dd0b27e3   
   XPost: comp.sys.cbm, comp.sys.atari.8bit   
   From: bjjlyates@NOSPAMbellsouth.net   
      
   On 9/25/08 9:23 AM, in article   
   fcb11ef6-4eac-4cc0-b7a9-78b07b893cc5@2g2000hsn.googlegroups.com, "David   
   Murray"  wrote:   
      
   >   
   >> Guess those displays must have been a happier memory for people in the   
   >> States,   
   >> were you allowed to use the computers on display?   
   >   
   > I live in the USA and as I recall, we were always allowed to play with   
   > the machines.  I specifically remember playing with them in Sears,   
   > Radio Shack, BEST, Service Merchandise, Electronics Boutique, and   
   > Target.  Although, most of the Targets did not have the machines   
   > operational.  I also remember seeing the machines in Toys R Us, but I   
   > can't remember if they could be touched or not.   
   >   
   > In fact, I would venture to say that as a kid, my favorite store to go   
   > to was Service Merchandise.  The reason is that they actually had   
   > computer tables setup with chairs and everything where you could   
   > comfortably sit down and use the computers.  They stores weren't busy   
   > usually, and there were very few kids.  So unlike today with the game   
   > machines, there were no fights over who was going to play on them   
   > next.  I sat down in front of the machines for hours sometimes while   
   > my parents shopped around.  The employees never seemed to car as long   
   > as I was just sitting there typing.   They had 3 or 4 different desks   
   > and computers setup.  Usually they had a Commodore 128, a Commodore   
   > Colt, and some other kind of PC setup on a different table that had   
   > VGA graphics as I recall.  That was the setup for the longest time.   
   >   
   > Unfortunately, none of the stores ever had any software running on   
   > them, so I usually just played in BASIC on the Commodore units.   
   > Sometimes I'd write programs and leave them running for other   
   > customers to find.   
   >   
   > I do recall that Electronics Boutique had Amigas on display and they   
   > would actually have games running on them.   
      
   I liked the Kmart - they had nice kiosks of Commodore and TI equipment.   
   And this was '82, when TI hired nice-looking young ladies to demo their   
   equipment! I remember the one at our Kmart gave me her home phone number!   
      
   Stupid me, being the uber-geek I was, I called her alright! To ask her more   
   about the TI-99! (argh!)   
      
   I, too, liked to key in programs on unattended displays, like a FOR-NEXT   
   loop that would give me long enough to vacate the store, then a CALL SOUND   
   with all the voices set to full blast. I'd turn the volume up on the   
   monitor/tv just as I left...   
      
   I don't remember Service Merchandise having computers - ISTR that the one in   
   our area closed about two years after I got my telescope through them (this   
   was probably 1979).   
      
   I did a lot of shopping at Toys-R-Us (got my Extended Basic cartridge there   
   - $99) and Eckerd's (got Tunnels of Doom there, for $29, it was supposed to   
   be $60 but my friend at the register sold it to me for a sale price that did   
   NOT apply to Tunnels of Doom)...   
      
   These days you can walk into a Best Buy and play with the computers, but it   
   isn't the same. The computers are too much alike, and their demo videos are   
   way too boring.   
      
   And their "extras" are too "end-user", meaning I was shopping for either a   
   NAS hard drive solution or USB/Firewire. Only the $300+ NAS one was RAID   
   capable, the others were not. I'd like to find a store with hard drive   
   enclosures that offer RAID or not that would allow me to insert my hard   
   drives of choice and do some configuration. We are not *all* blooming idiots   
   these days, some of us still like to choose!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)