The author also touches on the issue of software portability in the early days of home computing. Most computers used some kind of Microsoft BASIC, and the author would often port BASIC programs to the Coco. However, the author notes that software was generally not portable, leading to frustration when popular software for other machines was not available for the Coco. The author mentions the impact of Lotus 1-2-3, a spreadsheet program that utilized the memory capacity of the PC, effectively outpacing its competitor, Visicalc.
Key takeaways:
- The author recalls getting a TRS-80 Color Computer around 1980, noting that typical home computers at the time were built around the video system and struggled to support more than 40 columns of text.
- Two revolutionary aspects of the IBM PC were that the video and CPU were less closely coupled and it was an open system that other vendors could clone, leading to increased competition, lower costs, and improved performance.
- The author notes that the 68000 was a 32-bit architecture that could hypothetically address 4M of memory but early chips could only address 16M, and despite its potential, the 68k line never fully manifested and Motorola moved to the PowerPC.
- The author reflects on the lack of software portability between different machines, expressing frustration that popular software for other machines was not available for the Coco.