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/ Atari Mega Archive 1 / Atari Mega Archive - Volume 1.iso / demos / maggie9a.msa / DATA_DOLLAR.DOC / DATA_DOLLAR.DOC
Text File  |  1992-05-12  |  11KB  |  218 lines
  1. 066010303050001132002006006010000
  2. 11
  3. 21
  4. F0110000001
  5. 9[....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....]0110
  6. Ç
  7. DOLLARSCIENCE
  8. (((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))
  9.  
  10. Somephilosophicalramblingsontherandomside.....
  11.  
  12. BYA.J.Booker(Norelationtotheliteratureprize...)
  14. WITHoccasionaleditorialinterferencebyChrisH.
  15.  
  16. Briefintro,Andyisyetanotherguestwriter,whoyouwillsee
  17. moreof,inthefuture,etcetc..
  18.  
  19. Ontothestory.....
  20.  
  21. Onceuponatime,therewastheworld'sgreatestmediaexpert,
  22. thisishisstory,andthatofhishardlylessillustrious
  23. successorwhomadetheComputer'Industry'whatitistoday....
  24.  
  25. NathanBrownwasbornofhumbleparentsinearly1900'sIllinois,
  26. littleisknownofhisearlylife,buthefirstcametoprominence
  27. asayoungadvertisinggenius,workingforFORDAUTOMOBILES,in
  28. hisownwords...
  29.  
  30. "MyworkatFordwaspioneeringintheliteralsense.Isawour
  31. customersbuyingourcars,andIsawourworkforcebuildingthose
  32. cars.TosubstaingrowthandregulatesupplyIadvisedHenry
  33. (Ford)toofferhisModelTin'Anycolouryoulike,aslongas
  34. it'sblack..'"
  35.  
  36. "ThosepeoplecontinuedtobuytheModelTbecausetheydidn't
  37. thinktherewouldbeanalternative,sowefoxed'emwhenwe
  38. broughtoutthethecarinwhite,sevenyearslater..Theyall
  39. lokkedstupidwiththeblackcar,parkednexttoashiningnew
  40. whitecar...Why,regularfellaswouldtakeoutasecondmortgage
  41. tobuyawhitecar,tradingintheblackmodeltheyhadonlygot
  42. weeksearlieratadamnlowtrade-inprice..Samewithother
  43. Çcolours,sayitwasn'tavailable,thenhit'emwiththeoldsucker
  44. punch!"
  45.  
  46. In1940,withwarlooming,Brownmadeacriticalmovetothe
  47. ShermanTankplant,whichwasjustcomingintoproductionin
  48. Wyoming...Herecountedfromhis1950'smemoirs'DeathANDTaxes'.
  49.  
  50. "Thearmytoldustoproduce10,000tankswitha200milerange,I
  51. toldthemitcouldnotbedone,soinstead,wemade500tankswith
  52. 2000gallonfueltrailersdraggedbehindthem..Thesewere
  53. armoured,butmostoftheearlyprototypesdidnotlastforlong,
  54. oncethetrailersweregone,themainvehiclewasasittingduck."
  55.  
  56. "SothePentagonthrewmoneyatus,wejawedabit,andthenwe
  57. madespaceinsidethehullofthetankforthefuel,atthe
  58. expenseofthecrew,buttheirplacewaslargelytakenbythe
  59. automaticcontrolsdevelopedbyus,someyearsearlier,andthe
  60. fuelfittedinsideperfectly,asweoriginallydesigneditto.."
  61.  
  62. "That'sDollarscience,ifthepublic'spayingabuckforit,make
  63. thempayabuckandaquarter!"
  64.  
  65. Afterthewar,BrownfoundthetimetomarryRubyGlossler,an
  66. expert,inherownfieldofadvancedelectronicsandprototype
  67. computers.Brown,usinghiswife'sknowledgegainedajobwithan
  68. embryonicfirmcalledTechpoint,hefondlyrecalledthoseearly
  69. days....
  70.  
  71. "Techpointwasgreat!!Nobodybutusunderstoodit,herewewere
  72. abletodevelopandrefineDollarscienceintoareligion...Wehad
  73. onemainproductbackin'52,theRubyAccumulator,itwasfed
  74. withpunchcardsof1digitnumbers,itaddedtheseup,andgave
  75. theansweronatickertapemachine.Thegutsofthethingweretwo
  76. feetsquare...Wethenstuckitinsidean18by30feetcontainer,
  77. therewasawatercoolingsystemkeptintheadjoiningroom,with
  78. it'sowncircuitry,whichinturnwasbackedupbyaliquidFreon
  79. coolingsystemtokeeptheextrahotrunningvalvesincheck,none
  80. Çofthishadanythingtodowiththeday-to-dayperformanceofthe
  81. RubyAccumulator,ofcourse.."
  82.  
  83. "Thereweretenortwentytechniciansinattendanceateach
  84. machineweinstalled,toimpresstheBossofthelatestoutfitwho
  85. hadhiredus,wewouldincreasethepoweronthevalvesuntilsome
  86. ofthemblew,hewouldseethreeorfourwhite-coatedbodiesrush
  87. toreplacethem,thesecoatshadstains,brownstainsallover
  88. them,coffeestains!!Theboysreallyhadnothingtodo!!"
  89.  
  90. BrownsubsequentlysoldthetechnologyandphilosophyoftheRuby
  91. AccumulatortoIBMforanundisclosed(Large)sumofmoney,itis
  92. thenunclearwherehewentfromthere,somerumoursputhimin
  93. SouthAmerica,inspiringaDollarsciencebasedresurrectionofthe
  94. ThirdReich,otherrumourshavehimaslostatsea,wearesure
  95. thatheisenjoyingacomfortableretirementintheobscure
  96. paradisebeachofhischoice....
  97.  
  98. MovingonnowtothesecondofourtwonotoriousMediaexperts,
  99. TomAbermule,whowasbornin1955,somewhereinYorkshire,
  100. England..Hefirstsurfacedin1975,intheHi-Fidivisionof
  101. Amstrad,supervisingnewproductdevelopment.Abermuletook
  102. Amstrad'sexistingrangeandusingtheirhighintegrationPCB
  103. technology,heproduceda'vertical'wall-mountedHi-Fioutfit,
  104. 95%ofthecasingbeing100%breathableatmosphere....
  105.  
  106. Hethenusedarefinementofthebasic'Dollarscience'conceptto
  107. ensurethatpeopleupgradedwhenrequiredto,thisuniqueinsight
  108. cameviaaninterviewforOmnimagazine....
  109.  
  110. "YesitwasadevelopmentinPsychomarketing,andyes,itwasmy
  111. idea...Youmakesomethingdamngood,andeveryonewantsit!You
  112. makeitcheapenoughforpeopletobuy,theninsteadofpretending
  113. youhavenoplanstoimproveit,youticklethepublicby
  114. promisingthemthemoon!!"
  115.  
  116. "Theseupgrades,whentheydoappear,aren'tthatmuchofan
  117. Çimprovement,oftenjustthesameelectronicsrepositionedina
  118. differentbox,butbythattime,expectationsaresopentup,that
  119. peoplebuyittosavefaceanyway,wesoldmillions!!Allcrap
  120. really..."
  121.  
  122. ItwassoonafterthisinterviewthatAbermuleandAmstradparted
  123. company.
  124.  
  125. Meanwhile,acrosstheAtlantic,IBMhadrefinedtheirown
  126. Dollarscienceintothe'AT'seriesofmachineswithfuture
  127. capabilitiesalreadybuiltintotheirmachinesbutleftdormant
  128. andunactivatedforthecustomersconcerned.Toactivatethese
  129. features,anexpensivecallwasmadebyanIBMengineer,whoonly
  130. hadtoreseta'DIPswitchwithinthecase,instantlyupratingthe
  131. machine..
  132.  
  133. However,itwasnotatIBM,butATARI,whereAbermule'sfinest
  134. hoursweretocome..Abermuletooktheoriginaldesignforthe
  135. AtariST,integratingthepowersupplyanddiscdrive,and
  136. slightlylater,theTVmodulatortoproducetheST-FMseriesof
  137. machines..AshappenedwithAmstrad,theoriginalsold
  138. brilliantly,theeagerlyawaitedsuccessorarrivedayearlate,
  139. theSTE..Theadvanced32-bitmodel,theTTunderwentvarious
  140. specificationchangesoveralongperiodoftimebeforeitwas
  141. launched,therumourssurroundingthe'downgrading'oftheSTE
  142. specificationinfavouroftheTTneverquitewentaway...
  143.  
  144. Dollarscience,inthehandsofAbermulethenbecameanendin
  145. itself,ratherthenausefulboosttocompanyfortunes,thismost
  146. clearlyseenwithboththeTransputer,andthe'Super-Console'..
  147.  
  148. Thetransputerboard,wasmarketedwithoutanyfirmandfinished
  149. productforyearsatatime,prototypeboardscametocomputer
  150. shows,andwent,withinterestedsectionsofthepressbeingfed
  151. withenoughsnippetsofinformationtokeepmediainterestalive..
  152. ThiswasassumedtobeAbermule'sownidea,butheadmitteditwas
  153. borrowedfromPorscheofGermany..
  154. Ç
  155. Perhapsthemostbizarrecaseof'Lifecomingaverypoorsecond
  156. toArt'wastheprotractedsagaofthenextgeneration'Super-
  157. Console'Billedasamachinetotakeonanddestroytheupand
  158. coming16-bitJapaneseconsoles,thefirstmachine,the'Panther'.
  159. thisreachedthestagewheredevelopmentkitshadbeenreleasedto
  160. programmers,whenworkontheevenmoreshadowy'Jaguar'Super-
  161. Consolewasspee