Re: Release of Fargo

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Re: Release of Fargo

I have to agree with Karl, the HP sounds much more functional and it
does not require you throwing out your warranty to "tune" your
calculator.  And personally, I don't see what having a modem is going to
do for you.  The screen is so small, and carrying all that crap would be
a mess.  Not to mention, where are you going to plug it in?  Everyone
that I know has there modem attatched to their pc, whether internal, or
external, I would not like to mess with all the wires just to put a modem
in my calculator.  Plus, it is not worth going out to buy a modem for
your calculator.  I could see getting an old 300-2400 baud modem for a
dollar at a garage sale, but then you would probably need a driver for it
and the list goes on and on.


Enough said. L8r


On Sun, 10 Nov 1996, Zenon Lynx wrote:


> ----------
> : From: kyeanopl@AST.LMCO.COM
> : To: Zenon
> : Subject: Re: Release of Fargo
> : Date: November 9, 1996 9:41 PM
> :
> :
> : > are the not some one hwo live near David E.
> : > Hwo could wake him up ?
> :
> : > DAVID IF U ARE READING THIS PLEASE FINISH FARGO THERE ARE A LOT
> : > OF HPs OUT THERE!!
> :
> : Amidst all the whining about Fargo, a post like this comes along
> : which has to make you shake your head.
> :
> : Is this why everyone is so impatient for the release of Fargo -
> : so that their TI92's can somehow be magically transformed into
> : "HP-killers"?  What exactly is Fargo going to do which will make
> : the TI92 superior to "all those HP's out there"?
> :
> : From the description of Fargo which I've read at ticalc.org,
> : there is absolutely nothing that Fargo can do for the TI92
> : which will give it any advantage at all over the HP48. Maybe
> : it's all the great extras which will be released with Fargo,
> : like (from ticalc.org):
> :
> :
> : > 1) An MS-DOS program to support both the parallel and serial
> : > homemade link cables.
> :
> : So?  Both the TI92 and the HP48 can do this out-of-the-box.
> :
> : > 2) A group of text files categorizing (virtually) everything
> : > we've found out about the internals of the TI-92...
> :
> : OK, this may make for interesting reading, but what new
> : functionality does it add?
> :
> : > 3) FTris, a Fargo game based on GameBoy Tetris. The speed,
> : > scoring, and game play are equivalent to GameBoy version.
> :
> : Wow, a game.  (The HP48 has one built into ROM, by the way).
> : Just as ZShell is to the TI85, I suspect that Fargo's real
> : attraction is the whole slew of useless calculator games which
>
> I guess you haven't really looked at even the TI-85s lately.  There are
> power tools that are probably beyond your scope of understanding.  It's
> just that the graphical interface assembly offers inspires more programmers
> to program what they like versus what is needed.  The programmers are
> partly at fault, and, with that many games out there, who could resist?  If
> you could come up with a good program for TI assembly, maybe we'd hail
> you...
>
> : will become possible following its release.
> :
> : > 4) FTerm, a communications program for the TI-92. FTerm can be
> : > used to dial BBSes if you can figure out how
> : > to connect your TI-92 to an external modem.
> :
> : If you can figure out how to connect your TI-92 to an external
> : modem?  Pretty big if, since the TI92 has no standard RS-232
>
> There are electronic engineers in these mailing lists that can perform
> miracles, which a bunch of them are already making a modem for TI-85s and
> TI-92s.  Too bad it will beat the HP at its speed.  Anything you can argue
> about that?
>
> : serial port.  The HP48, on the other hand, does, and people have
> : sucessfully connected their HP's to external modems.  The
> : only problem is that things are so slow as to be unuseable.
> : Though the TI92's processor is faster than the HP48's for doing
> : certain tasks, the situation would be no different for a
> : "connected" TI92.  Let's face it - this has value as a novelty
> : only.  What useful purpose would a slow, RAM-limited device like
> : a calculator (any calculator) have once connected to a real
> : computer?
> :
> : > 5) Some compilable sample source code to show how Fargo
> : > programs are written.
> :
> : Regarding the HP48, this info has been available from HP for
> : years.  Unlike TI, HP has done a good job of making available
> : the information and the tools to write assembly language
> : programs for its HP48 series.
> :
> : > 6) Everything you need to compile your own Fargo programs
> : > on a PC.
> :
> : Available via ftp for the HP48, or included with any number of
> : "how-to" manuals written by some of the same people who
> : developed the HP48.
> :
> : So, once again I have to ask what is Fargo going to do for
> : the TI92 which will propel it head and shoulders above "all
> : those HP's out there"?  Seems to me that, with the exception
> : of its excellent symbolic calculus routines, a "Fargo-ed"
> : TI92 will only be playing catch up to the HP48.  Can anybody
> : help me out here and post what kinds of things they're planning
> : to do with their TI92 once Fargo is released?
> :
> : Like:
> : Expand the calculator's RAM to 1.256Mb?  Add a clock, alarms,
>
>   ^^^^ boy are you out of it!  A RAM Extender is being built that holds
> 4MBs for less than $100!  Does the HP have that?  I DON'T THINK SO!
>
> : and date arithmetic?  Add a speaker?  Add infrared file transfer
>
>   ^^^^ who needs a clock in there anyways when you got a WATCH!?  WHAT ARE
> THOSE THINGS YOU HAVE ON YOUR WRIST FOR?!  Speakers eh?  Well, that's
> already OUT IF YOU DIDN'T NOTICE!  Much easier to attatch than to the HP!
> And Infrared eh?  Well, IR as well as radio links are being made, and since
> the ports speed is 9600bps, it's probably much more efficient than the old,
> outdated HP.  Worthless junk.
>
> : capability?  Add an equation library?  Add card slots?  Drop
>
>   With assembly, anything's possible, especially with the nice processor!
> And who needs card slots when the thing can use anything through the link
> port?
>
> : the QWERTY keyboard so that it can be used on college entrance
> : exams?
>
>   The QWERTY keyboard is an improvement over conventional ones since it
> probably helps with experienced computer users and only uses that because
> it comes closer to a computer than the HP does.  It signifies its power.
>
> :
> : No, I didn't think so...
>
> Better think again.
>
> : If Fargo's purpose in life is to slay the HP, it had better
> : find a more capable machine with which to do it.
>
> If that ain't capable enough, I'd really hate to see what the HP's like.
> The TI-85 could probably already beat it if that's all the evidence you're
> looking for since all that said above is also applicable to TI-85s.
>
> :
> : --
> : Karl E. Yeanoplos
> : Denver, CO
> : kyeanopl@ast.lmco.com
>
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