(This might be a duplicate email, if so apologies, but I don't think the original got through)
Darren Branagh wrote: > BTW, a novel idea in my new employers is coming to fruition - we own and > sell the disgo brand under the guise of clever stuff ltd. (see > www.mydisgo.com) - it's the pioneer of the USB thumbdrive market. > We happened to realise we had a lot of old 32Mb and 64Mb drives left > (obsolete these days - amazing but true) so we have remarketed them to get > rid of them - we have changed the cap to a multicoloured one and loaded them > with ZX Spectrum emulators and games - them are due to be sold in Dixons, PC > World etc. in the next few months. The marketing name is the rainbow drive, > geddit? The plan is to do Atari and MAME versions too. We have just started > selling a FOUR GIGABYTE one - Which has its own ARM processor onboard -and > plan to sell some with DVD movies preloaded. Now, wouldn't a QL one be a > great idea?? Imagine... I already have a 64Mb one with a QXL.WIN on it - > loads of QL stuff will fit on it. What sort of prices are we talking of in small quantities for the 32MB and 64MB models? I've been asked several times to make a little CD or similar with a free QL emulator on board and some games and general packages controlled by a simple front end (a plug and go QL complete with software). 32MB or 64MBwould carry an emulator and plenty of software with ease. People like Norman Dunbar and Ken Bain have already described in detail how convenient these flash memory devices are. I'd welcome ideas and comments on whether this is a good idea or not. Here's a suggestion to get the ball rolling: 1. Put a QL emulator on it. 2. Put some QL games and other free software on it. A short QL demo might be an idea if someone is interested in writing one. 3. Put the QL manual on it (these are available on my website). This would also eventually encourage users to learn a little bit of SuperBASIC perhaps, and their QL interest might go beyond the "QL On A Stick" 4. Put a sweet and simple front end, which could even be a SuperBASIC program, to let the user select which game or program to run, preferably with a short screen of information before the program starts, especially if it's a program which does not return you cleanly to the menu. 5. A fairly short DOS or Windows text file to explain what it's all about, or a printed sheet of instructions. To all intents and purposes, this would make it like one of these stand alone video games packages, but one which works by plugging into a PC rather than stand alone. How I see all this is as something which might tempt ex QLers back via a simple to use system which does what most users remember their QLs by - simple to use computer, which is just that little bit different to other computers, free word processor, database, spreadsheet and games, and ability to use it all from a simple little PC plug in device which requires no desk space or space for other computers, and above all hopefully nostalgia will encourage users to take up the QL again without major investment of money or space or effort! I've convinced myself, where can I buy one Darren? ;-) Dilwyn Jones _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
