Date   : Wed, 05 May 1999 23:28:32 -0600
From   : "Rick Galbraith" <rick_galbraith@...>
Subject: (Fwd) Re: Acorn

A couple of emails were missing in the chain; here is the second one, addressed
to me.


------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date sent:             Fri, 6 Aug 1999 06:37:33 -0700 (PDT)
From:                  FARAZ CHOUDHRY <razzledazzler2@...>
Subject:               Re: [BBC-Micro] Acorn
To:                    rick_galbraith@...

You know, that's funny, I read somewhere in a magazine that BBC's
failed to capture the American public's imagination against Apple II's.
 Then again I remember I did see some BBC's in use in American schools. In
 1992 I remember there were some tons of Model B's being shipped
back to UK, brand new and untouched as they failed to make any sales. I
guess they eventually did lose out big to Apple & Micro$oft.

                                     F. H. Choudhry

--- Rick Galbraith <rick_galbraith@...> wrote:
> 
> 
> Date sent:        Thu, 5 Aug 1999 02:02:03 +0100
> To:               bbc-micro@...
> From:             "B.E.Newsam"
> <ben@...>
> Subject:          Re: [BBC-Micro] Acorn
> 
> In message <199908041526.QAA19418@...>,
> Rick Galbraith
> <rick_galbraith@...> writes
> >I bought my BBC, secondhand but never used, in
> 1990, from a library in
> >Keewatin (next to Kenora), another Northwestern
> Ontario community an hour
> >and a half closer to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
> 
> >As a matter of interest, which OS does it use in
> Canada? 
> OS U1.1 ; could be in US or UK mode.
> DFS 1.20; NFS 3.60
> Also, LOGO 1.00, View A2.1, Viewsheet 1.0,
> >How many pixels in each screen mode?
> The statement is made in the user quide, "In all
> screen modes which can 
> support easily defined graphics the range of values
> for a, b, c and d is always 
> the same: 0-799 vertically, 0-1279 horizontally."
> Not that I believe that. There was a game of dodgems
> on the intro disc, and you
> had to specify *US, followed by break, to put your
> machine into U.S. mode, or
> the cars were shifted off the lines by half a
> screen-width.  So, I don't know whether 
> that was true. 
> 
> >There was a special version of the OS (and a
> slghtly
> >different machine) for use in the USA. They spent,
> ISTR, 11 millon pounds
> >on marketing in the US, and sold a grand total of
> 50 machines.
> They sold at least thirty in the bush country of
> Northwest Ontario, and many
> others. Olivetti maintained a BBC rep in Toronto
> well into 1995. However,
> the U.S. branch did suffer an early demise.  I
> understand that a number of
> machines did make it out to Texas, or maybe that was
> just rumor?
> 
> >The different OS was required because of the 60 Hz
> scan speed of US TVs.
> It wasn't noticeable on the Kimtron SCB monitors
> sold to schools and institutions,
> but the OS did have a faulty table of values,
> creating jitters on the average Zenith
> monochrome monitors.  I never noticed the problem
> until after burning out two SCB's,
> and graduating backwards to the Zenith.
>   The Canadian user group did have a member that
> revamped the OS with a better
> table of values.  But what has happened to this will
> probably be a mystery, since 
> most of the members have gone on to other things,
> like Macs and buggy pentiums.
> 
> >The modified machine was required to satisfy
> radiation requirements, there
> >was a metal shield inside the case.
> Which shield some enterprising members removed when
> adding sideways RAM, etc.
> Machine still causes interferance with T.V. if,
> llike us, you use a makeshift antenna.
> 
> Rick
> 
> 
> ------
> Rick Galbraith, Winnipeg, Manitoba
> rick_galbraith@...
> The Spiritual Help Pages:
> http://www.pangea.ca/~ricgal/spiritual.help.html
> Personal Growth Online
> http://members.tripod.com/~ricgal/
> 



Rick Galbraith, Winnipeg, Manitoba
rick_galbraith@...
The Spiritual Help Pages:
http://www.pangea.ca/~ricgal/spiritual.help.html
Personal Growth Online
http://members.tripod.com/~ricgal/