From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.1 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_SIGNED,DKIM_VALID, DKIM_VALID_AU,MAILING_LIST_MULTI,T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 22772 invoked from network); 4 Jul 2023 01:58:28 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (50.116.15.146) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 4 Jul 2023 01:58:28 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 084CC40BDE; Tue, 4 Jul 2023 11:58:26 +1000 (AEST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=tuhs.org; s=dkim; t=1688435906; h=from:from:reply-to:reply-to:subject:subject:date:date: message-id:message-id:to:to:cc:mime-version:mime-version: content-type:content-type: content-transfer-encoding:content-transfer-encoding:list-id:list-help: list-owner:list-unsubscribe:list-subscribe:list-post; bh=5iQMVZiG+xsDf5WAifHrHYl7cvjfrbarqMlfScd0nPA=; b=iJL2jGgdLXo1pL46Sb9Pyd1Lr4R0UYQoBAB52yFp95ooLbkVDUhuIHl+B6WdJh8Iu0JwhB 4QppLT3uxEIJWqabbjAeG4QFbql/axfsCVR4C7etwKmRsfYVatGIAyAydUIWa0JTngI/Hp F61sOmOf6Dy1GsJ8Pqhw6W/zHUzWckM= Received: from mail-4318.protonmail.ch (mail-4318.protonmail.ch [185.70.43.18]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 704B640BD1 for ; Tue, 4 Jul 2023 11:58:12 +1000 (AEST) Date: Tue, 04 Jul 2023 01:57:55 +0000 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=protonmail.com; s=protonmail3; t=1688435890; x=1688695090; bh=5iQMVZiG+xsDf5WAifHrHYl7cvjfrbarqMlfScd0nPA=; h=Date:To:From:Subject:Message-ID:Feedback-ID:From:To:Cc:Date: Subject:Reply-To:Feedback-ID:Message-ID:BIMI-Selector; b=l9yuGjNzlK4wZBYFUrjqZwYFVVFyDHcyO0oDEzF5FPbAm+Kz0nBkv3bO4iFdpWPFy dqORoiH8MUDTJBR6YoHJ84ZXYHHW7jND89H5e0XUoaoarx1RaCmszOvHWOeAskXM+b 2f26d0MPoCVU70+6BE0Eg2WFQfVu0ybz1DaMpi65lcPBH6bCP6XaN4Y6MdEjxJb3Hh 5DfkdkDsU7MW99UG4vylYj7RspwnLquaMztovaQ6oFHq576SEth4k8B597UMoGbTDs Y6h7k+aVWovgSbKIZ18FDmb6VByGlQc69079SiKL4VD081y07Re8V/dOg+dA1NqRID y9jaVC1T0qr2w== To: COFF Message-ID: <_l_rdK2ywBoEAheCu4dCFyJ3cyXymIXgMK9-_bgAtMwLXtmr2sZnuRvjFc6jqn6K0X_E2MuSEMm5_iVO7eBeYTOpRHVRuypykZD_au00R-c=@protonmail.com> Feedback-ID: 35591162:user:proton MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-ID-Hash: AJ6TD6AURSIM4A23YPF7DVFYRG7ITJEC X-Message-ID-Hash: AJ6TD6AURSIM4A23YPF7DVFYRG7ITJEC X-MailFrom: segaloco@protonmail.com X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [COFF] Bell System and the Video Game Industry? List-Id: Computer Old Farts Forum Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: From: segaloco via COFF Reply-To: segaloco So this evening I've been tinkering with a WECo 2500 I've been using for pl= aying with telecom stuff, admiring the quality of the DTMF module, and it g= ot me thinking, gee, this same craftsmanship would make for some very nice = arcade buttons, which then further had me pondering on the breadth of the B= ell System's capabilities and the unique needs of the video game industry i= n the early 80s. In many respects, the combination of Western Electric and Bell Laboratories= could've been a hotbed of video game console and software development, wha= t with WECo's capability to produce hardware such as coin slots, buttons, w= iring harnesses for all sorts of equipment, etc. and then of course the sof= tware prowess of the Labs. Was there to anyone here's knowledge any serious consideration of this mark= et by Bell? The famous story of UNIX's origins includes Space Travel, and = from the very first manual, games of various kinds have accompanied UNIX wh= erever it goes. It seems that out of most companies, the Bell System would= 've been very well poised, what with their own CPU architecture and other f= ab operations, manufacturing and distribution chains, and so on. There's a= looooot of R&D that companies such as Atari and Nintendo had to engage in = that the Bell System had years if not decades of expertise in. Would anti-= trust stuff have come into play in that regard? Bell couldn't compete in t= he computer market, and I suppose it would depend on the legal definitions = applicable to video game hardware and software at the time. In any case, undercurrent here is the 2500 is a fine telephone, if the same= minds behind some of this WECo hardware had gone into video gaming, I wond= er how different things would've turned out. - Matt G.