¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢ Editorial¢¢ by Alan Sharkis¢ Editor, OHAUG Newsletter¢¢ About eighteen months ago, just after¢ the death of ALEX PIGNATO, the Ol'¢ Hackers met to reaffirm our desire to¢ continue as a user group. We had¢ support for that cause in the form of¢ in-person visits from LIAUG and LVAUG¢ members. Although Alex's loss was¢ difficult for many of us, I believe¢ that our user group is as strong, if¢ not stronger, than it had been under¢ his self-described "benevolent¢ dictatorship." I'm happy that such¢ is the case, and I must give credit¢ for that to our members and officers.¢ There is an aura, difficult to¢ describe and more difficult to¢ quantify, about the Classic Atari¢ that must be preserved. I believe¢ we, as an international user group,¢ have contributed to that preservation¢ effort.¢¢ There are two areas in which I feel¢ that we can do more, but first a¢ little background.¢¢ Many of our members own other¢ machines. Quite a few, I believe,¢ own PCs. While this club was new,¢ I've been told, the PC was considered¢ to be a deadly beast, not worthy of¢ our respect. In great measure, it¢ was. Few PC owners could brag about¢ color displays, graphics, and sound¢ of the quality that our 8-bits could¢ produce. It's numbing reputation as¢ a "business computer" went against¢ the grain of 8-bitters. This has, of¢ course, changed. May I dare say, it¢ has CHANGED TO THE POTENTIAL BENEFIT¢ of the Atari 8-bit community.¢¢ Another segment of our membership¢ also owns other Atari equipment. I'm¢ going to exclude the discussion of¢ game consoles here. The 2600, 5200¢ and 7800 now constitue nostalgia¢ trips, and the Lynx and Jaguar, while¢ shining examples of survival, just¢ don't fit into this discussion. The¢ ST, its successors and now its¢ clones, do fit in.¢¢ I was also told that in the early¢ days of the Ol' Hackers, some of our¢ current and past members were looking¢ for a local user group that would¢ give them some support. A rather¢ clannish, now defunct ST group would¢ have relegated them to, "fifteen¢ minutes before the meeting." Hence¢ they joined OHAUG and the rest is¢ history. My exposure to the ST was¢ quite different. My first user¢ group, also now defunct, was a source¢ of great harmony between its 8-bit¢ and ST members. I currently belong¢ to LIAUG, OHAUG's sister club on Long¢ Island. LIAUG has happily continued¢ that tradition of harmony.¢¢ For the past year or so, I've been¢ hearing about how the ST community¢ has declined and has been demoralized¢ worse than our own. In some circles¢ this might, indeed, be true. But in¢ others, we look at the aforementioned¢ successors to the ST and its clones¢ as examples for us in three very¢ important areas: cloning, Internet¢ access and emulation of other machine¢ platforms.¢¢ From time to time, we hear of¢ somebody wishing to build 8-bit¢ clones. There was some recent¢ interest in this expressed in CSA8 by¢ one of our members, Atari historian¢ and collector, CURT VENDEL. While I¢ wish Curt luck with this project, I¢ realize that it would be extremely¢ difficult to do, given the small¢ number of people who'd be interested¢ in owning one.¢¢ Emulation of 8-bits is a subject near¢ and dear to my heart, as many of you¢ know. While this was never developed¢ as fully on the ST as one would have¢ hoped, the ST XFormer WAS a first.¢ If you have read this newsletter over¢ the past year, you know that I spent¢ a lot of time and space describing¢ PC, Amiga, Macintosh, and Unix-based¢ 8-bit emulators -- both to emulate¢ the entire machine and to give an¢ existing 8-bit the advantages of¢ increased peripheral capability and¢ storage. In my rationale statements,¢ I noted that there were those who¢ desired a portable 8-bit, those who¢ gave up their 8-bits and wanted the¢ "feeling" back, and those for whom¢ emulation was a fascinating¢ intellectual exercise. As my fellow¢ Ol' Hacker and LIAUG President, PAT¢ MULVEY recently reiterated, the day¢ is fast approaching when we will no¢ longer have people to supply and¢ repair our 8-bits, hence the enhanced¢ importance of emulation. Of all the¢ platforms that emulate the Atari 8-¢ bit, the PC has come closest to an¢ actual 8-bit. Therefore, I PROPOSE¢ THAT THIS USER GROUP DO MORE TO¢ OFFICIALLY ENCOURAGE OUR PC-OWNING¢ MEMBERS TO LOOK TO US FOR SUPPORT ON¢ THOSE MACHINES, AS WELL. AS A¢ TRADEOFF, I'D EXPECT THOSE PC-OWNING¢ MEMBERS TO LOOK INTO ENHANCING THEIR¢ 8-BITS THROUGH THEIR PCs, RATHER THAN¢ ABANDONING THEIR 8-BITS IN FAVOR OF¢ THEIR PCs. The two machines can co-¢ exist rather peacefully, as some of¢ us, myself included, have proven.¢¢ The second area for improvement that¢ I would suggest is THAT THIS CLUB¢ PURSUE AN INCREASED PRESENCE ON THE¢ INTERNET.¢¢ I have found that some of our out-of-¢ town members are doing just that with¢ their 8-bits! Although I have the¢ technical ability and the necessary¢ software to do the same, I haven't¢ done much of it because the PC, at¢ least at this juncture, does it¢ better. I would like those of our¢ members who are accessing the¢ Internet with their 8-bits to write¢ articles about the experience for¢ inclusion in our newsletter, and I'd¢ really enjoy it if some more of our¢ local members chimed in!¢¢ Given the staggering amount of¢ information and areas of interest to¢ 8-bitters on the Internet, we should¢ all be logging on to 8-bit oriented¢ Web sites, participating in CSA8, and¢ using Internet e-mail to conduct club¢ business wherever possible.¢¢ And speaking of Web sites, it's high¢ time that OHAUG had at least a page¢ on the World Wide Web. This will¢ take work, but we can gain from the¢ experience of others. JOHN HARDIE¢ and CURT VENDEL have had their¢ personal pages up and running for a¢ while now. Curt Vendel has¢ volunteered to help. LIAUG is¢ investigating a page for themselves,¢ and our close ties to them may mean¢ that joint development is possible.¢ ¢ I feel pride in my community whenever¢ I log onto an 8-bit site. I'd feel¢ even greater pride if I knew that the¢ site belonged to the Ol' Hackers.¢¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢¢¢
