Re: Micro Men
Brian Watson
> Roland Perry wrote:
> In message <jqWdnS_sLLCMfk_X...@pipex.net>, at 09:04:23
> on Mon, 12 Oct 2009, Howard Fisher <howar...@locomotive.com>
> remarked:
>> Dave {Reply Address In.Sig} wrote:
>>> pmcghee wrote:
>>>> It pandared to all our ill-formed pre-conceptions about Cambridge
>>>> "business" brilliantly. That wig was a stroke of genius, and Martin
>>>> Freeman managed to capture the essential, uncommunicative dullness
>>>> of his character (whoever he was) superbly.
>>>>
>>> I suspect it comes across differently if you know one or more of the
>>> characters, either from the time or subsequently.
>>
>> And all the stories were strangely interconnected. At the end of the
>> successful period for the Cambridge micro producers, the success of
>> the Amstrad CPC wouldn't have come about quite the same if it wasn't
>> for Acorn. Roland (who has been uncharacteristically quiet on this
>> subject)
>
> What, here this week, or in general? (I've been on the road and not
> seen the Micro-Men TV programme yet).
>
> The CPC project is very accurately portrayed in the David Thomas bio
> of Suralan. Having spent a day with the BBC and their recent filmed
> bio, to have absolutely none of the footage used, was a
> disappointment; but the programme turned out to be mainly recent
> history, not the seeds of what was to turn Amstrad from a 'hifi' to a
> 'computer' company.
>> was touting around (on behalf of Alan Sugar, though he didn't say
>> that at the time) for some developers to rescue their wildly off
>> course (dare I say stuck in the Lake District) home computer
>
> The rescue team was based in Brentwood, after the initial designers
> had done what the majority of their kind at time were wont to: fail to
> deliver a working prototype either on time, or at all. The difference
> this time was that the client was determined to press ahead
> regardless, hence the three months we were given to come up with
> something almost from scratch (everyone else typically spent a year).
>
>> - and Locomotive who had just done a Microsoft BASIC look-alike for
>> Acorn were all set to do the software for the CPC. (And about this
>> time Tim said "you didn't say we could change the processor!")
>
> Initially, the most obvious thing missing was a BASIC (in theory the
> hardware was 99%), so I talked to four potential suppliers and the one
> that fitted the project's dynamics best was Locomotive. They said that
> if we changed the processor (from 6502 to Z80, the latter being inside
> the Acorn second processor their product had been aimed at) then
> they'd be able to spend more time improving and customising the
> product, rather than simply converting it to a different platform.
>
> It also became apparent that improving the motherboard design was
> highly desirable (not enough colours and RAM, non-standard sound
> etc), and so the clincher was adding MEJ to the team, to accomplish
> that in parallel.
> It was one of those projects where every single piece of the jigsaw
> needed to be in place at exactly the right time, and have exactly the
> right shape. Huge amounts of work took place insulated inside various
> silos - one of the tricks to getting it all done being to avoid being
> distracted by things that weren't your core concern. Everyone was a
> hero, but at the end of the day it was *my* computer; I was the one
> who saw the whole picture and whose job it was to make it happen.
>
>> So who would play Roland in the sequel?
>
> I can't quite get my head round nominating someone who would play me
> as I looked 25 years ago, rather than as I look today.
Fascinating, huh?
--
Brian
"Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."
www.imagebus.co.uk/shop
Gryzor
-I would have prefered a proper documentary instead of the
dramatization that was.What an opportunity to see great footage...
-Obviously people developed new machines by typing-in BASIC listings
-The 464 came out before the ZX81
-Early brit 80s soundtrack included suspiciously NES-like chip tunes
Other than that, can't wait the second half :)
Cheers
Gryzor
> Fascinating, huh?
>
> --
> Brian
> "Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."www.imagebus.co.uk/shop- Απόκρυψη κειμένου σε παράθεση -
>
> - Εμφάνιση κειμένου σε παράθεση -
Brian Watson
> Watched half of it today.
>
> -I would have prefered a proper documentary instead of the
> dramatization that was.What an opportunity to see great footage...
> -Obviously people developed new machines by typing-in BASIC listings
> -The 464 came out before the ZX81
> -Early brit 80s soundtrack included suspiciously NES-like chip tunes
>
> Other than that, can't wait the second half :)
There is roughly-contemporary footage included of a computer fair at which a
CPC464 is VERY briefly seen being used by some lads.
It's out of its time (being a later-released computer), but it helped to set
the scene.
I known Wilson, the techy who wrote the Acorn's OS in 4 days. Still "in the
business" and specialising in the chips that probably run your mobile phone.
:-)
By the way, I doubt Wilson was QUITE as geeky back then as portrayed in the
programme, although I understand quite a lot of noodles WERE eaten with
electrical probe chopsticks.
Sam Holloway
> There is roughly-contemporary footage included of a computer fair at which a
> CPC464 is VERY briefly seen being used by some lads.
>
> It's out of its time (being a later-released computer), but it helped to set
> the scene.
I noticed that, and it cast me straight back to the home-computer
displays in Boots which had a very similar arrangement for the CPC.
I really enjoyed the programme. I know (over on cam.misc) there's been
some doubt cast at of the accuracy of the portrayals, but generally
the sequence of events seems about right. I personally hadn't really
realised how much of this work had happened here in Cambridge (or St
Ives, for that matter).
Thanks for cross-posting Roland's piece here; lots of good stuff
there. Do you reckon there'd be some mileage in a portrayal of
Siralun's early days? :-)
Sam
Brian Watson
"Tim Harris" <tim.h...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:f1631022-c671-4633...@k33g2000yqa.googlegroups.com...
On Oct 15, 12:08 pm, Jeremy Sanders <jeremy+camm...@jeremysanders.net>
wrote:
> I still remember my GCSE project to make a PCW and wire up a sound chip I
> found in a Maplin catalogue to the expansion slot on the back. It actually
> worked. Fun days!
I did that too :-) Well, on the CPC 6128. I was trying to remember
the sound chip I used... SA119 or something like that comes to mind,
but I can't find it online.
Tim
Neil Matthews
Jeremy Sanders
> Maybe this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips_SAA_1099
That datasheet looks very familiar to me so it probably was that chip.
--
Jeremy Sanders
http://www.jeremysanders.net/