+arcadeshopper Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 I know there's some good documents possibly a couple webpages but is there an actual book on the TI history like this one for the coco? https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1466592478?pf_rd_p=c2945051-950f-485c-b4df-15aac5223b10&pf_rd_r=F6DDD9486T918WHHPJQF 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndp630 Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 I have the book, "The Orphan Chronicles"..... somewhere. It tells the story but definitely no glossy photos. That is a cool idea! I hope someone does it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 I have the book, "The Orphan Chronicles"..... somewhere. It tells the story but definitely no glossy photos. That is a cool idea! I hope someone does it. I have the PDF, sadly I've never gotten around to reading it... yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share Posted January 22, 2019 I have the book, "The Orphan Chronicles"..... somewhere. It tells the story but definitely no glossy photos. That is a cool idea! I hope someone does it.I forgot that one thanks Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LASooner Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Available on the internet archive https://archive.org/details/tibook_the-orphan-chronicles 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbmeeks Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 That would be an awesome idea. I have several books on the history of Apple and more specifically, the Apple II and B/W Mac. I'm reading one on the history of the IBM 5150 too. I was actually surprised how many TI books there are! But they are all from the 80's when TI was more popular. This is a shame. The TI deserves a great history and "reboot". I love the Apple II, the Atari's and Commodore. But it's frustrating how TI doesn't exist to many people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 I know there's some good documents possibly a couple webpages but is there an actual book on the TI history like this one for the coco? https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1466592478?pf_rd_p=c2945051-950f-485c-b4df-15aac5223b10&pf_rd_r=F6DDD9486T918WHHPJQF I know there's some good documents possibly a couple webpages but is there an actual book on the TI history like this one for the coco? https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1466592478?pf_rd_p=c2945051-950f-485c-b4df-15aac5223b10&pf_rd_r=F6DDD9486T918WHHPJQF The Orphan Chronicles is a must read book for anyone interested in TI history. It's not so much well written as it is informative. I read it back in 1996, when I got back into the TI=99 scene. Your question --Greg-- highlights a significant shortcoming the TI-99 community has at this time. We are really short on the documented history side. The other systems: Atari 400/800, PET, C46, TRS-80, Apple2; they ALL have the history of their machines well documented to include many, many, many interviews with the creators of the machines and the popular software authors. For Christmas I received a book on the history of Macintosh gaming, and a similar book on the Atari 800. To my knowledge there exists not much for the TI-99/4 outside The Orphan Chronicles, which is very disappointing. The Antic Podcast for the Atari machines has over a hundred audio interviews with the people involved with Atari hardware and software. All of the early game consoles (except for the Odyssey2) have well documented/preserved history. Do you suppose the AtariAgers here may want to get together and do something about improving the written and/or recorded history of our beloved hardware and software? I know many of the guys here know whom wrote what and the names of people involved with the design of the system. The Orphan Chronicles does a great job of including names of the TI folks. Maybe we should track them down and start asking questions before the first-hand history is lost? We're all getting old. Recently I reached out to Paul Urbanus on this subject. He was fortunately agreeable when I mentioned a possible interview! He's an AtariAger as well! Maybe we should grow this history thread with interviews and links which can be assembled by someone talented enough to produce a good book and/or Podcast or YouTube Video series? Thoughts? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbox Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Bill Gaskill's TIMELINE is probably a good place to start, then work backwards to early material that has only recently been uncovered, and forwards through all the new software and hardware to today.(http://ftp.whtech.com/time_line/) Add as many photos as possible! Find a TI related url that seems to have gone, then check out the archive.org wayback machine. MICROpendium is a remarkable source and generally available online. (http://ftp.whtech.com/magazines/micropendium/) I have a brief summary of UK TI magazines and some of my early involvement at: http://shawweb.myzen.co.uk/stephen/treff/index.htm I have an almost complete record of the UK TI magazines. I have copied interviews with Hank Mishkoff(1995) and John Phillips(1993) from the Lima newsletter at: http://shawweb.myzen.co.uk/stephen/artic9.htm and there is much of historic interest in the articles section at WHT: http://ftp.whtech.com/articles/ -check the listings for Business Week, Associated Press, The Economist regards Stephen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retiredqwest Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 The only problem with The Orphan Chronicles is it was written in 1985. I'm sure there is a lot of history past that year. I've used https://www.worldcat.org/for genealogy over the years as it provides a worldwide location service for various types of physical media. I've used it mostly for books. So, I plugged in The Orphan Chronicles and I got a hit at Held formats Distance 1. Queensborough Community College Library Bayside, NY 11364 United States Book 2100 miles Map It Library info Add to favorites When I scrolled down the screen I saw this Related Subjects:(2) TI 99/4A (Computer) Texas Instruments Incorporated. Clicking on the first link brought up a list of 132 items. Scrolling through the list I saw several titles I had never heard of. All of them were in the 1979-1985 time frame so they may not be very useful for a TI History. If you have a local library card and the library participates in the lending program. The OCLC number is used to move items between library's. FWIW it was an interesting read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 I actually have most of the books in that list (and quite a few more). The Hexbus site has a number that aren't on it too. One note, some of the listings there are User Group Newsletters, and one is even a 35mm film (which is unfortunately not in any known library). A few are also title variations--but they point to the same book. It is still a nice resource. I use WorldCat a lot. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonecool Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 (edited) It would be great to see a book on the History of the TI. May be a little far-fetched, but there is so much history right here among us all. Each of us have different experiences on how we got into the TI, what we did with it back-in-the-day and what keeps us coming back here. A book which combined the history of the TI, experiences recalled from various users (those of us that want to contribute our stories) and even it's recent developments (nanoPEB, FR99, FG99, F18A, TIPI, etc.) would be one hell of a book! Perhaps we could setup a Wiki page where the community could add their stories and contribute to the history of the TI-99/4a (perhaps some here worked at TI), we'd need someone to organize the overall content/Editor, but this could be fun. Just a thought... Title: The Orphaned Computer that Thrived: The History and Future of the TI-99/4A Brief start... After a bitter price war with Commodore in the early 1980's, Texas Instruments discontinued their popular TI-99/4a computer product line in late 1983. Most would have thought that would be the end for the first 16-bit home computer, but that would hardly be the case. As of 2019, the discontinuation took place 36 years ago. However, the story does not end there. Read on to hear the rest of the story of this amazing machine that thrived... Edited January 25, 2019 by jonecool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 Another way I thought that would be nice to read the old TI-99/4A related books is on YouTube. I don't know about you guys, but as I get older my eyesight is just not what it used to be, so reading a PDF on a cellphone is a no-go. Even reading them on the computer screen is not as nice as the recliner in the living room on the big screen TV. I made this TEST / EXAMPLE to see what you guys think. To turn pages you simply press play. To read a page, just press pause. Comments? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4X7XVJlR74&feature=youtu.be 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry.peterson Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 I have about 200 PDF files of books and newsletters and whatever. I'm sure there are more...........somewhere 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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