordon's have for sale
at the ADAMresource site
Subscrip subscription time is here again!!!!
463potty from the 463 newsletter, a very graphic use
.....and very liberal translations also, of
many computer terms. Must be viewed using
PowerPaint - AGAIN, tdos users use CLONE
to get it onto a fresh EOS disk to view it.
README this file
January 2000 ADAM NEWS NETWORK disk
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This the first disk of the new millinium for the ADAM and contains some old and some new material.
CALENDARS this is a program from Bob Tarnowski of NIAD
fame. it will create a calender for you for
any year up to 2024. you can also make up to
a 4 month calender and put approx 4 entries
per day as a reminder of things to do. You
must first run SmartBASIC then brun CALENDARS
NOTE: tdos users will have a CALENDAR.IMG file
which needs to be CLONE'd over to the freshe
EOS environment before use
CALENdoc the docs for the above program.
msg file needed for CALENDERS.
AC OC latest information received from Dale Wick
concerning ADAMCON OC (#12 to the rest of us)
ADAMCON1 a review of ADAMCON 1 from Dean Rhodes - from
the archives of ANN. Interesting reading....
DELANEY a word from a long time ADAM user who has
"rediscovered" something
Fruitcake a VERY good recipe for a delicious holiday
treat with DETAILED instructions
FutrADAM reprint of Guy Cousineau's reflections given
during ADAMCON 03
Mitch did or did he not welcome the new millinium
in with his ADAM
Peavey very interesting contact with a long ago
ADAM user who navigated the waters on his own
Resource the ADAMresource website is available, up and
running and waiting for you
Sales a few items that the Gordon's have for sale
at the ADAMresource site
Subscrip subscription time is here again!!!!
463potty from the 463 newsletter, a very graphic use
.....and very liberal translations also, of
many computer terms. Must be viewed using
PowerPaint - AGAIN, tdos users use CLONE
to get it onto a fresh EOS disk to view it.
README this file
The ADAM International Archive (AIA) Opens January 1, 2000)
The ADAM International Archive (AIA) officially opened on December 31st, 1999. The "articles" section of the AIA launched with a modest selection of twelve articles and a single newsletter available in both HTML and PDF format (for better printability).
Future sections of the AIA will become accessible in early 2000 including a program section devoted exclusively to program listings and technical reference, separate SmartBASIC, SmartLOGO and TDOS/CP/M sections, Galleries of clip art, fonts and sprites, online manuals, books, sections devoted exclusively to each of the ADAMCONs, The ADAM Gallery of Honor and so on.
Here is a tentative index:
Books | Magazines | Newsletters | Articles | Letters
Digital Images | Clip Art | Fonts | Sprites
Programs | Manuals
ADAMCON I-XI | The ADAM Gallery of Honor
The ADAM Resource (archived)
If you have any suggestions or items that you'd like to submit, please e-mail us at aia@theadamresource.com.
--Scott Gordon
Guy Cousineau Makes History... again!
(January 1, 2000)
As you may recall, Guy Cousineau was one of the first ADAMites to be
inducted into the The ADAM Gallery of Honor. Over the years, he has
been one of our most prolific supporters, having contributed dozens
of technical articles, programs, blood, sweat, tears... you name
it...
It is only fitting that Guy be the first person inducted into The
ADAM International Archive (AIA). His first article "Playing with
SmartBASIC Random Numbers" was inducted on November 20th, 1999;
preserved forever in the annals of history.
Since then, "Exploring SmartBASIC Parts I & V" have been inducted as
well as "Exploring SmartBASIC Mathematic Functions" and "The Future
of the ADAM". If you haven't had the priviledge of reading his work,
now is your opportunity. We look forward to bringing you more of his
fantastic articles shortly.
Thanks again Guy for all of your hard work! It's hard to imagine
where we'd be without you!
To read some of Guy Cousineau's work, jump to our article index.
--Scott Gordon
Thank You
(January 1, 2000)
A warm thank you goes out to Daniel Pease of North Charleston, South
Carolina. Daniel has donated a large variety of ADAM newsletters
which will in turn be OCRed and archived for the ADAM Community.
Thank you once again for your large contribution.
Supplies, supplies, supplies...
(January 1, 2000)
My father and I were poking around our storage room when we came
across a few boxes of power supplies for hardrives and disk drives.
We reminiced a little bit, talking about the first time I asked if
he would build me a hardrive for my "poor old" ADAM computer, etc.,
etc.,etc...
Afterward, we came to the agreement that I would sell off his
remaining inventory of power supplies over the Internet. Needless to
say, I'm pleased to be carrying ANYTHING of his.
Power supplies are available for $15 + $5 shipping and handling.
They are brand new in the box and have never been used. Contact
sales@theadamresource.com to place your order.
--Scott Gordon
Now Available from The ADAM Resource!
(January 1, 2000)
We have acquired a small inventory of products for sale through The
ADAM Resource.
We have unopened boxed copies of Super Zaxxon (a collector's item
indeed) for $15; shipping & handling is included.
We also have blank Loran DDPs for sale for $2.95 each + shipping &
handling.
Although not related to the ADAM, I have a full inventory of brand
new boxed Sega Saturn analog controllers for $5 each + shipping &
handling. These controllers were originally designed for the game
Nights.
Contact sales@theadamresource.com to place your order.
--Scott Gordon
Advertise on The ADAM Resource for Free!
(January 1, 2000)
That's right! If you create or sell ADAM products, we want your ads
on our site! ALL ADAM Vendors are welcome to adverstise FOR FREE on
our site.
We will not, however, tolerate any individuals/parties/vendors who
use this priviledge to sell or distribute pirated software to the
ADAM community!
Otherwise, we're pretty cool about advertising on our site. Richard
Clee's ADAM Services will be the first vendor whose ads you'll see
appear on our site. All ADAM vendors, new or old are encouraged to
advertise on our site. If you have a product and need help
distributing it, let us know and we can help find a publisher for
it.
--Scott Gordon
Back to Top
Supplies, supplies, supplies...January 1, 2000My father and I were poking around our storage room when we came across a few boxes of power supplies for hardrives and disk drives. We reminiced a little bit, talking about the first time I asked if he would build me a hardrive for my "poor old" ADAM computer, etc., etc.,etc...
Afterward, we came to the agreement that I would sell off his remaining inventory of power supplies over the Internet. Needless to say, I'm pleased to be carrying ANYTHING of his. Power supplies are available for $15 + $5 shipping and handling. They are brand new in the box and have never been used. Contact sales@theadamresource.com to place your order.
--Scott Gordon
Now Available from The ADAM Resource! January 1, 2000 We have acquired a small inventory of products for sale through The ADAM Resource. We have unopened boxed copies of Super Zaxxon (a collector's item indeed) for $15; shipping & handling is included. We also have blank Loran DDPs for sale for $2.95 each + shipping & handling. Although not related to the ADAM, I have a full inventory of brand new boxed Sega Saturn analog controllers for $5 each + shipping & handling. These controllers were originally designed for the game Nights.
Contact sales@theadamresource.com to place your order. --Scott Gordon
WELCOME TO 2000 !!
----------------------------------------------
From the editor (and the entire ANN staff):
The year 1999, even the century of 1900, is but a memory now. Another of those memories are a lot of subscriptions to the ANN newsletter. A few years back, at one of the ADAMCON annual ANN meetings, we decided to extend or otherwise "fix up" most subscribers in order to make renewal dates come on the year end.
IF you have not thought of renewing your ANN already, NOW is the time to do it. All you need to do is to send our treasurer $25.00 and you will be set for another year. I ask you to send it to Bob Bair so that he can enter you in the books and keep track of the monetary part of the operation. IF you send it to your own disk distributor, the record of payment can be over-looked or misplaced and then no one is sure about who is paid up and who is not. We will actually send you a disk or two as your subscription blows up, so no need to worry about missing an issue or two while Bob straightens up his books.
Bob Bair (or ADAM NEWS NETWORK Treasurer) 6552 N. 400th E. Kendallville, IN 46755
AND, he is patiently watching his mailbox for your mail to the ADAM NEWS NETWORK. THANK YOU!!!!!
ADAM is entering another millinium and we would all hope that you follow him into the record books with as much information as we have to make available to you the reader about your ADAM and how to use and/or abuse it!
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