So many errors and false statements in this piece.
1) The CPC sold over three million units, not two million
2) Locomotive BASIC was not written in the 60s at Dartmouth College, it was written in the early 80s by Locomotive Software (clue is in the copyright notice on bootup).
3) The CPC464 did not include the so-called "unique software; a new Amstrad owned operating system called ‘AMSDOS’" AMSDOS = Amstrad Disk Operating System, a ROM extension that was included in the 664 and 6128 (the ones that shipped with disk drives). For the 464, AMSDOS came on a ROM in the disk drive controller IF you bought the external disk drive add-on.
4) You picked one of the few colour examples in the CPC palette that was a bit loud. Most of the 27 colour palette was quite tame, more so than the Speccy and far less brown than the C64.
5) The Amstrad GX4000 was not a Sega Master System clone, it was a CPC464 in console form
6) Amstrad was acquired by Sky in 2007, the satellite receiver business was not sold off in the 90s.
7) The original Amstrad Emailer had a mono display, the colour screen came much later with the E3.
Chris, thanks for your points. This is not a tech blog, and I'm writing grand narratives not techno-history and would ask you to be sympathetic to that cause, rather than calling it 'really poor'. From a technical expert POV I'm sure anything I write will be poor, but that's judging it as if it's trying to be something else, which is a little unfair. As a result, my feedback is:
1) The CPC was a success. It sold 'approximately' three million units but hard numbers are 2.something million. This is splitting hairs - the point is it was successful.
2) Dartmouth BASIC (1964) is very similar to Locomotive BASIC. The point is, it was using old code to save money, which regardless is true. The description of Loco BASIC is 'a rather simple but powerful BASIC implementation by the standards of the day (1982).
3) AMSDOS is part of the OS, as mentioned. Again, I'm not writing for a technical audience so again, I am not interested in splitting hairs. If I have fundementally misrepresented reality please do let me know in laymans terms how I have so I can correct.
4) I am fully entitled to do that, to help tell a better story. I did not claim it to be more or less garish than anything else at the time.
5) It was a CPC464 in console form but it was designed to look like a Master System, but in white not black. A simple look at the two systems shows this. Again, I am not interested in going into the technical guts as much as I am in explaining the idea and the target market. So I still feel this point stands.
6) I did actually struggle to work out what happened in 1997 - lots of chicanery and companies changing name. I do reference the 2007 sell-off. But the amstrad satelitte business was decoupled in 1997 and there were just 71 staff in 2000, which again, is the main thrust of my point rather than writing a financial history. If you can shine a light on any specifics I am happy to update.
7) I think I am actually quite clear on this already and refrence the E3 screen upgrade in the piece and an image caption.
No, Locomotive Basic was not old code. It was written specifically for the Amstrad, yes it's BASIC but there was no reuse of Dartmouth code to cut cost.
If you think a GX4000 looks like a master system you have serious eye problems. They look nothing like each other!
Viglen was the piece that carried on under Sugar post 2007, right? Unfortunately I couldn't find space in the narrative to bring it without being very clunky or potentially confusing - but it's a fair point that it had a role in the 1990s transformation element, and particuarly the email/internet/server access part of the Emailer.
Viglen was independent prior to its acquisition by Amstrad. It did advertise and sell to the public (alongside the likes of Dan, Elonex, Opus, and Tiny), but was better-known as an IT supplier in the UK education and public sectors.
A fair point Simon; I use the claim rather tongue in cheek rather than seriously. My justification is not rooted in the tech being the first of its kind, but in the fact the Emailer did sell 450,000 units which meant it made an impact on society’s understanding, unlike the OPD
So many errors and false statements in this piece.
1) The CPC sold over three million units, not two million
2) Locomotive BASIC was not written in the 60s at Dartmouth College, it was written in the early 80s by Locomotive Software (clue is in the copyright notice on bootup).
3) The CPC464 did not include the so-called "unique software; a new Amstrad owned operating system called ‘AMSDOS’" AMSDOS = Amstrad Disk Operating System, a ROM extension that was included in the 664 and 6128 (the ones that shipped with disk drives). For the 464, AMSDOS came on a ROM in the disk drive controller IF you bought the external disk drive add-on.
4) You picked one of the few colour examples in the CPC palette that was a bit loud. Most of the 27 colour palette was quite tame, more so than the Speccy and far less brown than the C64.
5) The Amstrad GX4000 was not a Sega Master System clone, it was a CPC464 in console form
6) Amstrad was acquired by Sky in 2007, the satellite receiver business was not sold off in the 90s.
7) The original Amstrad Emailer had a mono display, the colour screen came much later with the E3.
Really poor!
Chris, thanks for your points. This is not a tech blog, and I'm writing grand narratives not techno-history and would ask you to be sympathetic to that cause, rather than calling it 'really poor'. From a technical expert POV I'm sure anything I write will be poor, but that's judging it as if it's trying to be something else, which is a little unfair. As a result, my feedback is:
1) The CPC was a success. It sold 'approximately' three million units but hard numbers are 2.something million. This is splitting hairs - the point is it was successful.
2) Dartmouth BASIC (1964) is very similar to Locomotive BASIC. The point is, it was using old code to save money, which regardless is true. The description of Loco BASIC is 'a rather simple but powerful BASIC implementation by the standards of the day (1982).
3) AMSDOS is part of the OS, as mentioned. Again, I'm not writing for a technical audience so again, I am not interested in splitting hairs. If I have fundementally misrepresented reality please do let me know in laymans terms how I have so I can correct.
4) I am fully entitled to do that, to help tell a better story. I did not claim it to be more or less garish than anything else at the time.
5) It was a CPC464 in console form but it was designed to look like a Master System, but in white not black. A simple look at the two systems shows this. Again, I am not interested in going into the technical guts as much as I am in explaining the idea and the target market. So I still feel this point stands.
6) I did actually struggle to work out what happened in 1997 - lots of chicanery and companies changing name. I do reference the 2007 sell-off. But the amstrad satelitte business was decoupled in 1997 and there were just 71 staff in 2000, which again, is the main thrust of my point rather than writing a financial history. If you can shine a light on any specifics I am happy to update.
7) I think I am actually quite clear on this already and refrence the E3 screen upgrade in the piece and an image caption.
Thanks.
No, Locomotive Basic was not old code. It was written specifically for the Amstrad, yes it's BASIC but there was no reuse of Dartmouth code to cut cost.
If you think a GX4000 looks like a master system you have serious eye problems. They look nothing like each other!
Great piece Chris - a friend of mine had the emailer in her house and I always remember thinking "wow what a weird piece of kit".
Thanks Mark! Certainly a strange looking thing...
A mention of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viglen is probably deserved: they were bought by Amstrad in 1994 and sold to Westcoast/XMA in 2014.
Viglen was the piece that carried on under Sugar post 2007, right? Unfortunately I couldn't find space in the narrative to bring it without being very clunky or potentially confusing - but it's a fair point that it had a role in the 1990s transformation element, and particuarly the email/internet/server access part of the Emailer.
Viglen was independent prior to its acquisition by Amstrad. It did advertise and sell to the public (alongside the likes of Dan, Elonex, Opus, and Tiny), but was better-known as an IT supplier in the UK education and public sectors.
I think the UK’s first smart phone was the ICL Open Per Desk (OPD) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Per_Desk which pre-dates the Amstrad product by 16 years.
A fair point Simon; I use the claim rather tongue in cheek rather than seriously. My justification is not rooted in the tech being the first of its kind, but in the fact the Emailer did sell 450,000 units which meant it made an impact on society’s understanding, unlike the OPD