Your source for the "latest" in technology and entertainment.
The National Computer Conference was held this week, in which Sony introduced the SMC-70 microcomputer. It features a Zilog Z80A microprocessor, two 3.5-inch floppy drives each capable of holding 438 kilobytes of memory, and it runs CP/M.
Also at the National Computer Conference, Evotek showed off a prototype of 5.25 inch hard disks, which carry a whopping 50 megabytes, more data than you will ever need in your life, with transfer speeds of 8.2 megabits per second.
Sony's new computer system is not without competition, as a number of new personal and professional computers have been introduced from companies such as Epson, Toshiba, Commodore, and many others.
One notable example is Epson's impressive HX-20, a mobile computer the size of a notebook at a mere three pounds. The computer can display four rows of characters and has a miniature printer and tape drive built in.
Another particularly impressive machine comes to us from Colombia Data Products. This machine is the Columbia MPC microcomputer, and what makes this particularly interesting is its ability to run software designed for IBM computers.
Additionally, we have the introduction of the powerful Rainbow 100 from Digital Equipment. It boasts two processors, the Zilog Z80 and the Intel 8088, and can run both CP/M and either CP/M-86 or MS-DOS.
Rushing for the finish line, Sinclair Research has just started full-scale production of the ZX Spectrum. The Spectrum has already enjoyed popularity in the United Kingdom and will have a release here in the States in due time.
Overall, it's looking like the 1980s may just be the decade that this computer thing catches on.
In film news, Grease 2, the sequel to Grease, will be releasing into theaters tomorrow. We will see if it lives up to the expectation set by the original.
A movie by Steven Spielberg will also be coming out tomorrow, called "E.T.", and those two letters seem to stand for "The Extra Terrestrial". Personally, I like a good whodunit, but if you like science fiction and you're still hyped up from the Wrath of Khan after last week, you may be interested in giving this one a try. It may just surprise you.
Sources (literally all of these are fun, and they could probably send me a C&D for plagiarism): https://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/comphist/comp1982.htm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_in_film
This was supposed to be out over a week ago, but things have been nuts for me lately!
This is a not-quite-official announcement of the Discord server I just created. Completely free. Don't need to be a supporter on Locals. Don't even need to be a member.
It's definitely not a secret that this community hasn't been active since Matt Hartley hasn't been involved. I think there are a few reasons why (one being that I had a lot less time to devote to it than I realized), and I think that making a completely free alternative would help, and I unfortunately don't think I can do that on Locals! You have to pay if you want to post. Discord should be free (unless I did it wrong).
Feel free to come join! It's still kind of experimental at this point, and I don't know how well I'll handle content moderation, which will probably be the biggest challenge.
