March 18, 2008

Retrotech: Texas Instruments TI-99/4A

For only $525, it was the first consumer-level computer with a powerful 16K processor. 15 Colors. 64x48 pixels in "multicolor" mode. This was a quantum leap from my only previous computer experience, an atari 2600 basic programming cartridge. It was also a beautifully designed console. This model constituted 35% of all computers sold at the time, a huge corner on the market if you remember how many systems were available. My family got it for Christmas in 1981, and my seventh-grade geeky self immediately adopted it as my new best friend. Like the atari, it took ROM cartridges for games like this classic, "Hunt the Wumpus": A 5 1/4" floppy disc drive was an optional peripheral. So was a telephone cradle modem and, most impressive of all, a voice synthesizer. We didn't get any of that stuff, and only bought two ROM games before I permanently put in an Extended Basic cartridge to amp up the power. I soon started learning how to make my own programs. "Basic" computing was very intuitive and rewarding. I also subscribed to a texas instruments magazine which had programs printed out for you to copy. The most complex one was a pitfall clone. I spent several hours keying it in, and after it didn't work, I double checked for stray or errant keystrokes. Finally, it was running. Then I hooked up the audio tape interface and recorded it. The next day was the big test: hook up the cables, turn on the tape player, listen to it make glitchy noises for five minutes, boot up the program.... it works! I Am Computo! If you own a PC running windows, you can download a TI-99 emulator here. and check out the "microprocessor" on that stud!

9 comments:

Lance Ehlers said...

My cousins had one. We played Burger Time pretty regularly, but most of the time, it just sat on the side of the desk collecting dust. Computers like this never held any interest for me as a kid because you had to type so damn much and make sure all the code was perfect, and in the end, the reward was trivial. After coleco-vision, I didn't personally own a computer until 1999.

In Junior High, we were all required to take a typing class. This made no sense to me whatsoever, so I asked why. I was told, "because in the near future, everyone-- even you-- will own a computer and type information into it." This seemed like a crock of shit. Everyone KNEW that in the near future, we would just speak to our computers and tell them what to do. Typing was a fading nuisance if the movies were any indication.

And then in High School, I knew this kid Jody Cramer, who sat in front of his stupid commodore 64 ALL DAY LONG playing Archon and Beach Head, and those stupid King's Quest type games. He became a constant source of amusement. We gave him shit all the time about wasting so much time staring at that screen, typing lines of nonsense.

And now, or course, we are ALL Jody Cramers.

stexe said...

you're cool.

Lance Ehlers said...

No, Jody Cramer is cool. He was a decade 20 years ahead of his time. Emoticon time...

:)

stexe said...

It's the fact that computers were in their infancy that made them such potentially creative tools; you had to make up your own games, and teach yourself to program them, in order to keep it from getting boring. People like Jody Cramer lacked motivation and imagination, just like the folks who waste their lives away these days playing "The Sims". Is there any other game out there which is a more apt expression of humankind's helpless servitude to their machines? I played it for a few days (several hours at a time, I must admit) then never went near it again. Total time-waster. And depressing.

I also didn't touch a computer between the ages of thirteen and twenty six. Now I'm excited to get started again; I'm buying a crappy old $10 PC and learning physical computing (programming in 'basic' code and sending it out to RAM circuits to customize electro/mechanical sculptures) and I couldn't be more thrilled about it. It's all about using the available technology to put something new and unique into the world.

Lance Ehlers said...

I ran into a former student of mine on Sunday. She lives on my block and designs & builds crazy sound robots for LEMURplex. They basically receive boatloads of grants to build whatever they can dream up. In a way, it seems like your ideal day job.

stexe said...

That's rad, and I envy anyone who can make a living being inventive. But it's a little highbrow for my tastes. This is more my speed. He's a san francisco one-man band who built his own robot backup band. I paid him to MIDI-retrofit my moog synthesizer when I lived there.

Lance Ehlers said...

That guy is interesting when he's playing the music, not so interesting when he's having an argument with the robots. It's becoming increasingly unusual to hear a conversation without the parties involved heavily using "fuck" and awkward hip-hop street slang for no reason at all.

stexe said...

Yeah, his website is really juvenile as well. I've never even seen him perform. But I like the concept, and the robot who plays both bass and guitar is really impressive.

Anonymous said...

I got my hands on a TI99/4A and a Timex Sinclair 1000 and learned Basic programming by trying to write a game, but after building the basic game board I lost interest in it. I still have them today. Because I learned Basic I ran into on the job reasons to use this info and it helped my life by inspiring me to become a computer tech. I continued from Basic programming to learning DOS programming to Windows programming.