In the last blog post, I describe how the Microware CoCo 3s were taken from Microware by Scott McGee and given (gratis) to Bro. Jeremy at a mid-1990s Chicago CoCoFEST, whereupon they were shown there and at subsequent fests. During that time, they remained in the possession of Brother Jeremy.
The ending to this three part tale is rather short, but necessary to provide closer to the larger story.
Fast forward to 2012. At this point in time Bro. Jeremy has moved to England and no longer attends CoCoFESTs on a regular basis. Curious about the fate of the Microware CoCo 3's, I contacted our community monk to learn exactly where the computers where. As it turned out, he left them at his home monastery in Wisconsin.
We discussed an arrangement for them to be shipped to me in Louisiana, where they now reside.
And now you know.... the REST of the story.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Part II: The Monk Takes The Booty
In my previous blog post I explain how a late night of working at Microware led to the my discovering CoCo related equipment in a cubicle. I shared that discovery with a co-worker, Scott McGee
Since no one at Microware really had expressed any interest in showcasing the CoCo 3s and other Color Computer related hardware, Scott had the raving idea of donating the CoCo 3s discovered at Microware to Brother Jeremy at the upcoming CoCoFEST. I wasn't particularly fond of the scheme, but didn't put up much resistance to it at the time. Looking back, I should have made a bigger wave and kept the CoCos where they were and made more of a point to display them somehow at Microware's headquarters.
While I cannot remember the exact year, I believe it was either 1995 or 1996. The Chicago CoCoFEST was coming up during its usual April/May time frame. James Jones and I would take the drive every year from Des Moines to Chicago to attend. Scott drove and attended separately, as I recall, with the haul of Color Computers destined for the fest.
Brother Jeremy took possession of the CoCos at that ChicagoFEST and for years thereafter, brought them with him to every fest he attended, setting them up at a booth for display. I'll give him credit -- he took care of the systems and made them accessible for the CoCo Community to see.
However, there was a casualty in this -- the rest of the haul. I cannot recall what happened to the boxes of ROM Paks and the DS-69B digitizer, nor do I know what happened to the original Tandy documents that were house along with the rest of the hardware. It reinforces in my mind that the entire collection of stuff should have never been disbanded.
While I cannot remember the exact year, I believe it was either 1995 or 1996. The Chicago CoCoFEST was coming up during its usual April/May time frame. James Jones and I would take the drive every year from Des Moines to Chicago to attend. Scott drove and attended separately, as I recall, with the haul of Color Computers destined for the fest.
Brother Jeremy took possession of the CoCos at that ChicagoFEST and for years thereafter, brought them with him to every fest he attended, setting them up at a booth for display. I'll give him credit -- he took care of the systems and made them accessible for the CoCo Community to see.
However, there was a casualty in this -- the rest of the haul. I cannot recall what happened to the boxes of ROM Paks and the DS-69B digitizer, nor do I know what happened to the original Tandy documents that were house along with the rest of the hardware. It reinforces in my mind that the entire collection of stuff should have never been disbanded.