A
V
COMPUTER
ENTHUSIASTS
Wellington Atari Computer Enthusiasts
PRESIDENT: Mr M Munro
Telephone: 793-363
SECRETARY: Mr D Rowe
Telephone: 736-716
P.O.Box 16011
AUGUST 1385
Dear members.
Herewith the WftCE newsletter for August, 1385. So what if it is
earty September when you. receive this fine product - we 11 catuh ..p
during the Christmas vacation.
NEXT MEETING
ft., r next meet in* will be held on 11 September, bes i nn ins at 7.20
pit,. Th<=- venue will be the "Loaves and Fishes , which is located b*hin._
the finali'-an Cathedral in Molesworth at. Topics include-
' " Vm Chisholm or, LOGO and PILOT, similarities and differences;
ft demonstration on DOS 2.5. This is the DOi Htari have released
to replace Dos 2.0 and the ill-starred DOS o. pub l. 5 .s advantas* 1 =>
that it "sharpie increases the volume of data that each disk can hold.
M*mb*rs miJht. 5iso refer to notes (in the attached supplement)
Applied bw Atari on how to use DOS 2.5. Atari have also siven us some
other programmes for use with DOS 2.5, and the complete packase is
available from our programme librarian.. Dennis Dawsvn c, h r_•> — > -• -r
Flat ^•••2FiFi r>ci 1 Rd.,We 11 inston) for $5.00.
Demonstrations of new commercial software ... . pTft
Th>=- vipw CLUB TfiPE. On present planning, this will b* a Cwt, ,.1-h
in programmes on it, two of them by club members. H wood one to set.
Thi= CLUB DISK.- Continuing what appears to be a useful
tradition, "this disk will have another DOS-MfiCHDOb- on it. U*
grandadda of all of the User Groups, describes Mfi-HDO- a* . I-
will be explained at the October meetini. Also, there .will be ti.e
Prr»s.srnm^-s. of considerable merit on the disk. Two are *knng
prosrammis"from West Germany.: "Fileindex", from P.uE but considerably
improved by Bruce Tinsle* <ie it works!).: Mh^E oD.: and Cell - a
biology prosra.mme with excellent graphics and a. sood self-test
capacity <my eldest daushter is already soma auk
LfiST MEETING
Th* weather was not sood, but we had 30 people aIons to a
«,rrw/fni meet in-3. The tutorial on Atari writer went well, with muc.._
ii se f u 1 ~ mate rial be-ins contributed from the floor to supplement Karl s
introduction of the word Processor. Your committee had no idea tha. *-
members had Atari writer : if there are other item- of f*
member* would like an extended introduction on, please let commi
members know. As a followup to last month, Mike Munro will demonstrate
"Atspeller", the spelling checker foe Atariwriter.
SERVICES TO MEMBERS
p,p.j o<=- i,i.s 5. unavoidably absent last meet ins, but or. 11 Sept he
will be there, complete with the cartridge library. First six people
there set to rent the cartridges.
New members are probably familiar with the club tape arid disk
programmes. They may not be as familiar with the club's book library.
The custodian of that library- Felix Bettelheim.- has set out our book
holdings in an article to be included in next months newsletter for
their benefit. New members may also not be aware that WACE Places our
copies of the two best Atari relevant magazines - ANALOG and ANTIC -
in the Wei l ins ton Public Library = Room 3.- I think it is. These
masazines are held at the counter for three months before they join
the L i b ra ry ' s sene ra l ' mas az i ne ho l d i ns s. Membe rs .• especially those who
live out of town, can use their library’s "Interloan” service to
obtain copies of specific articles.
OTHER BITS
Gordon Ns <Ph 855373'' would like to swap his 866XL Plus software
for an 866 plus.* as appropriate.* software.
Richard Chatterton, of 2/161 Onslow Rd <Ph 732361) is Puttins
tosether a bulk order of PRINTERS. Currently/ he hopes to order CTI's
CPA 86 and the CPB 88/ at expected (not suaranteed) prices of $426 and
$526 respectively. Richard- who is Secretary of the Well inston
Spectrum Users Group/ invites those interested to rins him after 7.68
pm on weekdays or on the weekends. It would be an idea if members
familiarised themselves with Printer characteristics.* -iarson and
prices before you rins Richard : it may be that the printers he has to
offer will not suit your requirements*
Thats it* see you on 11 September.*
You r s s i nee rely .*
Des Rowe (Secretary)
File Index
As Des mentioned above.* a copy of File Index is on the next club
disk. One of the little traps in it is if you try to do a L(load) when
you first run the pros ram. The pros ram will return an error.* with
'File mot found’ / as you will have no index file set up. DON'T PANIC!
Once you have actually loaded some data.* and do a S( ^a ve).* the
pros ram will create the index file for you. Just ensure you have the
same disk available every time you use the Pros ram in future.
F=-J=v:
I DENT ' S F'AGE
Thanks very much to these who vclun
type in programs "for - the club librsry a<_
there are a number o-f excellent programs
bene-fit -from them.
teered (in one way or another) to
the last -few meetings. As a result
coming -forward and we all stand to
Who’re currently typing in what?The
typing in what programs and we are very g
who have already typed in programs which
-following table shows who
rate-ful to them and to all
are now sorted out in the
are
those
1ibrary.
PROGRAM NAME
FILE NO.
T YP 1ST
STATUS
WHAT IE IT?
n
Chris Richardson
Being Typed
SMALL TALKER
n
Chris Cauriwell
Being Typed
VERSE WEAVING
r>
Chris Caudwel1
Being Typed
AIR ATTACK
7SCO/25
Chris Richardson
Being Typed
BARS
2230/1
Chris Richardson
Being Typed
GRAPH E’s
2125/15
Des Rowe
Being Typed
DRAUGHTS
7700/9
Jason Coombe
Being Typed
SIEGE
7600/46
Andrew Ward
Being Typed
MONOPOLY
Ross Palmer
Being Typed
METRONOME
John Blakie
Being Typed
BARCHART S/R
2125/14
Ray Level 1
Being Typed
SHOOTING STARS
7400/32
Richard Hcust on
Being Typed
CRIT PATH ANAL
2190/3
Ken May
Being Typed
* * *
For those who
didn’t get a
chance to get a program
or two at the 1
meet ing,we ' 11 have
awiTiE (TtuTc -f Gr
distribution at our ne-
:t gathering.Fir
come, -first served!
t t t
rf HI
1
I
!
t
. « i »•
i
I
\
\
*
ANYONE MEiL_P
i :
Onf of our people has a printer probleiji that so
know the answer to. Set out below is p^rt o-f
received*If you can help me
thoughts in note ■form so th
answer it.
meone el^e m^y
letter 1; have
put youi^
c,t I can seifid them cH* to °Mr
a
do plea!
>
understandably frustrated enqu:rer.Thaml you
Finally, I don’t seem to be able to get contol of my 1027 printer.
It does a good job. but it always moves down six lines when it receives
a command and then, when it finishes printing the input text, moves
down another six lines. It seems to be impossible to stop these two
processes. I can push BREAK until I am blue in the face, but nothing
happens. I know that, when using the Atariwriter, I can shorten the
distance at which printing starts from the top of the page, but I seem
to be able to do nothing when the printing is directly from a programme
- such as the Horae Filing Manager. Is there any way of getting back
control from this highly independent bit of equipment?
While on the printer. 1 had better ask another question. Unlike this
Brother EP4A which I am typing this on. the 1027 doesn’t automatically
stop printing when it senses the bottom of the pag e Instead it mmrw
its apparently mandatory 6 lines and then just starts to make a mess
at the bottom of the page. One can. of course, hang around to stop
the thing manually, but I can't find a way to get it to print on the
next page from the point at which it reached the end of the previous
one. This Brother does just that. i simply stick another, bit of paper
in, give it a CONT command, and on it goes from where it left off.
That brings up the other problem. it is all very well to set the page
a4 -s q ii aa ju -H 't -p
length at the top of each page (does this really have to be reset at
the beginning of every page?), but how do you know where you are on
a page as you type? The line indicator at the foot of the screen
shows only the line you have reached on the screen. It never goes
beyond 21. There seems to be no alarm system to tell you when a page
has been completed. I have examined the manuals over and over again,
but can find no answers to these irritating problems.
Jk ATARI
DISK OPERATING SYSTEM 2.5
INTRODUCING
ATARI DOS 2.5
In an ongoing effort to provide the
Highest quality of products for use
with your ATARI Computer, the
new ATARI Corp. is supplying you
with the enclosed DOS 2.5 Master
Diskette. Its advantages over
ATARI DOS 3 include ease and
convenience of use (most utilities
are contained within a single file
and need not be loaded from disk)
and compatibility with DOS 2.0S.
DOS 2.5“ also allows* you to use
the full capacity of your ATARI
1050™ Disk Drive and to access
the full RAM potential of the
ATARI 130XE™ Computer.
This short manual provides you
with instructions for getting started
with DOS 2.5. For complete infor¬
mation on DOS 2.5, including
detailed discussions on the menu
items, compatibility with DOS 3
and 2.0S, the RamOisk. and the
2.5 Utilities, you may consider ob¬
taining the new ATARI DOS 2.5.
Manual. Available from ATARI
Customer Relations, RO. Box
61657. Sunnyvale, CA 94088. Cost
S10 plus $2.50 for shipping and
handling. California residents add
appropriate tax Please write
ATARI DOS 2.5 Manual on the
outside of your envelope when
you order the book.
Getting Started With DOS 2.5
DOS 2.5 allows you to format
diskettes and store information in
either single or enhanced density.
With enhanced density you can
jecord about 50 percent more_j
data oh each diskette than you
can with DOS 2.0S. Enhanced-
density storage is only possible
if you have an ATAR11050 Disk
Drive; the 810™ Disk Drive is not
capable of formatting or managing
data stored in enhanced density.
Mdu need a 1050 Disk Drive to !
begin working with DOS 2.5
because your DOS 2.5 Master
Diskette is recorded in enhanced
density. If you often use an 810 }
Disk Drive to access your files,
you may want to format all your
cfiskettes in single density. 1
DOS 2.5 works with any cartridge-
based program that runs on your
ATARI Computer and uses DOS—
even programs that predate DOS
2.5, including the AtariWriter™
word processor and ATARI BASIC
With such programs you can
always use DOS 2.5 instead of
DOS 2.0S to prepare data
"diskettes and manage files.
Many diskette-based programs
designed for use with the earlier
DOS 2.0S can also be used with
DOS .2.5. However, you may have
to continue to use DOS 2. OS with-
certain protected diskette pro¬
grams (see your program user’s
manual if you are unsure whether
a program is protected.)
THE DOS MENU
Load DOS into your ATARI Com¬
puter using the same procedures
you use for either DOS 3 or DOS
2.0S. (If you have an ATARI 130XE.
65XE™. or 800XL™ with built-in
BASIC, type DOS and press
[RETURN] to go from BASIC to
DOS). The DOS Menu on your TV
or monitor screen presents a list
of the DOS 2.5 options. The
prompt below the menu invites
you to make a selection, 'rbu
choose the function you want to
use by pressing the letter cor¬
responding to your selection and
pressing [RETURN]. DOS then
asks you for the information it
needs to proceed.
Summary of the DOS 2.5
Menu Options. - - -
If you have used DOS 2.OS, you
"will be familiar with most of these;"
but note the change in Option J,
and the new Option P If you have
only used DOS 3. read this section
for an introduction to DOS
- functions.
A. DISK DIRECTORY Allows you to
call up a complete or selective list
of the files on a diskette, showing
the filenames, extenders (if any),
the number of sectors allocated to
each file, and the number of free
sectors still available on the
diskette.
B. RUN CARTRIDGE (Can ONLY be
used with built-in BASIC or with a
cartridge installed in the com¬
puter.) This option allows you to
return control of your system to
built-in SASIC or to the cartridge
inserted in the cartridge slot
C. COPY FILE Use this option
when you have two or more disk
drives and you want to copy files
from one diskette to another. Also
use this option to copy a file on
the same diskette, assigning a
second name to the copy
0. DELETE FILES Lets you erase a
file from a diskette, increasing the
available space on a diskette.
£. RENAME FILE Use this option
when you want to change the
name of a file.
F. LOCK FILE Can be used to pre¬
vent you from changing, renaming,
or accidentally erasing a file, 'fou
will still be able to read the file,
but not write to it. When the direc¬
tory is displayed, an asterisk is
placed in front of the filename to
indicate that the file is locked.
DOS 2.5
AND THE ATARI
130XE RAMDISK
The ATARI 130XE Computer is
equipped with 131,072 bytes—
128K—of Random Access
Memory (RAM), twice the maxi¬
mum 64K available with earlier
model ATARI Computers. The addi- |
tional 64K RAM can be useful for
many purposes: fast exchange of
screen images for animation, addi- .
tional storage for large data
— bases, and so forth:-
Msu can also use the extra RAM of j
the 130XE as a very fast "virtual”
disk drive. Set up as a “RamDisk”
— recognized by DOS 2.5 as Drive
8 in your system—it can accom¬
modate up to the equivalent of
499 sectors on a diskette. That is ;
about half what you can store on j
a diskette formated in enhanced j
density.
G. UNLOCK FILE This removes
the asterisk from in front of the
filename and allows you to make
changes to the file, rename it,
or delete it.
H. WRITE OOS FILES Use this
option to add the OOS files
(DOS.SYS and DUPSYS) on
your Master Diskette or
System Diskette to a diskette
in any disk drive.
L FORMAT DISK Use to format a
blank diskette, which is necessary
before you can record any infor¬
mation on it. Be sure you do not -
have any files you want to keep on
a diskette before formatting it.
This option will format a diskette
in enhanced density provided you
are using a 1050 Disk Drive: other¬
wise, it will format in single density
J. DUPLICATE OISK Use when you
want to create an exact duplicate
of a diskette. This option will auto¬
matically format the destination
disk.
K. BINARY SAVE Saves the
contents of specified memory
locations on a diskette.
The "storage" capacity offered by
the RamDisk is volatile memory,
which means that information
stored in it will be lost when you
turn off your computer system. So
before turning off your system,
you should always be sure that
any data currently in the RamOisk
that you want to save permanently
is recorded on an actual diskette.
However, the RamDisk can be a
very convenient tool. It allows you
to switch almost instantaneously
between BASIC (or any other pro-_
gramming language) and DOS,
and back again. Ybu can also use
it to work with files "stored” on
Drive 8—a technique that might"
prove especially useful when you
are transferring large amounts of
data between two programs that
are chained together (that is, when
one program RUNs the other).
To Activate the RamOisk
'four DOS 2.5 Master Diskette con¬
tains a file called RAMDISK.COM
that automatically sets up the
extra 64K RAM of the 130XE as
a RamDisk.
an obiect file from diskette.
M. RUN AT AOORESS Use to enter
the hexadecimal starting address
of an object program after it has
been loaded into RAM with
BINARY LOAD.
N. CREATE MEM.SAV Reserves
space on a diskette for the pro¬
gram in RAM to be stored while
the DUPSYS file is being used.
For some applications like pro¬
gramming, it is a good idea to
create a MEM.SAV file on each
new diskette you intend to use as _
a System Diskette. As you
become more familiar with DOS,
you may find there are cases
where a MEM.SAV file serves no
useful function. The inconvenience
of waiting for MEM.SAV to load
into memory may warrant deleting
it from the disk.
O. DUPLICATE FILE Copies a file
from one diskette to another, even
if you have only a single disk
drive.
fi FORMAT SINGLE Formats a
diskette in single density using a
1050 Disk Drive.
When you turn on your 130XE
system with a DOS 2.5 Master or
System Diskette containing RAM-
DISK.COM, DOS will:
• Display a message that it is
initializing the RamDisk;
• Set up your computer’s extra
64K of memory to act very
much as a disk drive, telling
DOS to regard it as Drive 8; and
• Copy the DOS file DUPSYS
and establish MEM.SAV on the
RamDisk, and proceed when
necessary to use the OUP.SYS
- and MEM.SAV files on the Ram-
Disk rather than the files of the
same name on the Master or
System Diskette.
If you wish to expand the usable
capacity of your RamDisk, you
may recover the memory used by
DUPSYS and MEM.SAV by:
• Changing the contents of loca¬
tion 5439 (S153F) to ATASCII
1 — for example, POKE
5439ASC("1”); and
• Deleting the files DUPSYS and
MEM.SAV from the "diskette'* in
Drive 8—that is, the RamOisk.
Use option D.. DELETE FILE(S),
on the DOS Menu and enter
D8:V * in response to the
DELETE FILESPEC prompt.
Note: Booting a disk which doesn’t
contain DUPSYS will cause RAM-
DISK.COM to initialize the Ram-
Disk, but DUPSYS and MEM.SAV
will not be moved to the RamDisk.
Using DOS With the RamDisk
Because of the size of the Ram¬
Disk, you may not use DOS Menu
option J.. DUPLICATE DISK, to
copy either a single-density or
enhanced-density diskette to the
~ RamDisk. Instead, you must copy
individual files, taking care that
they do not exceed in size the
capacity of the RamDisk. *ibu can
ask DOS to duplicate the contents
of the RamDisk on an actual
diskette. From then on, however,
that diskette will be capable under
DOS of accessing only 499 sec¬
tors worth of data—though you
can always duplicate its contents
back to the RamDisk.
automatically load and run a
BASIC program when you boot j
your system.
j
Note: RAMDISK.COM is not a disk |
utility It is used only to set up the
RamDisk on a 130XE Computer.
Selecting and Loading a Utility
All three utilities are binary files
that are loaded and run using
option L, BINARY LOAD, from the
DOS 2.5 Menu. For example, to \
begin using the COPY32.COM pro- i
gram, with the DOS 2.5 Menu on j
your screen, you would type L and"
press [RETURN], then type
COPY32.COM as the name of the.
file to load, and press [RETURN]
again.
Specific instructions for using
the COPY32.COM follow. There
are also brief instructions for
DISKFIX.COM and SETUP.COM.
For more detailed instructions on
the latter two utilities, consult the
ATARI DOS 2.5 Manual (see the
Introduction of this manual for
ordering instructions).
If ttu Do Not Want to
Use the RamOisk
If you do not want to activate the
ATARI 130XE RamOisk, you can
either delete or rename the
RAMOISK.COM file on your DOS
2.5 Master or System Oiskette.
*tbu may then use the extra
RAM for other purposes.
If you have applications for which
you do not wish to use the
RamOisk, it is recommended that
you leave the RAMDISK.COM file
intact on your DOS 2.5 Master
Diskette. Mxi might wish to make
one working copy of DOS (a
System Diskette) that contains
RAMOISK.COM, and one that does
not. Or you can simply rename the
RAMDISK.COM file on your
System Diskette, then rename
it back to RAMDISK.COM when
you wish to use it.
After the file has been copied and
converted, press [START] to return
to the listing of files on your DOS
3 diskette, from which you may
choose another file to convert.
If an error occurs during the copy
process, COPY32.COM displays
an error number and prompts you
press [START] to restart, or
[SELECT] to return to the DOS 2.5
menu.
Note: Unless you have two disk
drives, you will be unable to cort_
vert files of more than 124,700
bytes (300 bytes less than the
maximum file length possible
under DOS 2.5).
DISKHX.COM—
This program begins by showing
you the current drive number and
a menu with these five options:
1. Change Drive #
2. Unerase File
3. \ferify Disk
4. Rename File by #
5. Quit to DOS
THE DOS 2.5
| DISK UTILITIES
\bur DOS 2.5 Master Diskette
contains three new utility pro¬
grams in addition to the standard
disk utilities handled by the
DUP SYS file—those available
from the DOS Menu. The pro¬
grams. each which appears on the
disk directory with a .COM ex¬
tender, function as follows:
COPY32-.COM allows you to copy
files from diskettes formatted and-
written to from ATARI DOS 3 to
j DOS 2.5 diskettes, converting the
1 files in the process from DOS 3 to
DOS 2.5.
DISKFIX.COM allows you to cor- — ■
reel some problems that may oc- i
cur with files on DOS 2.5 and 2.0S
diskettes. Under certain condi- ,
tions, you can also use this utility
to recover deleted files.
SETURCOM allows you to change
certain DOS parameters. *ibu can
also use it to create an
AUTORUN.SYS file that will
Type the number of the function
you wish to use but do not press
[RETURN] after typing your
choice. After activating an option,
follow the prompts.
SETURCOM
This program begins by showing
you a menu with these four
options:
1. Change current drive number
2. Change system configuration
3. Set up an AUTORUN for Boot
0. Quit - Return to DOS
Menu selections 1 and 0 are used
for “housekeeping” purposes. The
two main "functions of this utility
are menu selections 2 and 3.
Press the number key that cor¬
responds to the function you wish
to use. then follow the prompts.
COPY32.COM
jsinq this utility is much like using
the COPY FILE function on the
DOS Menu. After you load the
COPY32.COM program, you are
prompted to specify which drive
will hold your DOS 3 (source) disk
and which drive will hold your
DOS 2.5 (destination) disk. If you
have only one drive, type 1 in
response to both prompts. In this
case you will have to swap your
OOS 3 and DOS 2.5 diskettes dur¬
ing the copying process. If you
have more than one disk drive^
you may select one to hold your
DOS 3 diskette and another to
hold your DOS 2.5 diskette.
At this point, if you have only one
drive, the utility prompts you to
insert your DOS 3 disk in Drive 1.
For safety place a write-protect
tab on your DOS 3 disk so that
you will not erase valuable data if
you make an error while swapping
diskettes.
If you specified two different
drives, the utility prompts you to
insert both your DOS 3 and DOS
2.5 disks.
After you insert the diskette or
diskettes, press [START]. The
COPY32.COM program reads the
directory of the OOS 3 diskette
and displays the files it contains,
sixteen at a time, by number.
Press [RETURN] to see the next
sixteen files. When all the files on
the diskette have been listed, you
have the options to restart, return
to DOS. or view the files again.
To convert a file, enter the number
of the file you wish to convert. The
utility prompts you to confimvyour
choice by pressing [START]:
When you press [START], the pro¬
gram begins the conversion pro¬
cess by reading the specified file
from the DOS 3 diskette. After
COPY32.COM reads the entire file
(or as much data as it can accom¬
modate in its memory buffer), it
asks you to swap disks if you
specified the same drive for your
DOS 3 and DOS 2.5 disks. With
very large files, you may have to
swap diskettes several times. If
you are using two drives, the pro¬
gram copies and converts the file
in a single operation.
Customer Support
Atari Corp. welcomes any ques¬
tions you might have about your
ATARI Computer product.
Write to:
Atari Customer Relations
RO. Box 61657
Sunnyvale, CA 94088
Please write the subject of your
letter on the outside of the
_envelope._
We suggest that you contact your
local Atari User Group. They are
outstanding sources of information
on how to get the most out of your
“ ATARI ComputervTo receive a list *-
of the user groups in your area,
send a self-addressed stamped
envelope to:
Atari User Group List
RO. Box 61657
Sunnyvale, CA 94088
C13
SOFT FINDER 2.1 - INTRODUCTION
Soft Finder 2.1 is a composite index to Atari related articles in four popular periodicals. The
index covers the 13 month period from July 1983 through December 1984. The previous edition
(Soft Finder 1.2) covers the 27 month period from April 1981 through June 1983. The material
covered includes both hardware and software for the Atari computers.
Soft Finder started as an in-house tool to help answer questions like: Q tr V Uy
Do you remember where that article was that covered different scrolling techniques?
Has anyone seen a review on the "Brand X* word processor?
This game that I just typed from the ..... magazine seems to have problems. Does^anyone nUij,
recall seeing any corrections in recent issues?
Soft Finder has gradually evolved to its present form as a comprehensive index. If you have
any additions, corrections, or suggestions for improvements please drop us a line.
Valley So-ft,
2660 SW DeArnond
Corvallis. OR 97333
Soft Finder was produced using the Atari 300XL computer, 810 and 1050 disk drives. 825
printer, 850 interface, AtariWriter word processor, and specialized database management
routines written in Atari BASIC.
Atari 419,410,600XL,880,300XL.818, 325,859,1050,1208, and AtariWriter are trade narks of Atari, Inc.
Contents copyright (c) 1985 by Valley Soft. All rights reserved.
HOW TO USE THE SOFT FINDER INDEX
Material in the SOFT FINDER is divided into the following major sections:
Book Reviews
Cassette Unit ♦
Communications . • ♦
Demonstrations . .
Disk ...
Editorial and Interviews . .
Education . ...
Games ♦ • .
Game Reviews
Graphics .
Graphic Sketch Pads , ♦ ♦ .
Hardware ♦
Hone Management .
Music and Sounds
Operating Systems ♦ • ♦ ♦ ♦
Printers.. ♦ » • *
Programming Languages ♦ ♦ ♦
Special Interest Topics ♦ •
User Groups
Utilities and Techniques . .
Word Processing
5
6
7
8
9
11
12
15
19
24
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
35
35
35
40
Articles under each section are listed alphabetically by subject content. Hardware and
software reviews are listed by the trade name of the product being reviewed. Trade names
are followed by an Each article in the index includes the following information.*
Subject Keywords
Brief Description of Content
Information Type Codes
Periodical Code
Date of Publication
Page Number
information type cooes
aal - Atari Assembly Listing
abl - Atari BASIC Listing
all - Atari LOGO Listing
apl - Atari Pilot Listing
dll - Data-Soft LISP listing
ffl - FIG-FORTH Listing
fix - Correction or addition to previous article
md - Minicomp Listing
mbl - Microsoft Basic Listing
nas - Not Atari Specific.
oal - OSS ACTION Listing
obi - OSS BASIC A+ Listing
rev - Review
sal - SynAssembler Listing
vfl - ValForth Listing
C3U
PERIODICAL COOES
ACE - Atari Computer Enthusiasts Newsletter
3662 Vine Maple Dr.
Eugene OR. 97405
ALG - A.NA.L.O.G. COMPUTING
P.O. Box 615
Holmes# PA 19043
ANT - ANTIC _
524 Second Street
San Frandsco. CA 94107
CMP - COMPUTE!
P.0, Box 914
Farmingdale# NY 11737
SAMPLE ENTRY
The following is a sample entry from the GAMES section and an explanation of each item in the
entry?
BANKSHQT. Pool game with good PM graphics. abl ACE Jun-82 p6# fix Aug 82 p9
BANXSHOT - Title
Pool game... - Description
abl - Atari BASIC listing included
ACE - Eugene ACE newsletter
Jun-82 p6 - Date and page of initial article
, - Comma V indicates related article
fix - Correction or additional information
Aug-82 p9 - Date and page of fix
Here is a sample entry form the UTILITY section?
STRING SEARCH. Locate a substring in a larger string, abl.aal CMP Aug-82 pi 42? ANT Dec-32
STRING SEARCH - Title
Locate a substring».« — Description
abl - Atari BASIC listing included
aai - Atari assembly language listing included
CMP - First article is from COMPUTE
Aug-82 pi42 - Date and page of first article
{ - A semicolon indicates separate article
ANT - Second article from ANTIC
Dec-82 p35 - Date and page of second article
CROSS REFERENCES
The notation Csee MAJOR SECTION - Sub)ect Heading] is used to provide a reverenceto
related material in other parts of the index. For example, the notation Csee GRAPHICS
Graphics Unveiled] would be used to refer to an article located in the ' j rap hies section and
having a heading “Graphics Unveiled".
C-43
PERIODICAL LIST
The following is 4 complete list of the periodical covered in Soft Finder 2.1.
DATE
COMPUTE
-
ANTIC
ANALOG
ACE NEWSLETTER
1983
Iss
ye Vol»
No.
Vol
, No .
No.
—
—— -—
—-
—
—
—
—
JUL
38
5
7
2
4
12
♦ • •
AUG
39
5
8
2
5
• • ♦
« • •
SEP
40
5
9
2
6
13
Sep
OCT
41
5
10
2
7 ——
-«—---
Oct
NOV
42
5
11
2
8
14
Nov ~~ —
DEC
43
5
12
2
9
• • ♦
Dec/Jan
1984
JAN
44
6
1
2
10
15
• • ♦
FEB
45
6
2
2
11
16
Feb
MAR
46
6
3
2
' 12
17
Mar
APR
47
6
4
3
1
18
Apr
MAY
48
6
5
• ♦ •
« « «
♦ ♦ •
May
JUN
49
6
6
3
2
19
Jun
JUL
50
6
7
3
3
20
Jul/Auq
AUG
51
6
8
3
4
21
♦ ♦ ♦
SEP
52
6
9
3
5
nn
—
Sep
OCT
53
6
10
3
6
23
Oct
NOV
54
6
11
3
7
24
Nov
DEC
55
6
12
3
8
25
Dec
Recovering Data From I
» r
Damaged Disks
Macintosh Disks
One example of the many useful ar¬
ticles in the newsletter is a brand
comparison of Mac floppy disks. The
BMUG panelists noted that their <
methods of judging quality and reli-i
ability were subjective and nonsden- j
tific, yet the findings were based on
experience with 10.000 diskettes.
The results: Apple/Sony diskettes
were rated “the best.” Five thousand ,
were evaluated, and none had me- '
chanicnl or media problems.
Maxell diskettes (Z900 tested);
were graded “good," with some me¬
chanical problems turning up.
BASF diskettes, the least expen¬
sive, were rated “bad” because an
average of one in 30 diskettes, out of
1,400 sampled, had mechanical or
media problems.
The booby prize went to Memorex,
rated “BAD” and “relatively expen¬
sive.” Three-hundred were tested:
“So bad are won't touch another,” the
BMUG judges said, citing frequent
formatting problems and lost data.
Other brands were not tested is suf¬
ficient quantity to warrant a rating..
a m WHEN an early-morning fire |
swept through the MGM j
VV Grand Hoed in Las Vegas in
[9A Q in the computer can- j
tmi r o om quickly unloaded'two disk
pads containing accounting records
md the hoMTs guest list and carried
fre disks as they ran down smoky cor¬
ridors to the exit.
Though the hotel's computer hard-
irare was d estr o y ed by the fire that
tilled 85 people and injured 1,000, the
fisks seemed only slightly damaged.
Hotel officials rushed them to another
botei and loaded them on a computer
id out the names of the guests ;
trapped in the hotel. But the $make
damage to o* disks made them un¬
readable. '
MGM its computer service (
mnpany, Eeeo Computer Inc., of j
Santa am , Calif. Eeco turned to j
Oavid A. Brawn, the owner of Data j
Recovery Inc. In Los Angeles. He was 1
tide to retrieve the infor mation .
Mr. Brown declined to describe his
Efforts, saying that the process is se- ‘
sret. He <fid divulge that when he
itarted his business five years ago, a ;
mmhw at large computer makers
zdd it was impossible to recover
lata from damaged disks.
Since then, he says, be has re-_
c o vered data for aerospace compa¬
nies, banks, movie studios and Gov¬
ernment agencies. “They always say.
’We’re going to go down the tubes if
wmebedyraa*t recover the data.’ ”
Mr. Brown said, “rve fixed disks that
Now foe Polaroid Corporation is of¬
fering Its own data recovery services
to the PC crowd, whose machines
mostly use floppy disks. In a $3 mil¬
lion a dve rt is i ng campaign announc¬
ing its service, Polaroid Invited users
of Its (and only Us) floppy disks to at¬
tack foe with coffee, ketchup
and jam aixl otherwise misuse them.
The company said it could recover
data from its brand of disk as long as
the disk's surface was not annihilated
or demagnetized.
The challenge has brought in a cou¬
ple of hundred disks so far, said
Thomas J. Milligan, a senior prpduct
manager at Polaroid. The company
retrieved data from all of them, he
said.
Theoretically, few business users of
personal computers should need this
service. They usually store crodaltD-
fonnadco on hard disks, copying it
onto Ooopy disks and retrieving the
feihrr ns t iflp from bard disks if foe
floppy disks are damaged.
But theory b not practice. “I don't
always back up my files, and rve
bees caught a number of times,” said
£. Charles Ellison, director of mar¬
keting for a major software develop¬
er. And, be added, there are times
when a floppy disk is ail that is avail¬
able for storage. “Our salespeople
travel with a lot of files on portable
disks,” be said. “If those disks are
ruined, there b a lot of lost data.”
i ifc» Mr. Brown. Mr. Milligan
w ould not divulge Polaroid's method
_“The computer has even had positive ef¬
fects on so-called bad kids. In Downey,
Calif., Larry Bauder, a computer-store
owner, has been working with tough kids ,
from the slums of Watts and East Los An¬
geles since October 1881 under the aus- j
pices of a group called the Los Angeles t
Committee for the Transformation of
Street Gangs. Every Saturday, from 11:30
a.m. to 3 p.m., about a dozen kids from
the ages of 10 to 17 spend their time
sharpening their skills on Commodore
computers (on loan from the company) j
that Bauder reserves for them in his store, j
‘Even after 20 years as a teacher,’ Bauder j
says, Tm still amazed at what happens to
the so-called dummies when they sit down j
in front of a computer. For one thing,’ he
notes, they team how to read. Some are t
functionally illiterate, but if they want to
learn how to play Star Trek, they learn
how to read.’"
Some Ins and Outs of Modem s _ _
By PETER H. LEWIS
M:
)DEMS — Che devices
that allow computers to
talk to one another over
regular telephone lines
in internal and external ver-
; skns. While both versions do essen-
• dally the same Job, each has advan-
•' tages and disadvantages, depending
• on bow it is to be used.
- external modems *mre about the ;
sbe of a paperback book and sit on <
'■ the a** as a separate, or stand-
—alooe, unit to the comput-
‘~er’s serial part with a standard RS-
i- mr and to a power outlet by a
card. ,_,
■** internal modems are packaged on
~standard plug-in cards, generally 4
• inches tall. 13 inches long and less
’-'than an ^ thick , that slip out of
"'-sight into a computer's regular inter-
nal expansion slots.
’**' Anyone with a portable computer
- should consider an Internal modem,
■* simply to avoid lugging around an
handful of gadgets and cables.
n
Computer owners already bonified
“-by the snarl of wires, hexes, power
"supplies and other paraphernalia
..around their machines will appreci¬
ate the internal model’s inherent tidi-
“*ness. The serial port is left open for a
••“printer or other peripheral device. In-
“'ternal modems usually cost a few dol*
‘'-lais less than stand-alone units, too.
'.'V On the negative side, an internal
modem takes up a precious expansion
‘ 'slot that the owner might later want
to use for adding memory, graphics
,’br other board-mounted goodies.
-•Also, the heat generated by internal
” might be a problem for a
wwhtw that has a puny cooling fan.
"^Board- m o un t e d modems are usually
* designed to work on a specific com-
"puter tpndrf, so anyone with more
than one machine may have to buy a
o«i yj along modems can usually be
used with any computer, so if the
owner has more than one computer it
lean be swap ped h ack and forth easily.
’. Most have Bttle red lights on the
boa to tefi the user at a glance the
.status of the call, whereas internal
modems give their dues only by vari-
,'bus audible beeps, hoops and whis-
• ties. The outside units have easy-to-
"teach on-off and circuit switches for
•-special occasions.
- * If high-speed (9,600 bits a second)
-direct data transfer is needed be-
^ tween adjacent computers, the pro-
r cess is easier with an external
modem, although this is rarely a con-
'sideratkn for average home users.
When shopping for a modem, watch
oat fbr advert ised prices si gn i fic a n tly
lower «*a« those of most other com¬
petitors. often come bundled
with the software needed to run them,
and the lower prices may indicate
tha* software most be purchased
‘separately.
Amstrad defends twin cassette de
M*
THE RECORD industry copy¬
right watchdog which has
accused Amstrad Consumer
Electronics of selling tape
cassette recorders designed to
encourage illegal home taping
was itself seeking to have the
practice legalised, counsel for
Amstrad told the High Court
Mr Anthony Grabiner QC for
Amstrad one of Britain's
biggest! manufacturers of audio
equipment said British Phono¬
graphic Industry wanted to
legitimise home taping to
justify their claim for legisla¬
tion imposing a levy on bank
cassette tapes.
He was making submissions
on the third day of an action
brought by Amstrad over letters
sent last year by BPI to the
country’s top 11 electrical
retailers warning them against
selling the company’s stereo
systems with the twin tape
decks.
Amstrad is asking the court
to declare that it has acted law¬
fully in selling systems contain¬
ing the decks which enable
hometapers to record from one
tape to another at high speed.
Mr Grabiner told Mr Justice
Whitford that BPI—in order to
pave the way for the levy—had
already abolished its system of
offering people who wanted to
tape records and prerecorded
cassettes a licence to copy copy¬
right material.
However in spite of these
moves, BPI was opposing
Ams trad’s claim for a declara¬
tion, alleging the sale of the
machines was an unlawful
incitement to people to break
the copyright laws.
BPI had also launched an
action for damages, he said, and
had formally complained about
the company's advertising. How¬
ever the Advertising Standards
Authority and the Independent
Broadcasting Association had
rejected these complaints.
The hearing continues today.
Low sales force Commodore write-down
»Y TERRY DODSWORTH IN NEW YORK
COMMODORE International, the
once high-flying U.S. home com¬
puter company, is to take a
significant write-down in the
value of its stocks which will
cause losses of about 5SOm
£58m in its fourth quarter.
The loss will leave Com¬
modore—which only a year ago
declared a record profit of
6144m—in deficit for the year
ended June 30. In the third
quarter of its financial year, it
reported a 620.8m loss and in
the first nine months achieved
net income of only $10.1m.
The figures underline the
computer industry’s problems as
it comes to grips with sluggish
demand after a period of hyper¬
expansion. Commodore had
earlier insisted that it should
be able to shift stocks of its
ageing small computer ranee
without write-offs or price cuts,
partly because it had managed
to open up new markets in
Latin America.
Salcs^have fallen dramatically
this year, reaching 6168m in
the third quarter against 6326m
a year ago. and to 6751m for
the nine months, against 6967m.
Commodore’s stock problems
had been widely anticipated on
Wall Street, where the group’s
share price this year has
dropped from its high of just
over $60 a share two years ago
to $10{ yesterday, when it lost
374 cents in early trading.
The recovery of the company,
which had net worth of 6324m
at the end of its last fiscal year.
Is now dependent on the success
of Its new Amiga home
VS . YIU.
computer.
The Amiga was launched only
three weeks ago in a clear shift
of strategy towards direct com¬
petition with IBM and Apple in
the personal computer market.
Until now. Commodore had
gained its position as a tough
and ruthless competitor in the
market for cheap home compu¬
ters. with its successful Com¬
modore 6-1 selling for about
6200 compared with the Amiga's
,61.285.
The change in the fortunes
of the company follows the
departure of us colourful foun¬
der. Mr Jack Tramiel, last year.
Mr Tramiel has since taken over
Atari, a home computer com¬
pany which concentrated, like
Commodore, on Ute low-price
sector.
"1
©
jNew disk prmgs
rise in
1
NKK. th« Jipuu* tntvr- surface film u not mvoiva. oui;
national talaphona authority), th# company dascribna It u %
Verbatim claims to be the first " ootiroum composition ot|
US. company to tackle the
small computer systems end of
the market.
' optimum composition
terbium (a rare earth metal),
iron and cobalt**
The data is stored In the form
computers’ data
capacity
prv
ERBATDC 6orjferatiou, ' the
flexible disk ,manu*
S ' company recently
sjuired by Kodak, to
iaU inch erasable optical
ik system tor computers
hich will Increase dramatic*
ly their data storage capacity.
The dtok.will store at least
>,000 typewritten pagra 140m
laracters, or 40 megabytes of
ita)—-40 times the amount a
mventional 3-5 inch magnetic
tide floppy disk can tore.
Verbatim predicts bulk prices
f about 3300 for the drive and
20 for a disk. These are similar
> those of current equipment
ut the much greater capacity
ill completely change the
rice/perfonnance basis of per-
jnal computing. "
The company plans to have
valuation .units of disk and
rive available in the second
uartor of 1986 and to be in
all production by the.end of
987.
Most of the optical recording
ystems announced so far are
arge scale nonerasable systems :
uitable flier bulk, read-only ■
torage of data, in large organi- j
atiane.
the US. library of Congress
md GA -(USA) for example,
live systems f rom Thomson.
while in the UK* Pergamon
recently reveeled that it would
be Drexler technology in
an undisclosed publishing appll.
cation. Ciba Geigy in the UK
wilL.be another Drexler user,
while Blue Cross insurance
group in the U.S. will apply the
technology to medical record
keeping: ■
In Germany, Die Zeit and
Stern magazine are using the
Philips Megadoc system for
storing journalists’ reference
material.
Several European users have
moved from microfilm and COM
(computer output on micro¬
film) to optical disks, for ease
of access. ..
-Nonerasable optical record¬
ing systems use a very small
focused _ laser beam to make
microscopic pits on the surface
of the disk. The pits represent
on-off digital pulses of com¬
puter signals—-a kind of micro¬
scopic, high speed Morse code.
On playback. they are
Illuminated by another laser
-and read by a- light sensor.
' Once made, the marks cannot
be erased, although some
-experts feel that, with the enor¬
mous capacity provided for
recording (300,000 pages on a
12 inch disk says Philips), it
makes sense' to write new
records and ignore the old.
Although Sony and other
companies have developed
erasable technology (Sony h4»
It to convinced that compact
ultra-high volume storage for
personal workstations wifi form
the main market demand in the
next decade and puts the 1390
world' market at $lbn. It tot
developing disk material, disk,
and the drive mechanism.
Progress in conventional
magnetic recording to becoming
increasingly d ifficu lt as the
number of on-off impressions
per Inch increases. (The impres¬
sions represent bits, or
fundamental digital units.) ,
The distance between play-j
back head and surface has to be |
reduced as the recording!
density (bits per ineb) is:
increased, in order to pick up
the increasingly small and weak,
recording satisfactorily. Each;
doubling of the density halves j
the head-disk distance so that,
at 15,000 bits per inch the
clearance is only 0.4 microns'
(millionth of a metre). {
Improvement in the number
of tracks per inch (measured
across a radius) is also at its
limits in ordinary 1 magnetic
recording. Even with precision
! track following systems, 1.000
! tracks per inch is likely to be
the limi t, says Verbatim.
By contrast 15,000 tracks per
inch are in use in optically
recorded video disks that sell
for only 3500.
The team at Verbatim, led
by Dr Geoffrey Bate, senior vice
president for engineering, has
developed a recording tech¬
nique that involves thermal,
magnetic and optical
‘ phenomena.
Recording takes place thermo-
magnetically by combining a
magnetic field and a focused
laser beam which heats the.
surface material locally to:
-- reverse the direction ' efl
' magnetisation.
of ragions of opposite magent-
lsatlon In the film. The direction
of magnetisation to perpendicu¬
lar, rather than in the plane of
the film. This means that the
tiny magnetic rod elements are
stacked rather Uke corn in a
corfield. allowing more to be
accommodated than in conven¬
tional magnetic recording,
where they Be flat
. Reading to accomplished
using the magneto-optical
effect Polarised light is passed
through the very thin recorded
film and its plane of polarisa¬
tion to rotated clockwise or
anti-dockwiset according to the
direction of magnetisation. That
is. according to - whether a
digital “0" or “I" has been
recorded.
The Great Communicator
Ever since a certain soft drink de¬
cided to update and revise its classic
formula, some people cringe at the
phrase “new and improved.” But in
the case of Alfred Glossbrenner’s
‘The Complete Handbook of Per¬
sonal Computer Communications”
(514-95 from SL Martin’s Press), the
new edition is even better than its in¬
valuable pre d eces so r.
Mr. Glossbrenner, writing clearly
and brightly, takes beginners and vet¬
erans alike on a thorough excursion
through the on-line universe of elec¬
tronic communications. From the
basic ’’survival kit” that explains
what a modem is. to the hundreds of
“on-line tips” that can save experi¬
enced users time and money, the book
covers virtually everything one needs
to know about the subject.
(
VERBATIM OPTICAL DISK
•O' T.
RECORD
iON
HELD OUtECTKM
READ
FlAMfOF
psaa ransnon
BHIFT MIAUfSCT I
rv
ROTATED M
OPP OSI T E DIRECTIONS
FOR W OR 'V
MNARV
&ECTHOU OUTPUT
The Verbatim erasible disk uses two different
effects for recording and reading.
To record, a narrow laser beam acts at the same
ti m e as a magnetic field. The laser heats the thin
metallic film, “loosening 1 * the magnetic particles which
are t hen magnetised in an upward or downward direc¬
tion by file minute field area from the coil, and forming
a erasible digital “0” or “1** on cooling.
On playback, a laser beam of plane polarised
light, on passing through either a “0” or “1” in the
film, suffers a rotation of polarisation either clockwise
or anti-clockwise.
The light passes to an analyser which senses the
direction of the shift and produces an electrical output
of “0” or “1”.
TELECOMS
Terminating Telex Terminals
A British firm has designed a telex*
management system that allows com¬
puters. word processors and electronic
typewriters to communicate directly
with a public telex network. That
the need for a dedicated
telex terminal, if local authorities per¬
mit. Telex box 3 is a compact (320 x
273 x 73 mm) unit compatible with
V24/28 and RS232C host pons. It
automatically redials busy routes and
numbers, diminating a tedious office
task. Its memory has a message capa¬
city of at least 22,000 characters (22 k).
Stored messages are protected by a
battery back-up against power failures,
with automatic res tan routines when
power returns. Tdexbox 3 also has a
“priority” function that allows urgent
mwa|w to go to the head of the
queue, while other messages in the
queue can be withdrawn at any time.
A multi-addressing capability allows
the amt message to be sent to several
iWirMtinm, and still occupy only a
single message space in memory. A
real-time dock adds dates and times to
transmission. Tdexbox also pro¬
vides a printed queue list of stored
messages and can restrict priming of
confidential calls. A mailbox feature
— releasing stored messages on
incoming calls with a password — can
be added to the system.
Laser systems bring
shift in the market
Advances in
printers
GEOFFREY OURUSH
pt 'ikiSL
AFTER a number of years In
. which the laser primer has been
1 seen as a high cost, high volume
| product for large computer in-
I stallations, the technology is
coming down market and is
already upsetting established
manufacturers' positions in the
UJS.
Until recently the tendency
has been to think of printers in
"horses for courses’* terms—hig
speed line-at-a-tlme machines
„ for the conventional computing
“ room, dot matrix for office print¬
ing. daisy wheel for producing
letters and executive documents
in word processing.
But the fact is that the laser
printer and its derivative, the
light emitting diode (LED)
machine, if they can be pro¬
duced and sold at an acceptable
price, can offer office automa¬
tion users all the advantages of
the other types in one machine
—speed, letter quality text,
graphics, reliability and. of in¬
creasing importance in the
modem office, quietness.
Furthermore, thi s desirable
combination of attributes nicely
matches the trend towards office
automation systems which, by
definition, have to handle any
kind of work quickly and
quietly, be it text, data or
graphics, or a combination of
all three.
* However, according to New
York Stockbrokers Butcher and
Singer, the U-S. printer com¬
panies, until recently dominant
in the market, have been caught
napping.
Because they have no back¬
ground in laser or xerographic
printing technology, and have
not been competing, they are
now badly positioned to partici¬
pate, says tiie broker.
It is companies with a back¬
ground in copiers—wbioh are
technically similar—that are
scoring, from Xerox at the top
end of 'the market to Canon and
others from Japan in the newer,
office oriented segment
To add to the pains of the con¬
ventional printer maker, other
technologies are also beginning
to make themselves felt notably
ink-jet. magnetic, thermal, and
even systems that use
„_...t-» T -
Hewlett-Packard’s Think Jet printer
1 PRINTERS: THE CHANGING MARKET 1
50%-
40V
30*-
•ounceavTcmxi
20 *
10 *—i
PMCE
RANGE S3JOOO
S3j000-
S6£00
$6,000-
$ 12,000
Sl2jOOO~
125,000
have no moving p arts except
for the dram. The LED array
is manufactured in short
length dups which are joined
together to give a page-wide
bar. The system leads itself
well to mass production.
The later stages of the laser/
LED technique have much 'in
common' with photocopying,
which is why the Japanese, who
have scooped the copier market,
now seem set to do-the same
with low cost light-based print
mechanisms. Old Electric.
Ricoh. Canon and Sanyo for
example, offer systems while in
Europe, Agfa is known to have
developed a machine.
A major printer announce¬
ment a few weeks ago came
from Apple Computer. Called
LaserWriter, it is based on the
300 -dots per ,Inch <Canon
r— - trow a built-m -Annie
For example, Epson, an
Important Japanese company in
the printer area, recently intro¬
duced thermal printers working
at 45 characters per second, for
£160. In thermal printing a
heated stylus burns marks on a
special paper. Although the
technology limits the speed,
such systems may well satisfy
many PC users.
There are also growing pros¬
pects for magnetic technology.
Recently, a Californian company
called Ferix revealed the use
of a thin film magnetic head to
record on a magnetically sensi¬
tive dram, followed by toner
adhesion and thermal fixing.
The French company Bull has
also introduced a system—using
3,500 magnetic point heads dis¬
posed in a line across the paper
Width. It can work at 6,000.Jines
Subliminal Messages
l
Mow there is a software program
that promises to enable users to lose
weight, stop smoking, quit drinking,
enjoy romance, improve memory,
care insomnia, end nail-biting, de-
eeiop self-confidence, overcome shy- ,
chase away depression, avoid |
headache, stop procrastinating, gam (
new energy, learn to live without
Elvis ip*** 11 unquestioning loyalty m
workers, flirt with attractive employ¬
ees, and much more, all without get¬
ting up from the computer.
You need this program.
The program is “Subliminal Sug¬
gestions and Self-Hypnosis
tor your Computer!" (575 for I.B.M.
PC*s and compatibles, soon to oe
available for Apple II’s and Commo¬
dores. from The New Life Institute.
Post Office Box 2390, Santa Cruz,
Calif., 95063, telephone 40S-429-U2-).
Witb it, a user can instruct the com¬
puter to repeatedly flash little person¬
alized messages — I radi* 1 *
charm.” for example, or "I will sell
10 widgets before lunch” — on the
screen for 30 thousandths of a second.
At that speed the message is nearly
imDerceptible to sight, but, as adver¬
tising wizards discovered in the
1350's, not to the unconscious mind.
Consider buying this program.
The messages sneak into whatever
other conventional programs the user
nay be running, spreadsheets or
word processing, for example, as
often as once a second, or 23,800 times
in an eight-hour day. Joel Amkraut,
the director of the New Life Institute,
says this allows “effortless self-im¬
provement,” because the messages
are essentially programmed into the
leer's mind and reside there long
after the computer is shut off-/
Thursday. Aucust 15. 19S.
Some Americans Don’t Use PCs
But Fear Being Without Them
By Kathryn Christensen
Sprrnrf to Tuk AmiaW Wall Stmlct Jovknal
CHICAGO — Diane Schaeffer and Harold
Farter are believers. They believe in the
inevitability of personal computers, of a
future in which every home has one.
Ms. Schaeffer, a 46 -year-old part-time
waitress, already has a computer. She
doesn't remember what kind, but it makes
little difference anyway: it sits unused in
her home. She can't think of any reason to
turn it on. Still, she says, “even if it sits on
the shelf." it's necessary.
Mr. Farter. 52, a pharmacist, doesn't !
have a computer. Yet even he thinks it's
risky to raise a child in a computerless
home.
Ms. Schaeffer and Mr. Farber were
among 20 adults assembled here by
Creative Research Associates Inc. for two
round-table discussions about personal com¬
puters. Their comments aren’t meant to
provide a scientific sampling, and Creative
Research deliberately skewed the two
groups. The 10 adults without home comput¬
ers have household incomes exceeding
530,000 and own microwave ovens, stereos
and videocassette recorders—requirements
intended to ensure that money or a resis¬
tance to home electronics aren’t major
reasons why they haven’t bought home
computers.
Being Left Behind
But what’s striking about these people is
that when asked about what computers can
do they are bard pressed to think of much
that’s useful. But ask those without if they
will buy computers, or those with comput¬
ers whether they would buy them again,
and the answers are almost always affirma¬
tive. They are afraid of being left behind in
a computerized world. And they are espe¬
cially afraid for their children who could
grow up computer-ignorant
Steven Freier, 36, who owns several
computers for his real-estate business, says,
"I don't think there are many parents who
would like to see their kids without jobs.”
That attitude has major implications for
the personal-computer industry. After sell¬
ing some 4.8 million units in 1983. home-
computer makers last year had to slash
prices and dump several hundred thousand
discontinued units on the market to boost
sales to a peak of 5.1 million units. Sales
this year are expected to drop to 4.5 million
units.
But if this group is any indication, the
market could prosper again. These people
are desperate to find the smallest excuse to
buy a computer.
Much of their desperation seems based
on a belief that while it‘s fine to recognize
that computers can't do much in the home,
it's backward to oppose putting them there.
man. 35. a part-time nurse, says she'l
decide soon whether to buy an encyclopedia
set or a computer. Ronald Schaffer, 45.
mechanical engineer, bought one to help hi
daughter. 13, learn a foreign language an
give her an advantage in high school.
Furthermore, several of the compute
owners here are pleased with how thei
educational purchases have worked out. Fc
instance. Cecil Carr. 40. an ambulance di:
patcher. spent 51.400 on an Atari SOO an
accessories and 5400 on an Adam. His olde;
rson uses the Adam for term papers wnil
this two other children use the Atari fc
math and games.
Keeping Pace
But education is only part of the equ;
tion: almost all these adults also see cor
puters as necessary for themselves —
keep pace with the present and prepare f<
the future.
Carol Fritze, 52. a teacher, says she ar
her husband thought they were past tl
point where they felt compelled to lea]
about computers. But her husband’s rece
job change made her reevaluate that belie
“It can happen.” she says. “Suppose yi
walk into an office where they say, ‘Hey.:
those accounts are on the computer ai
you’re going to have to find out what tho
accounts are doing.”*
Still, while people think they must ha
computers, they aren’t sure why. So th
strain to justify home computers. They ta
about ordering groceries on them, or ordi
ing products from Sears — although none
them actually do these things.
They also praise the computer for
supposed ability to make their lives easi
and more organized. Michael Shep. 35,
police officer who doesn’t own a compun
expects it would make life “more com
nienL” He says he would use one to ke
track of his tax information “so at the e
of the year, you push a button and all
that stuff comes back to you.” He concet
that the time spent entering the informal
during the year might exceed the sev
hours he now spends on his taxes. But
isn’t dissuaded. “la the future, everyth]
is going to be computers," he says.
A few of the people try envisioning h
the machines will fit in homes 10 ye
from now. The list is short and fai
mundane. Home computers, they say. \
be used to pay bills, plan vacations, prov
conveniences for people unable to le;
home, and get information from van
publications. Some say communicating
computer will replace sending letters.
But again, talk of future uses quic
shifts from how computers will be usee
simply that they will be used. And. th
adults feel they must get ready. That'
take a lot of work, they agree, beca
while driving a car doesn’t require know
how one works, “retting ahead” in
