acm@valhalla.cs.ucla.edu (Association for Computing Machinery) (09/19/88)
Report from the "Southern California Atari Computer Faire, Version 3.0"
(a.k.a. The Glendale Atarifest):
The biggest news at this show was the introduction of Spectre 128.
Check out a separate posting for info on this.
CodeHead Software was showing G+plus, a "totally compatible" GDOS replacement
program, that is faster and has the added capability of reloading fonts and
device drivers without rebooting. I never got to see it in action, so I
couldn't verify the above statements. They were also showing MultiDesk,
a program that can load up to 96 desk accessories, at any time without
rebooting to load and 'unload' them. It takes up one regular acc slot.
In addition, it allows the use of some sort of macro files to load in a
predetermined group of up to 16 accs. at once, with few mouse clicks.
They are also the authors of TopDown, the program that cuts bootup time
by putting auto programs and accs at the top of memory. Their address is
P.O. Box 4336, N. Hollywood, CA 91607
JRI was showing a Genlock System for the Mega ST. They had a cute animation
program running on top of video from a VCR. They showed the animation program
by itself in one ST monitor and the combined output in both a TV and another
ST monitor. The genlocking is fully hardware based, so that no supporting
software is needed (i.e. choose from whatever paint program or animation
package already available), it has a lot of features I won't mention here.
They are tentatively pricing the card at $500. They are currently awaiting
FCC certification, and are planning similar device(s) for the low-end ST's.
Neocept was showing the WordUp wordprocessor there. As has been noted
elsewhere, it was enjoying a good deal of popularity at the show, more so than
the WordPerfect booth. Text routing is very sophisticated, very natural to
use, and reasonably fast, as are screen updates of a window full of big fonts
and pictures. The print quality is really professional, as is the screen
output on a monochrome monitor. It wins hands down for ease of use over
a lot of other WP type programs. For example, to include a picture along with
your text, you practically just have to choose a filename, the text will
automatically route around it (the picture appears right where the cursor is).
Resizing or removing the picture is as easy as manipulating a miniature GEM
window. The latest version has reportedly fixed the bugs in the initial
release. Some of the printed pictures could have looked a bit better, though.
Practical Solutions was showing a triophonic/true stereo sound adapter board.
Solderless and internal, it will be selling for $50 starting November. This,
in combination with Yamaha's new 10-bit pin compatible, functionally compatible
version of the sound chip (anybody know where I can get one cheap?) could
open up possibilities for much better sound right out of the ST. The extra
bits make a big difference. Why, just think, 6 more bits and we have CD
quality B-). Anyway, PS's Videokey composite/RF converter/audio line
box goes for $120. They were also showing their mouse, monitor, and drive
master boxes, all three of which simply switch safely from one set of lines to
another ($40-50). They say they'll sell bulk ST floppy and monitor
connectors for less than $6.00 each.
Somebody (I don't know who) was showing midi-gram, what seemed to be a
microphone that converted sung notes (i.e. sounds) into midi notes (i.e.
binary), for use with any sequencer for recording. Don't know if this is
specifically an ST product or simply a MIDI port hookup or what.
Of the few displays only showing games at this show (maybe the only one?),
there was Broderbund. Nothing to note.
Antic Software was showing the usual 3D sterotek glasses (forms a crowd, but
not really that impressive, folks). I didn't get to see their new CyberSculpt,
the latest of Tom Hudson's creations, so don't ask. A lot of people were
showing Spectrum 512 and Cyber pics, however -- mainly to show off their
monitors or monitor attachments or the speed of their hard drives and such.
Megamax was showing their Laser C compiler, announcing that by Christmas
they will have LaserDB, a source debugger, available.
Seymor/Radix was showing an impressive 75,160,216,300,360,600, up to 1000 dpi
image scanner. Of course, the output can be used with all major picture
formats and DP programs. Their printed output looked very good.
Last but not least Atari was represented at the show. Sig Hartmann was hard
to track down, so I asked Cindy Claveran if she had any info on the 68030
UNIX box, but although she was very courteous, she had no comments about any
possible release date. Somebody nearby also asked about the transputer.
Essentially what she said about that is that all of the prototypes are now in
developers' hands. That would explain, at least, why there was no transputer
to be seen there. But I didn't see 1280x960 monitors popping up anywhere
either. What *did* Atari show, you ask? Pretty much their whole current
product line, all the way down to the game machines, running various types
of software.
Plinio Barbeito
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