From: tstark@access.digex.com (Timothy M. Stark)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ti
Subject: Re: NCTIS report
Date: 28 Jan 1993 19:12:45 -0500
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: access.digex.com

[stuff deleted]
>>There has been some contention during the NCTIS meetings on the absence of
>>GRAM devices from the levels.  Again, the levels were decided based upon what
>>the larger markets in the TI community would be for software developers.  Also
>>recall that most of the committee are from the U.S.  Information for using and
>>programming GPL was kept very secret in TI's home country.  Europe and Canada
>>got the information needed to use the power of GPL not long after TI pulled
>>out of the home computer market.


>Perhaps, but still the best GRAM devices were built in the US and by Mechatronic
>(which was a major TI contractor).
>I was always wondering whether Craig Miller "invented" the GK or did he get
>the necessary info from TI (TI had a GROM Box all along...  and also a unit
>built for summer 1983 state-fair demos, which was displayed for the public and
>ran from multiple disk drives any of the available and would-be cartridges.
>This rare unit was purchased about a year ago by a member of LITI in a flea
>market).

>You know, I have an old Q&A session with John phillips, where he recommends
>not to touch GPL.  he says it is just yet another programming language,
>better stick with Assembly.  Don't have any opinion on this myself, just
>thought I'd mention this here.

Hello Everyone:

I believe that TI 99/4A was the great home computer because I am the 
TI-99/4A home computer owner since Christmas 1980. I still have it as my
collection. I have TI PEB Box with 32K RAM, RS232, and Disk Controller with
two double-sided slim disk drives. I have many different languages like
Editor/Assembler, Mini-Memory, Extended BASIC, and Forth. I wrote many
assembly programs for 99/4A.

I learned that TI kept their sercet about GPL. I talked with my president at
Pittsburgh TI User Group last 1981 about GPL. He said that TI did not want
to give information to anyone. That was top sercet. I decided to disassemble
the console ROM and studied disassembled code. I learned that was GPL 
interpreter that interpret another assembly language in GROMs! I wrote
them down. I wrote the GPL disassembler in BASIC. It worked great but it
was very slow. I rewrote it under assembly language. It was much faster
than BASIC version. I studied GPL-based disassembled codes in first three
GROMS. I learned that operating system was avaliable for GPL programs
only and some of operating system are not avaliable to regular 9900 
assembly language. Several years later, I discovered that GPL manuals
are in GEnie and downloaded them into my new computer -- Amiga 500!
I am comparing orginial GPL manual with my notes. Mostly notes are similar
to information in GPL Manual. However, some in GPL manual was new to me.
I learned about GPL completely last year! :)

I am planning to develop TI-99/4A and Geneve emulator for MS-DOS and Amiga
but I have Amiga only. Unfornaturely I do not have the hard drive for
my Amiga. Until I get my hard drive, I will resume to develop them. However
I still have MS-DOS based TI emulator here. I plan to upload it to for
anonymous ftp very soon. Oh, my emulator will be RAM-based only computer
that will load ROMs into RAM then start simulation itself.

I still am looking for GRAM devices for my TI computer. :(

I learned that TI made the biggest mistakes about GPL because they kept
them serectly themselves then they pulled out in 1983. TI lost their
money so much because of top secret materials. If TI release GPL information, 
they will make good money. That is only way to do that. Sorry, folks, that
is too late for TI. 

What do you think about that? Any suggestions?

-- Tim Stark
   Satisfied TI 99/4A owner.

P.S. I am apologizing for my spelling errors.

-- 
Timothy Stark               Digex:  tstark@access.digex.com (Preferred)
837 North Van Dorn St       Portal: Timothy_M_Stark@cup.portal.com
Alexandria, Va. 22304-2723  TDD: (703) 212-9731 Pager: (703) 702-4078
"Washington, DC is the most deaf population!! -- Gallaudet University"
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ti