Qommodore

[Scott Robison]

So I've been wanting a name to give my "project computer" and, much as David explained in his video about name selection, I wanted something that evoked Commodore. Of course, it's hard to find a dot com that is "memorable" and "available". After racking my brain for weeks and searching for a ton of variations, I finally thought "what about Q?" "qommodore.com" was available.

If I ever had a dream of it being a Real Company(TM) then picking this would not be ideal. But it's mainly for fun so I can't imagine getting in too much trouble for it. And the investment was minimal.

Now to start designing my bespoke system using only hand made PCBs and free range electrons.

I don't want to pollute my system with too much technology though, so does anyone know who will make a PCB from this PETSCII art file I'm crafting on graph paper?

[paulscottrobson]

You should be using tag strip , get with the times.

[SlithyMatt]

I refuse to use PETSCII for designing PCBs. I find BBS-style ANSI art is the only aesthetically acceptable choice, and anything else isn't TRULY retro.

[SlithyMatt]

Here's my latest prototype for a sound card: 

[Strider]

8 hours ago, Scott Robison said:

So I've been wanting a name to give my "project computer" and, much as David explained in his video about name selection, I wanted something that evoked Commodore. Of course, it's hard to find a dot com that is "memorable" and "available". After racking my brain for weeks and searching for a ton of variations, I finally thought "what about Q?" "qommodore.com" was available.

If I ever had a dream of it being a Real Company(TM) then picking this would not be ideal. But it's mainly for fun so I can't imagine getting in too much trouble for it. And the investment was minimal.

Now to start designing my bespoke system using only hand made PCBs and free range electrons.

I don't want to pollute my system with too much technology though, so does anyone know who will make a PCB from this PETSCII art file I'm crafting on graph paper?

Best I can come up with... no electrons or technology needed. Can be designed on ANYTHING! Full DIY and you don't get much more retro that wood!

And... it''s even COLOR!

Edited September 22, 2021 by Strider

[Scott Robison]

6 hours ago, paulscottrobson said:

You should be using tag strip , get with the times.

That's just crazy enough to work!

[Scott Robison]

1 hour ago, SlithyMatt said:

I refuse to use PETSCII for designing PCBs. I find BBS-style ANSI art is the only aesthetically acceptable choice, and anything else isn't TRULY retro.

I don't know, an extra ANSI.SYS driver seems overly complicated. Graph paper I should be able to give to anyone. Though I was thinking ... I should be socially conscious and find a blind subcontractor to convert my PETSCII graph paper into a PCB.

But seriously, it was always cool that our 8-bit "terminal" (the full screen editor) was so much more functional than a DOS prompt. Yeah, they could use ANSI.SYS to get some of the effect, but it was nice to hit ^1 instead of typing out some escape sequence like $e[1;31;44m (though that also changes background color which we couldn't as easily do).

[SlithyMatt]

10 minutes ago, Scott Robison said:

I should be socially conscious and find a blind subcontractor to convert my PETSCII graph paper into a PCB

I suppose that's OK, as long as they don't sully it by creating a Gerber file in between.

[Edmond D]

9 hours ago, Scott Robison said:

So I've been wanting a name to give my "project computer" and, much as David explained in his video about name selection, I wanted something that evoked Commodore. Of course, it's hard to find a dot com that is "memorable" and "available". After racking my brain for weeks and searching for a ton of variations, I finally thought "what about Q?" "qommodore.com" was available.

 

A real retro computer wouldn't need any online internet presence at all. Look at the VIC 20, Atari 800, or even the Timex Sinclair - non of these devices had the benefit of mass marketing or community in the virtual world and sold millions of units world wide even before PayPal existed.

Also, by avoiding the internet you'll avoid the design being stollen and monetized by a large stubborn corporations that want to muscle you out and subvert the design. You wouldn't want something like this-

 

 

[Scott Robison]

2 minutes ago, Edmond D said:

A real retro computer wouldn't need any online internet presence at all. Look at the VIC 20, Atari 800, or even the Timex Sinclair - non of these devices had the benefit of mass marketing or community in the virtual world and sold millions of units world wide even before PayPal existed.

Also, by avoiding the internet you'll avoid the design being stollen and monetized by a large stubborn corporations that want to muscle you out and subvert the design. You wouldn't want something like this-

Your points are valid, but those computers had the benefit of advertising budgets far in excess of anything I'm going to have to throw at it. My advertising budget is registering a domain and talking about it where people might be interested in reading about it (when and if "it" ever happens).

If David didn't have a 1M+ YouTube following, the odds are good that none of us would be here on this forum today. It is unlikely he could have developed the following he has for the X16 on the five figures he's spent so far, much less put together a team of people who bring different skill sets to the table.

In any case ... I have to believe that if I really wanted to make a company out of this, Qommodore would be a lousy name for a number of reasons. But for a hobby for fun I think it is a "fun" name. And just as "X16" was picked as the machine identity to avoid confusion with "C16", I feel fairly safe calling something I come up with the Q16 (or Q64, or whatever). And part of the hobby will be sharing it with people (when and if there is ever anything to share).

[SlithyMatt]

36 minutes ago, Edmond D said:

Look at the VIC 20, Atari 800, or even the Timex Sinclair - non of these devices had the benefit of mass marketing

Is this a joke? All three were mass-marketed, and had substantial budgets for prototype development and marketing from established corporations.

[Scott Robison]

12 minutes ago, SlithyMatt said:

Is this a joke? All three were mass-marketed, and had substantial budgets for prototype development and marketing from established corporations.

Good point. I think what was intended (at least what I inferred) was that they didn't utilize a viral marketing campaign through modern social media / online channels. They definitely had mass marketing, and the media of the day sprung up around them (magazines, shelf space in stores, BBSes...)

Edited September 22, 2021 by Scott Robison

[Scott Robison]

For IO, keyboards and monitors are okay I guess, but not everyone can afford a teletype. I'm thinking paper tape or punched cards for input. For output I had thought about a single blinky LED, but maybe a relay would be better. It wouldn't actually be connected to anything, but the audible click pattern would provide all the feedback a person could possibly need. How fun would a first person shooter be if all you had was echolocation, amirite?

[Edmond D]

1 minute ago, Scott Robison said:

Good point. I think what was intended (at least what I inferred) was that they didn't utilize a viral marketing campaign through modern social media / online channels. They definitely had mass marketing, and the media of the day sprung up around them (magazines, shelf space in doors, BBSes...)

Yes - sorry for not being clear in my humour. Those computers didn't have the benefit of the internet for their success. 

I feel any retro computer really needs that support these days to be successful. Hopefully this community helps make the X16 become a "thing."

 

[Scott Robison]

1 minute ago, Edmond D said:

Yes - sorry for not being clear in my humour. Those computers didn't have the benefit of the internet for their success. 

I feel any retro computer really needs that support these days to be successful. Hopefully this community helps make the X16 become a "thing."

Yeah, I'm slow because I didn't get the humor until the 4th or 5th reading when I finally realized the Star Trek Q / Qommodore connection. I didn't pick Qommodore because of that, but it makes me love it even more now.

[Edmond D]

6 minutes ago, Scott Robison said:

For IO, keyboards and monitors are okay I guess, but not everyone can afford a teletype. I'm thinking paper tape or punched cards for input. For output I had thought about a single blinky LED, but maybe a relay would be better. It wouldn't actually be connected to anything, but the audible click pattern would provide all the feedback a person could possibly need. How fun would a first person shooter be if all you had was echolocation, amirite?

The guy with the loudest keyboard (Cherry MX Green) would be the first to go (if the system had a keyboard)! 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Edmond D
Improved humour content

[paulscottrobson]

3 hours ago, Scott Robison said:

That's just crazy enough to work!

I do remember the PE "Champ" 4040 machine which was built on veroboard ....

[Scott Robison]

I'm not in love with that but it was fun to make.

[BruceMcF]

8 hours ago, Scott Robison said:

I'm not in love with that but it was fun to make.

The name might not have an IP problem, but that label seems like it would, which would further increase the incentive to run the project away from the internet.

Edited September 24, 2021 by BruceMcF

[Scott Robison]

It's nothing intended to be used in an actual product. Just playing around with the alternate universe.

[Scott Robison]

Qommodore Technologies: Don't buy an ugly computer ... buy a QT/cutie!

Edit: Which is "better" at the end of the tagline: QT or cutie?

Edited September 24, 2021 by Scott Robison

[Cyber]

If the project would colaborate with www.qeep.net it could go like:

"Are you qeeping up with the Qommodore?
'Cause the Qommodore is qeepin up with you!"

[Scott Robison]

With my recent registration of qommodore.com, the spam calls have come out in force trying to sell me webdev & marketing services. This is not my first domain, but I've never gotten so much contact from any previous domain registration (and I have a couple dozen domains; I like collecting them, apparently).

My most recent of about a half dozen calls today went like this.

Phone rings.
"Hello?"
"Hi Scott." (In a thick accent; I'm not opposed to an accent, I just know it was nobody I knew and thus should not be referring to me on a first name basis professionally.)
"What are you trying to sell me?"
"We're not selling anything."
"How can I help you?"
"We can help you with your website marketing and blah blah blah."
"And you offer that service for free?"
"No, who said that?"
"THEN I GUESS YOU ARE TRYING TO SELL ME SOMETHING!" {click}

 

[Scott Robison]

Continuing to have fun with my 100% genuine faux computer company (just like those genuine faux pearls they used to sell on late night TV 30+ years ago). Created new logo & banner for the YouTube channel.

 

[KnightFire]

Oh that's nice, what about changing the tick in the Q to a T?  My attempt is pretty sad, but you might better understand.

Edited October 1, 2021 by KnightFire