Author: Will Singleton
Date: 23:31:16 09/24/00
Go up one level in this thread
On September 25, 2000 at 02:00:25, Pete Galati wrote: >On September 25, 2000 at 01:06:41, Will Singleton wrote: > >>On September 24, 2000 at 22:33:22, Pete Galati wrote: >> >>>On September 24, 2000 at 22:08:08, Will Singleton wrote: >>> >>>>On September 24, 2000 at 21:17:12, D Ridge wrote: >>>> >>>>>Greetings All, >>>>> >>>>>I'd like your collective opinion on an ambitious, gigantic and noble project >>>>>I've been thinking about. My name is David Ridge, I'm in my mid-forties and I've >>>>>been a computer chess fanatic for 23 years. >>>>> >>>>>My first machine was a Chess Challenger 7 in 1978 and I've owned over 40 >>>>>different dedicated units between now and then. Like most of you, I mostly use >>>>>chess software on a PC these days but I have fond memories of those early days >>>>>when dedicated units ruled and a newer, stronger, better one was always just >>>>>around the corner. >>>>> >>>>>You see, I learned chess in 1978, just when dedicated chess playing units were >>>>>becoming technically possible. For those of you who weren't around the scene >>>>>then, I'll tell you a little about it. The early machines played poorly, but so >>>>>did I. They improved with each new unit and, so did I. We kind of grew together. >>>>> >>>>>The late 70's and early 80's saw a furious pace of development with great >>>>>imagination and ingenuity applied to some very unique concepts like the Scisys >>>>>Mark V and the Executive hand-held. Even Mattel got into the act with a LCD >>>>>pocket unit. There were LCD touch screens and Robot Adversaries. Heady days >>>>>indeed. >>>>> >>>>>Anyway, I've been thinking a lot lately that someone ought to preserve this >>>>>history of computer chess. A computer Chess Museum is required. Of course this >>>>>could never be a commercially viable project. People aren’t going to line up >>>>>around the block to buy tickets to see this stuff. >>>>> >>>>>Some form a privately owned view-by-appointment collection would be the way to >>>>>go. I would like to try to take this project on. Now, I know there were about >>>>>500 different units manufactured since the beginning of time and, since I'm not >>>>>wealthy (an understatement to be sure) there is no way I could afford to >>>>>purchase these things. >>>>> >>>>>Surely many of the really old ones are probably lying dormant and worthless in >>>>>someone's closet or garage, waiting for the next yard sale.I was thinking that I >>>>>would appeal to the world chess community to send me their old, useless, unloved >>>>>computers for a nominal fee of ..say…$10 to compensate them for the trouble of >>>>>packaging it up and I would also pay the cost of shipping. In return I would >>>>>pledge to inscribe their name prominently as "Donated by...", sort of their >>>>>chance at immortality. >>>>> >>>>>I'm not talking about finding all 500…that would be unrealistic. I'm thinking >>>>>that, over a period of years, 100 to 200 units could be accumulated, all >>>>>representing something different or unique. Perhaps a kind of retirement >>>>>project. >>>>> >>>>>Do you think it would fly or am I over-estimating people's philanthropy? Or am I >>>>>just plain crazy?? >>>>> >>>>>Looking forward to your responses. >>>>> >>>>>You can respond here or to me directly at dridge@idirect.com. >>>>> >>>>>Thanks >>>>> >>>>>David >>>> >>>>Good idea. I think a number of people have wanted to do something like this, >>>>myself included. One large problem, of course, is space. Where the heck could >>>>you display all these machines appropriately? It almost has to be the type of >>>>deal where a guy dedicates a room or two in his place, then has the ability to >>>>schedule time, etc. Would be nice if it was in a large city, so folks could get >>>>there easily. >>>> >>>>I'd also like to see early programs that ran on the appleII series, as well as >>>>the pc, commodore, etc. Of course, then you'd really need some generosity. >>>> >>>>I have a couple old machines I can donate, but I'd like to see a list of >>>>commitments before going forward. I'll commit to a CompuChess and a Boris >>>>(subject to where you are, and if you have your act together). >>>> >>>>Will >>> >>>Oh, that would be great if he had working computers of the appropriate age with >>>those old programs running on them, especially if the original program's boxes >>>were on display, Mike has a great selection of images on his website. >>> >>>I suppose it wouldn't be practical to run computers that are that old for >>>extended periods of time, but if visitors could try the programs while they ran >>>on modern machines, on emulators when needed, that would be very popular among >>>visitors. You have to figure that it wouldn't be good to have people handling >>>the standalone (term?) Chess-set/computers, but it probably wouldn't be a >>>problem having them try old programs, and you certainly wouldn't need a very >>>modern computer to do that on. For that, an old 486 even if it only had Dos >>>could run any Chess program that used MS-Dos. >>> >>>Can a Mac run Apple II programs? >>> >>>Pete >> >>I don't know about a mac, but there's an emulator for dos (windows?) that runs >>the apple 2. I still can't figure out how to get the old progs off the 5.25" >>disks though. >> >>http://geta.life.uiuc.edu/~badger/files/ > >Wow, they got the ROM. I don't know, but if you have an operating AppleII then >I would assume that there would be a way to network it to a non Apple II >computer and maybe the files could be transferred that way. Maybe over a modum? > Or is my understanding of the subject too shallow. > >You gotta know it's possible to transfer the files somehow, otherwise it would >have been next to imposible to get those ROMs for download right? > >Pete The apple never heard of networking. :) I suppose a 30 baud connection could be set up to xfer the files.. have to look into that. I recall writing code to write data to tape, then later to the modem, then to the printer... The apple 2 rom was printed out in a red book. not that big. you could type it in pretty easy. Will
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