Gawnsoft wrote:
> On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 19:10:20 GMT, Julesh
> <[email protected]> wrote (more or less):
>
>
>>Simon Brooke wrote:
>>
>><snip>
>>
>>>As you can tell, you _really_ wouldn't want to be sat next to me at a
>>>dinner party!
>>
>>I'd probably survive. Now - do you remember the Jupiter Ace? That was an
>>odd one!
>
>
> Whayt's odd about having Forth in ROM? It sure beats having a
> Microsoft BASIC!
Because every other little home computer in the very active mass market
of the time had BASIC in ROM (not Microsoft BASIC unless you were very
rich and had an IBM PC or similar - but Spectrum BASIC, Dragon BASIC,
ORIC BASIC, VIC-20 BASIC, BBC Basic etc.
While these BASICs were not the world's greatest programming languages,
they were easy to learn, easy to fiddle with, well-supported and popular.
What's odd about a home computer with Forth in ROM? Well I can't recall
anyone else trying to buck the market in such a splendid way! I can only
guess the company that released it thought the time of Forth had come.
They may had been right but as it looked such a dog, tacky white plastic
case and keys worse that those on a ZX-Spectrum, the world doesn't
appear to have beaten a path to its door.
There's a FAQ is at
http://members.aol.com/autismuk/ace/faq.htm - As
this hasn't been updated since 1997 it's possible it is also odd in
being the only computer of the period that doesn't still have a loyal
fan club.
Cheers
Jules