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Maplin Mystery: Commercial Curiousity

When I started out it was CP/M and 8" floppy discs.

My first practical computer was an Amstrad PCW8256 (still got it) that also ran CP/M And BASIC86.
Loved that machine.


Now the 'Big Machine' runs Puppy, has a 950 Gig SCSI hard drive running UEFI.

What is coming down the road next, one wonders ?

INT21

I had the 8512 - sold it to my cousin years ago and he says it still works! Well it did when he last looked a couple of years back.
 
Bigphoot2,

I have an 8512; never fired it up.

I was down at the council dump getting rid of some rubbish and a bloke pulls up and is about to throw this computer on the pile. I asked him if I could take it instead and he agreed. We had to drive out of the facility to hand it over as it is illegal to take anything from the rubbish pile.

I haven't yet got around to using it.

But I just realised I have made an error in a post above.

It wasn't BASIC86 that was used in the Amstrad 8256. It was Mallard BASIC. From Locomotive Software.

And the quirky thing (at least to me) was that you couldn't use CLS or even CLEAR to wipe the screen, You had to define something like cls$=escape$+"E"+home$

Then 'Print cls$;'

INT21
 
I really enjoyed using my 8512 - wrote my first ever published article on it. Bought an ink jet printer, wrote a review and had it published in some long-gone Amstrad mag. Even had some games for it too.
 
I used to subscribe to PCW magazine. Spent hours typing in some of the programs.
And most of them worked.
I still have a few mags somewhere in the loft.
What I remember is that there was a Z80 assembler advertised. I have it somewhere.

Ah, the good old days.

When 8 bits ruled the world. And INT21 just meant 'Print a line of text to the console'.

So now you all know where I got it from.:)

INT21
 
Who remembers Leonard Rossiter's part in the film '2001' ?

Yithian,

The tunnels under the station at Leeds does make you keep your eyes open if you have to go down there.
One expects to see men in raincoats and hats lurking in the shadows.
I was once beaten up (not badly) in that area when in my teens. I made the mistake of looking at some bloke's girl friend as I walked by. Enough to get you a bust lip back then.

INT21
 
I remember he was in it in the beginning. He makes a phone call in a booth using a card as payment [I think] & the callee appears on a screen. Good vision of a future world by Kubrick/Clarke. Can't remember anything else about his part though.
 
Who remembers Leonard Rossiter's part in the film '2001' ?

I do. Thought I was seeing things for a couple of seconds. He was lucky the space chair didn't make a vulgar noise when he stood up.

Any road: Maplins...

I can only ever recall using the branch in Camden a few times when I worked just down the road and it did have a particular atmosphere, like a Halfords for geeks in that the staff would either accost you straight away in the hope they could 'help you with anything for yourself today', or ignore you completely (it's surely almost impossible for someone in the position of serving a Maplin's customer to gauge the exact level of attentiveness they might prefer - they're salesmen not butlers). At least some of them knew what they were on about and only once did an assistant try to sell me something I didn't need or want. I think he was new.

For comparison's sake, and as PC World has been mentioned and as I once spent a slightly surreal hour and a half in one, here is my very interesting story:

My friend, who knows toss all about computers, asked me to go with him to PC World as he wanted to buy a laptop and needed advice.

Having established what he wanted to do with it and how much he wanted to spend I eliminated most of the machines on show (they were all overpriced). As we were taking our time an assistant hove into view and started talking up various models, his language peppered with "well, this bad boy's rocking a such-and-such gfx chipset" TopGear-type talk, which embellishments matey didn't really need for updating his CV and emailing his mum.

I narrowed it down to a couple and we told the assistant that we'd take the better of the two (both were similarly priced) and off he went to the warehousey bit to fetch one - job done! And yet not: "I'm sorry", says he, returning twenty minutes later, "there's none left in stock and I can't sell you that one as it's a display model. We have plenty more to choose from if you'd like to have a look around."

"I've come all this way...I'm not leaving without a fucking laptop", confided my mate. Never mind - I fetched the assistant back and told him that was fine - we'd have the other lower-spec machine. Off he went again...

It turned out this was also the last of its kind and therefore another display model, yet for some reason he could sell this one. Unfortunately it had no battery. "I'll just get you the box and a battery for it", he said vanishing into the back again for what seemed like a very, very long time. The crestfallen look he wore on his return didn't bode well: "Sorry", he sighed "The battery's missing". "Oh, er, oh dear...what do you think's happened to it?", I asked.

"Dunno", he replied, looking forlorn, "I expect someone's nicked it". And that was the end of the explanation. I found this all quite amusing even if my friend didn't.

So my friend bought a more expensive and over-specified Toshiba which is still going strong as he's never used it.

I told you it would be an interesting story.
 
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That could be worked up into a sitcom episode.
 
I had weirdness like that in PC World years back.
I tried to buy a laptop. The assistant seemed clueless. All I wanted was for him to point me at the most powerful one under £500. Instead, he took me through to the maintenance area away from the sales floor. Then he left me sitting at a desk for ages. When he came back, he said 'I can't sell you one today, sorry'.
So, a little pissed off, I said 'OK, I'll buy one from Staples next door - I reckon they'll be happy with my money - tata'. I marched over to Staples and bought one within minutes.
 
I remember he was in it in the beginning. He makes a phone call in a booth using a card as payment [I think] & the callee appears on a screen. Good vision of a future world by Kubrick/Clarke. Can't remember anything else about his part though.

He was playing a Russian in that. He also worked with Kubrick again in Barry Lyndon.
2001 also had wide-screen televisions on the space shuttle and the crew of the Discovery appear to use tablets when they watch themselves being interviewed on the telly.

Maplin's service was no match for my local independent photography shop. I went in to buy a lens once and told the assistant what I wanted. He stared at me, gave a long sigh, shrugged his shoulders and said "We don't have any."
"There's one in the window and three in the cabinet behind you."
Another stare, another long sigh then he wandered off. I thought he was going to get a key for the cabinet but was away for ages and when he came back and saw I was still there, gave another sigh and stood at the far end of the counter staring off into space.
I'm amazed they sold anything. On Saturdays, real customers couldn't get near the counter because of members of the local photography society wanting to play with every camera in the shop from opening to closing time. They just took over the place, making snide comments and braying like donkeys.
When a big national retailer opened up that place closed within a month.
 
That could be worked up into a sitcom episode.

In a ideal universe the assistant could go off to fetch the manager and return with Leonard Rossiter - and hilarity would ensue! :)
 
He was playing a Russian in that. He also worked with Kubrick again in Barry Lyndon.
2001 also had wide-screen televisions on the space shuttle and the crew of the Discovery appear to use tablets when they watch themselves being interviewed on the telly.

Maplin's service was no match for my local independent photography shop. I went in to buy a lens once and told the assistant what I wanted. He stared at me, gave a long sigh, shrugged his shoulders and said "We don't have any."
"There's one in the window and three in the cabinet behind you."
Another stare, another long sigh then he wandered off. I thought he was going to get a key for the cabinet but was away for ages and when he came back and saw I was still there, gave another sigh and stood at the far end of the counter staring off into space.
I'm amazed they sold anything. On Saturdays, real customers couldn't get near the counter because of members of the local photography society wanting to play with every camera in the shop from opening to closing time. They just took over the place, making snide comments and braying like donkeys.
When a big national retailer opened up that place closed within a month.
Baffling.
 
Baffling.

The best one was when I went in with a female friend who was a very talented and experienced photographer. This time an assistant decided to speak. He came up to me and said "Can I help you sir?"
I told him it was my friend who was the customer. He then asked me what she wanted.
I could see the steam beginning to come out of her ears when she said "I would like to buy a camera."
He then said to me "We have lots of basic for beginners that should be suitable." And he had to add with a beaming smile "We've even got some in pink!"
At that point I walked out. My friend came out a short while later after explaining to him the error of his ways and probably treated him to a colonoscopy with the biggest lens in the shop and a tripod thrown in for good measure.
 
I had weirdness like that in PC World years back.
I tried to buy a laptop. The assistant seemed clueless. All I wanted was for him to point me at the most powerful one under £500. Instead, he took me through to the maintenance area away from the sales floor. Then he left me sitting at a desk for ages. When he came back, he said 'I can't sell you one today, sorry'.
So, a little pissed off, I said 'OK, I'll buy one from Staples next door - I reckon they'll be happy with my money - tata'. I marched over to Staples and bought one within minutes.

Yep, Staples are great. We bought a new PC for a client's office from there and a load of cool stationary. Took ten minutes, if that - [he exaggerated only slightly].
 
The best one was when I went in with a female friend who was a very talented and experienced photographer. This time an assistant decided to speak. He came up to me and said "Can I help you sir?"
I told him it was my friend who was the customer. He then asked me what she wanted.
I could see the steam beginning to come out of her ears when she said "I would like to buy a camera."
He then said to me "We have lots of basic for beginners that should be suitable." And he had to add with a beaming smile "We've even got some in pink!"
At that point I walked out. My friend came out a short while later after explaining to him the error of his ways and probably treated him to a colonoscopy with the biggest lens in the shop and a tripod thrown in for good measure.
Unbelievable behaviour. He must have been a rookie salesman - he made all the major blunders there!
 
He was playing a Russian in that. He also worked with Kubrick again in Barry Lyndon.
2001 also had wide-screen televisions on the space shuttle and the crew of the Discovery appear to use tablets when they watch themselves being interviewed on the telly.

Maplin's service was no match for my local independent photography shop. I went in to buy a lens once and told the assistant what I wanted. He stared at me, gave a long sigh, shrugged his shoulders and said "We don't have any."
"There's one in the window and three in the cabinet behind you."
Another stare, another long sigh then he wandered off. I thought he was going to get a key for the cabinet but was away for ages and when he came back and saw I was still there, gave another sigh and stood at the far end of the counter staring off into space.
I'm amazed they sold anything. On Saturdays, real customers couldn't get near the counter because of members of the local photography society wanting to play with every camera in the shop from opening to closing time. They just took over the place, making snide comments and braying like donkeys.
When a big national retailer opened up that place closed within a month.

Interesting. We used to have an independent camera shop which also sold binoculars and telescopes and in theory was the only nearby sales and maintenance place for those who still liked to shoot on film. All fine in theory, but they were generally bumptious, patronising and hostile - just like your local shop. Nevertheless local photo fans tried to support the business (they couldn't be bothered to have a website - a decision I sort of respect but was no doubt pure stubborness). I gave them a couple of SLRs to fix and they contacted me about a year later as they were going out of business to say (reading between the lines) that they couldn't be arsed. Apparently it once used to be an excellent shop. All a bit sad.
 
Local camera shops just seem to be places that send out your camera to some place unknown for repair. Usually at a high cost just to look at it.

I handed in my Finepix S2 Pro because it wouldn't work. It cost me £128 just to have it returned with a 'can't do the job' notice. And they wanted to know if I might like to leave it with them for spares. This is a £2000 camera.

In the end it turned out to be the Lithium cells that were low. The NiCads were fine. I replaced them and it works ok.

Dave.
 
Sounds par for the course. I can picture the scene:

Shop man: "Alright then, leave it with us. Would you like a receipt?"
INT21: (brightly) "Yes please."
Shop man: "Tut...Sigh...only I'll have to write one out y'see... "

God only knows how they thought they could take a DSLR to bits for 'spares'!

To be fair I suppose it's hard to approach your work with much enthusiasm if your business is fated to fail sooner or later. But in our local camera shop (still missed by many, in a way) the staff, despite their financial worrries and declining customer base, sometimes seemed actually quite angry that someone had walked through to door to bother them.

This attitude reminds me of when a few of us ran a little film society pulling some strings to screen movies way before their domestic release - some mainstream titles, some more arty and obscure. One of the venues we had was a social club which was on its uppers and facing closure due to a lack of new members and declining attendance. We got people in on nights where the tumbleweeds would normally be rolling through the bar and, as they'd given up on their fully-equipped kitchen 'cos nobody ate there any more, we arranged a deal where our members could have a decent pre-film evening meal for a reasonable price - thereby actually making money for the club on a weekday night both over the bar and in the restaurant bit. We thought they'd be delighted. Our film club didn't make a penny apart from voluntary donations on a 'how much did you enjoy the film?' basis, which went into a building society account to buy new equipment should anything break and to pay for our website, printing costs, etc. Most films were supplied for free by the distributors as we were drawing attention to their product, but sometimes we had to pay. There wasn't really enough left for new equipment but we weren't doing it to make money.

"I hope no one else wants to order any more bloody food", the bar steward and kitchen staff would complain whenever we'd attracted a decent contingent of thirsty, hungry diners - as this meant they had to do extra work. I don't want to sound like some kind of old-school Tory who believes people should be worked like horses lest they get up to some mischief or other, but given the general air of anxiety about everyone losing their jobs this struck me as a very strange way of carrying on.
 
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Radio Shack has had a similar fate in the US. Dick Smith's has gone under in New Zealand. These stores sold basic electronic components which allowed folk with a soldering Iron and the ability to follow a circuit diagram to build stuff.

I've built a few lights, (badly), for my bike before Liion batteries-lights became available.


Does it worry anyone else that many of us don't have access to stuff to build basic electronic devices anymore?


If we face a zombie apocalypse we are in poorer shape than our grandparents would have been once our smart phones have died.
 
If we face a zombie apocalypse we are in poorer shape than our grandparents would have been once our smart phones have died.

Although, we have had more access to the zombie apocalypse 'How to...' manuals that are regularly broadcast in cinemas and on telly (albeit in dramatised form).
 
..Does it worry anyone else that many of us don't have access to stuff to build basic electronic devices anymore?..

All the stuff is still there. But you have to go online to get it.

Mind you, most people these days don't have the faintest idea of how to go about making electronic 'things'. And why would they bother when they can probably buy a ready built device for less than the price of the components.

In my teens I was an avid builder of small electronic circuits. Even got great pleasure from making a crystal set from bits found on the local tip. I still have a genuine 'cat's whisker'.

Then came valves, and then discrete semiconductors. And we now where we are. A superhet' in a package the size of a sugar cube.



INT21
 
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