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Toucan

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Posts posted by Toucan

  1. Posted

    2 hours ago, Airshack said:

    Okay! Thank you from the bottom of my heart but come on! 
     

    Please scan everything and post it all.

     

    This conversation will be much better if everyone has a copy. Thanks in advance.

     

    Seriously needs to be archived and distributed. You have a nice gift for us all in your possession. Good going!

    I plan on scanning it, but it could be a while since it's about 100 pages. Yes, I do have a flatbed scanner, just going to take some time.

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 2

  2. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    56 minutes ago, fabrice montupet said:

    So we can imagine that the Dimension 1 could look like to this:

    ti99dimension1_1.jpg

     

     

     

    Awesome! I would love to see the Joysticks in color as well. Also, I didn't check, but weren't the keys slightly different? I think the question mark was next to the Enter button.

  3. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    It should be complete. I've deposited the crystals many times in the den. You have to wash them in the fountains though first before you can deposit them, assuming you're doing that (you're not taking dirty crystals to the den are you? Clean crystals are happy crystals). I've had it speak to me, "The Super Crystal is yours" when I've gotten all the crystals to the den. You have to get them in the right order as well.

    • Like 1

  4. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    3 hours ago, Ed in SoDak said:

    Holy Buckets! I'm floored. What a treasure trove! Be sure to thank the Esteemed Mr. Wilson, not only for his active participation in the events unfolding at the time, but also for saving and sharing it for all of us, through your own efforts in making it available. Why not invite CB to join in the discussion? If he's willing to be overwhelmed with the response!

    -Ed

    Not a bad idea. I could ask him and see what he says. He did keep putting off digging through his items (first contacted him in 2009, only now that he's moving did he get around to it) and he also said he could write a book with all he knows, but he never has gotten around to that (jotting down some history) since he first mentioned it in 2009. So he might take a few years, but maybe we will hear from him eventually :)

     

    I did just ask him the dreaded Milton Bradley question, meaning what was MB's involvement with the TI computer since I have drawings from 1977 from MB for a TI/MB Home computer display stand. Apparently MB was making a cost reduced TI-compatible system (Gamevision?). Bill Gaskill put together a nice compilation of the info here: http://www.ti99ers.org/timeline/Milton Bradley Company-langieri_02042010.pdf. Ha! Great timing. That article was compiled on 1/25/2010, EXACTLY 10 years ago. Coincidence?

     

    BTW, CB Wilson worked at TI from 1967-2000:

     

    Quote

    I worked in airborne radar programs initially, took military LOA and served as a Civil Engineering Corp Officer in Vietnam and as a contracting officer for Operation Deepfreeze. On return to TI, I worked in manufacturing engineering for solid state phased array radar development and transferred to calculators in 1972. I had a wide variety of manufacturing, engineering design and management roles with calculators, home computing, synthetic speech toys and graphing calculators for math education. I focused on creating teams and processes to produce embedded software with very low fault density and products designed with multi-disciplinary teams to very closely meet user and market needs.

     

  5. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    Here's some more from the booklet. In this PDF you'll see some diagrams, one shows the speaker in the console and also talks about a decorative overlay covering volume control provisions. The beginning of the Solid State Software badge? Also neat is the Remote-Handset overlay drawing, so you can see what the overlay would have looked like to convert the joystick keyboards to a full keyboard.

     

    I made this PDF in black/white to reduce size and make things more clear (I think). If you think this is acceptable, I could start taking pics of the entire book this way as it's probably the quickest way to scan it without removing the pages and sending it through a public copier (worried about paper jams and the like).

    diagrams.pdf

    • Like 1

  6. Posted

    7 hours ago, Ksarul said:

    And this document also describes the ACS computer security system, which was mentioned in other TI publications, but for which very little real information existed. We definitely need to do a deep dive into that BASIC specification document, as I suspect it will tell us much more about the actual level of Microsoft involvement in the original BASIC interpreter development process.

    Attached is a PDF of the pages relating to the security part. I used my phone to take the pics, let me know how it comes out.

    security2.pdf

    • Like 1

  7. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    5 minutes ago, Ksarul said:

    And this document also describes the ACS computer security system, which was mentioned in other TI publications, but for which very little real information existed. We definitely need to do a deep dive into that BASIC specification document, as I suspect it will tell us much more about the actual level of Microsoft involvement in the original BASIC interpreter development process.

    There's actually a whole section dedicated to the home security device/software. I'll post those up later today. Eventually I'll try and get the whole thing into a PDF.

    • Like 3

  9. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    Here we go, a release schedule, starting in 4Q/1978. I guess they were closer to a final product in 1978 than we thought. An e-mail program in the works for 2Q/1979. Lookout Outlook! Oh yeah, Wumpus on the list as well. And interestingly, Japanese language. Also, note in the 3Q/1979 what sounds like the PEB. Also of note is even in this August/September 1978 document, compatibility with Milton Bradley cartridges is mentioned as a requirement.

    20200125_112744.jpg

    20200125_112757.jpg

    20200125_112806.jpg

    • Like 2

  10. Posted

    57 minutes ago, Toucan said:

    I'm actually getting excited about this unit. Wireless controls, home security, ADD disk unit (whatever that may be), printing checks, expansions that snap in on top (look like printer cartridges actually), etc. Now that typewriter peripheral, would that just have been a full keyboard, or are we talking about interfacing an actual typewriter to the TI?

    Question's been answered:

     

    20200125_110928.jpg

    • Like 1

  11. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    I'm actually getting excited about this unit. Wireless controls, home security, ADD disk unit (whatever that may be), printing checks, expansions that snap in on top (look like printer cartridges actually), etc. Now that typewriter peripheral, would that just have been a full keyboard, or are we talking about interfacing an actual typewriter to the TI?

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    3 minutes ago, sometimes99er said:

     
    Absolutely amazing !!! Looking sharp. 4 ports directly above the keys, wireless, $400 etc. Shit. They could have ruled the world !?
     

    Okay, I looked at the White Papers, and they mention the "ADD Disk". What exactly is an ADD Disk? It does not look like a floppy drive by the drawing above. Here's a copy of some of the peripherals they were considering:

     

     

     

     

    20200125_100550.jpg

    • Like 1

  13. Posted

    Okay, so here are the transparencies I mentioned from 1977. The design is pretty interesting, with the peripherals supposedly plugging into the top of the unit and even being color coded by the looks of it. The design almost reminds me, due to the slimmer case, of the 99/2. My thought is that they couldn't get the sizes of the peripherals down small enough to make these pluggable in a row on the top of the console. What I thought was a disc-style controller (like the Intellivision), turns out to be an "Add Disc" (some type of disk drive?). The controllers look more similar to what was photographed in 1978, even with the cradle and keyboard connection capability. Also, I don't think these were membrane keys, but chiclet keys like the 99/4 had. They must have been bigger than what we got, as they are the width of the cartridge slot it seems. 

    20200125_085259.jpg

    20200125_085320.jpg

    • Like 7

  14. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    12 minutes ago, Ksarul said:

    I have a one word response for all of these documents: DROOL!

    You're going to love those 1977 transparencies which I'll post tomorrow. TI came up with a system that was I think more ingenious than what came out, with how the expansions plugged into the unit. At least it was less space consuming.

     

    There's one more doc which I did not mention that was in the box, it was "Home Computer Audio Cassette Evaluation". This doc is fro mlater (1983 at least) and talks also of the CC-40.

     

    There also is a letter from the FCC with original envelope dated 12/8/1982 about some type of change approval that was going to be allowed in the equipment. Maybe this had something to do with the beige redesign?

    • Like 2

  15. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    21 minutes ago, HOME AUTOMATION said:

    Alright... you should know... it has NOT been easy keeping myself alive, all these years...:roll: in anticipation of getting to the bottom of alllll this!:spidey:

     

    Keep it coming, love. Don't stop it now!:evil:

     

           Ha!:cool:

    I hear you, but I fear I might have already divulged too much info too quickly, and people might be suffering from overload. I know I am. So I think I might take a break for tonight. Don't like going too fast as I like to take everything in, and also keep the suspense going for both me and anyone else interested in this :)

     

    Wouldn't you rather spread this out over 10 years, dissect one page at a time and have thoughful discussion on each page :P

     

    BTW, I found CB Wilson's title in the White Papers. He was the "Home Computer Engineering/Design Manager"

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1
    • Haha 2

  16. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    Got an e-mail from CB Wilson, he's going to send over a scan of some organization charts he has from back then so I can get the names of everyone involved. Should be fun to see. I'm starting to wonder if TI used the Dimension name for each iteration of the 99/4, and final version happened to be a Dimension 4, so they ended up calling it a 99/4? And that's where the 4 came from?

    • Like 2

  17. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    Oh shoot. Just looked more in the box and found these green books:

     

    • "TI BASIC Interpreter System Documentation"....WRITTEN BY Robert B. Greenberg of Microsoft (8/24/1978).
    • "Specification of a TI standard for the BASIC Language" (6/9/1978)

    And another crazy thing:

     

    A 9/9/1977 dated transparencies that show the TI computer. Looks more like a game system at this point. With disc controllers, like an Intellivision. Also shows some planned peripherals. All drawings of course. 

     

     

    • Like 7
    • Sad 1

  18. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    Get this, Number Magic was to be built into the console along with the calculator and Basic. I guess to provide a built in educational program, a productivity program, and a programming language. Just needed to add a game to cover the other area. I would have voted to put Video Games 1 in there as well since it has a number of small games to whet people's appetite, and it was from 1979.

    • Like 1

  20. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    29 minutes ago, --- Ω --- said:

    Please, oh please, please tell me that you are going to scan this in for all us rabid TI fans to drool over.

     

    Probably will. There's so much here. They talk about a PEB unit as an early accessory so you don't have to chain too many peripherals together. Also, talk about the TMS9985 delays and thoughts on using a Z80 processor in case the 9985 fails to be delivered on time (9985 was actually supposed to be 5MHz, but there was a problem mentioned with something that might reduce the speed by 20%). Apparently "Early Learning Fun" was developed in conjunction with someone from Sesame Street Magazine. Also, it sounds like there were not plans for wired joysticks. They were talking about the wireless look was what they wanted to keep clutter to a minimum. Other peripherals were a Software Module Library (select up to 8 modules) and a security control system (ACS Protection maybe). Lots going on in these pages. From what I can gather, this was printed in August 1978, as they talk about September as coming up. Still reading through it, probably will take a few days. Original price point for the 99/4 (or Dimension 1 I guess) was $400. Maybe the Dimension 1 was considered a TI-99/1, which is why we get a 99/2 later on.

    • Like 9

  21. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    Okay folks....CB WILSON HAS DELIVERED!!!

     

    He is sending boxes to my house as he finds stuff, so I have no idea when or what is coming and this is today's surprise!

     

    Check this out. And look at the docs. Pics of the IR receiver and the wireless joysticks (with keys?). I happened to flip through the pages and this was the first thing I stumbled on when opening to a random page. I can't wait to see what is all in here, probably close to 100 pages. Note the nameplate...Dimension 1! Whoa! The plot thickens! Big moment today folks! Volume control on this unit.

     

    No date on the book itself, but there are pages with dates, like 7/24/1978 and August 1978.

     

    20200124_192524.jpg

    20200124_192611.jpg

    20200124_192619.jpg

    • Like 12
    • Thanks 2

  22. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    18 hours ago, kl99 said:

    Hi Toucan,

    CB Wilson shared nice stuff with you. I remember that Hank Mishkoff mentioned his name when talking about a 99/4(A) simulator running on a TI-990.

    The 99/4 Wired Remote Manuals and Joysticks are rare, since the 99/4 was not a big seller, not many were produced.

    I bought a Beginner's Basic Guide with the black font on ebay some year(s) back, I tought it was for Europe (maybe the UK edition) but the book revealed no indications of that. European products typically had a European product code and were printed either in Holland or Italy.

     

    The Text2Speech Document you refer to is so far only part of The Cyc:

    http://www.ti99.eu/?page_id=25&lang=en#aaef4735ec04428189a0d73c04c4641f

    So a decent public scan would be nice and welcome.

     

    Wow, where is that GPL Snippet from Tom Merrow from?

    Is there an actual print out of the 99/4 source code that you can ask for?

    Even more interesting, that it says Copyright 1978.

    That is a very nice find.

     

    Continue your research! :)

    Tom gave me that snippet an a pic, not sure where it came from actually, but maybe he has the source code? I could ask him. But yes, there was a 1978 copyright title screen, as I saw it pictured in a TI brochure/catalog at one point. Just can't remember which one...Found it. A UK brochure no less.

    ti994-5.jpg

    • Like 2

  23. Posted

    7 hours ago, S1500 said:

    Hmm, the modern-style manual looks different than the other modern TOD manual cover I saw. The one I saw was in a 2-color threshold(photocopy) and had stairs & stuff in the background. 

     

    For the one here, looks like the artist who did Hunt the Wumpus made it. 

    Haha. Was going to say that the face of the guy with the sword and the person in Hunt the Wumpus looked similar. BTW, I believe the stairs are in the manual, that's what the guy in the background in standing on (you can sort of make them out behind the wizard).

     

    Speaking of new manuals, which games never got an updated manual (one that we have never seen in print or in person)? The only ones that come to mind are Hustle and Hangman. Am I missing any others? When I say games, I mean the ones TI categorized with red labels (Hustle and Hangman never even got a label update, just the black/orange one colorized in red). Would have loved to have seen Hustle. I think they could have put some guys riding horses on there with a snake or 2.

    • Like 2

  25. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    19 minutes ago, FarmerPotato said:

    Toucan,

     

    Does your 99/4 technical data have the 99/4 schematics?

     

    This one has no schematics and is a mixture of 4 and 4A. 
     

    I’d be curious if there is overlap. 

     

     

     

    Plenty of schematics, the types that you fold out actually. It says 99/4 throuhout the book (not /4A), but to reaffirm that, there are things in the schematics like "9918 VDP" and "J501 Mini Phone Jack" which were only found in the 99/4. The diagrams that look the same in both are the "System Block Diagrams". The actual schematics in my book marked "99/4 Schematic Diagram" are different from what I can tell and are of the fold out variety.

    • Like 1
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