Loadstar 221/221.d81/t.jeri news

Text File | 2002-01-01 | 6.2 KB | 222 lines

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       THE REBIRTH OF A LEGEND

- With the C-One, the American Jeri
Ellsworth builds a new generation of
the Commodore 64.

[NOTE:] This is a translation of an
article that appeared in the German
Magazine [ComputerBILD]. The Run It
file is the picture of Jeri that
accompanied the article.


    Jeri Ellsworth was never a girl
who played with dolls.

    Barbie wasn't her hero during her
childhood; her idols where called "Pac
Man", "Frogger" or "Centipede" - games
for the Commodore 64 (C64). And even
today the 28-year-old American is an
avid technology fan and really dotes
on the computer. As a result, Jeri is
building the C=1, a reproduction of
the legendary home computer, the C64.

    Older computer gamers should know
this antique device from their youth
as being a gateway to the world of
computer games. 20 years ago the C64,
which is called "Brotkasten" (the
Bread Box) or "Nackenrolle" (Bolster
Pillow -- literally: Neck Roll) by its
fans, started its triumphal procession
through households. According to the
"Guinness Book Of Records", it is the
most sold computer of all time.

    The computer planned/designed by
Jeri Ellsworth will cost about 200
dollars and will run original C64
games. But it will technically
outshine (outperform) the original
model. Speed, graphics, and sound will
be far better than on the original
model but without reaching the
performance of a modern computer
system.

    A few examples (values of the
original C64 are shown in
parenthesis): The device can display
65536 colors (16) and has a resolution
of up to 1280x1024 pixels (320x200).
The operating system is stored on a
standard CF card connected in the
processor slot. With these cards, you
can use other 8-bit operating systems,
such as the Atari 2600 or Sinclair ZX
8. This makes the C=1 the successor of
these platforms.

    Old hardware, such as the 1581
disk drive, will work with the C=1.
Newly-written or adapted software
might be much more complex than the
old pieces from the C64 era. To
prevent the old stuff from being too
fast and thus unplayable, the C-One
will have an optional speed reduction.


REVIEW:

    Technology and computers were her
most favorite playmates, even in
school. There wasn't any place for
dolls.

    "Barbie must burn", Jeri
remembers, smiling. When her father
once brought her a doll as a present,
it ended up as a pile of burned
plastic. Jeri loved to experiment. Her
dad thought it might be better to give
her some broken electronic parts.

    In 1982, at the age of eight, Jeri
had her first encounter with a
computer, a Texas Instruments 99/4A --
an encounter that changed her life.
The idea to be able to handle
technology, only really understood by
a handful of people, fascinated her.
One year later, after long begging her
father, she got her first C64 with
disk drive and printer. "I was sitting
six to ten hours a day in front of the
10-inch monitor, coding BASIC
programs," Jeri reports as the
beginning of her passion.

    After school and training as an
electrical engineer, she started a
company for racetrack cars together
with her father. "I became bored;
eventually, I found back my passion
for computers", Jeri says. She opened
a small chain of computer shops which
specialized in repairing and selling
individual parts.

    The business was doing well for
quite some time, but finally the
breakdown of many Internet companies
hit Jeri's company, too. After closing
some of the chain's shops, she sold
the remaining shops and started with
the development of her a long-kept
dream -- the development of a better
C64.

    She lives again in Portland,
Oregon, U.S.A. for the time being. A
room of her house is crowded with lots
of technology, and networked computers
are in her laboratory. It's here that
she is programming and soldering the
C-One prototype which is supposed to
continue the story of the C64.

    Setbacks, like a car theft with a
first prototype aboard, don't
demoralize her. She hopes to sell the
first board at the end of this year.
It was nearly two years ago that she
decided to focus all her energy on
this project. There is almost no time
to play anymore. She likes thinking
about her computer shops back then,
when she had enough time to test new
games. Today she is happy if she has
an hour per week for gaming. Jeri
especially enjoys strategy games like
"Command & Conquer".

    "I won't become a millionaire with
the C-One," the dedicated business
woman thinks realistically. But she
believes in a niche market for
so-called retro-computers. These are
machines that are based on old devices
and attract the attention of
tech-freaks and new programmers.

    Those interested in the C-One need
to have technical knowledge, because
in the beginning Jeri will just sell
the motherboard without case. Those
who don't like to get their hands
dirty need to wait until complete
systems with casing and peripherals
will hit the market.

    You'll find more information at

     http://www.commodoreone.com

In Germany the first C-One boards
should be available in the next few
days.

They are distributed by

         Individual Computers
    (http://www.jschoenfeld.com).

The price in Germany for this device
is unknown.


[AFTERWORD:] We in the US have a hard
time imagining living in a different
world. In Europe, the media is not so
completely monopolized by a few
corporate giants. And the religion of
Microsoftism and psychological ailment
called "Intelaphilia" are not so
prevalent there.

 So computer entrepreneur Jens Schonen
latched onto Jeri's C-1 and is
spreading the word, far and wide! He
brought Jeri over to Germany for a
series of expos and shows. He also had
a chance to keep her focused on
finishing the final board.

 Soon my friends, you can have a
bright, shiny, brand new C-1!

 We are excited about it, and hope
that this can be the beginning of a
renewal of new software. Our
commitment at LOADSTAR will be to the
essential C-64. But 16 MEG! Criminy!
We should see some stellar new
software.

 By the way, Joerg Droege called me on
the phone (his hobby is to visit with
people all over the world). I checked
the translations of the German
nicknames for the C-64. The image of a
"Neck Roll" is a bit strange, and yet
understandable when you think of the
old brown, rounded case.

 DMM