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Graphic Interpretation - June 15, 2000 - A Date to Remember
by Bruce Thomas

Wow!

I'm sitting here tonight opening my snail mail and find that it contains my copy of CD-ROM Commander 128 from Dale Sidebottom. So Cool! I've had a CD-ROM Drive sitting beside my CMD HD for about 6 months now and I can finally put it to use. I have a CD already (the ftp.funet.fi files) and plan to order a couple from Australia that Gaelyne Gasson has recently offered for sale. Plenty of GEOS files on these CDs.

I turn to my computer and open my e-mail and read that Maurice Randall has just had success with The Wave 64 browsing websites online, GRAPHICALLY. His thoughts also headed down under and he visited Rod and Gaelyne's Videocam site (http://videocam.net.au/) with a little side trip to Colin Thomson's web page (http://videocam.net.au/^colinjt/). So very cool indeed (and neat for these people to be linked to this historical moment)!

I have also recently had the opportunity to test a patch by Werner "The Patch King" Weicht for geoCanvas (Nate Fiedler's awesome geoPaint alternative). This patch lets geoCanvas operate under Wheels by modifying the RAM Bank geoCanvas uses. Werner tells me he is hoping to make it work under MegaPatch3 also. While I was able to open geoCanvas (and 3 files at once) under Wheels 64 there were still a few problems and Werner is working on it some more.

All of this coming just a couple of weeks after I received an update from the TIFCU (The Internet For Commodore Users) Mailing List containing a link to the web site of Roy and Ronny Bachmann. This site (http://members.tripod.de/r_bachmann/) announces a CD-ROM Driver for the Gateway that actually lets you open D64 files directly off of the CD. While the link to d-load the program wasn't working when I initially checked I do plan to locate this demo driver and test this baby out.

What a year Y2K is turning out to be for us die-hard Commodore GEOS fans! It seems like things just keep moving along.

Something for Everyone

Now, some people may argue with me that the amazing advances I mentioned above are not really for ALL Commodore GEOS users because each of them requires additional products above and beyond the basic system. This is true.

Not everyone has a CMD Hard Drive to daisy chain a CD-ROM off of. Not everyone has a CMD SuperCPU, which is a requirement to run The Wave. And definitely not every GEOS user uses Wheels or The Gateway.

But, these developments mean there is still life in the computer that we all use and love. This means that the useful life of the computer keeps getting extended. That is good news for every person who uses a Commodore Computer and who wants to continue to explore new territory with it.

These developments are also no threat to the person who is happy with their Commodore system without expanding it. Each and every one of us can still use the original GEOS package to do things that the Commodore couldn't do as easily before.

Leading from the back of the pack

Take a look at the world around us. Everywhere, things come and go. They become popular and then fade away only to return, years later, as people seek a little bit of the past in a nostalgic moment.

This recurring cycle happens with clothes and cars and furniture. It will also happen with the Commodore Computers (and it has already started - driven by the easy-to-shop-at auction sites on the Internet) and it will happen later in this article.

With the increased interest in the Commodore Computers there may be an increased demand for neat new hardware and software. Since you already have a Commodore Computer you are way ahead of the game (and you thought you were behind). There are a number of things that you can do to stay ahead of the game.

Three steps to success!

First, get yourself an Internet e-mail account. I have a good time writing these articles and I get some enjoyable feedback from numerous readers. If you want to stay on top of the news, however, there is no faster way to communicate than e-mail. Participation in a number of mailing lists (that is how Maurice quickly spread the word of his Graphical breakthrough) will almost guarantee that you get your news while it is hot.

Second, Participate. An old saying states that necessity is the mother of invention and this is very true in the world of computers. There is no greater loss than to have an idea and not share it with someone. If you have a need for a program then you need to ask a programmer (there are lots of people who are very grateful that Dale Sidebottom asked Maurice Randall to write PostPrint). Conversely, if you use a program provide the programmer with some feedback on why it is useful or make some suggestions on what it may be lacking. By getting more involved in the Commodore world your computing experiences will be richer and everyone else will benefit in the end.

Third, overcome FUD. Back in late 1992 I read a PC magazine editorial that proclaimed it was FUD-Free. I took this train of thought and turned it into an article for our User Group Newsletter in which I proclaimed that every Commodore user was FUD-Free. I am afraid that is no longer the case.

What, you are asking, is FUD? For many years FUD lived exclusively in the Consumer Domain of the PC World. FUD is starting to invade the Commodore world. Users develop a Fear of buying something (out of a belief it is too expensive or that it will be out-dated soon). This Fear creates Uncertainty in the Consumers' mind and that Uncertainty leads to Doubt as to which way they should lean in regards to their computer system, peripherals and software.

Once you overcome your FUD you will find that all of the wonderful things I mentioned at the start of this article start to have meaning for you and your Commodore will become more enGEOyable.

If you have any comments on this article, or anything else related to GEOS, please feel free to drop me an e-mail to: rbthomas@edmc.net .

Until next time, enGEOy your Commodore.