previously on scuzzblog : PCW9512+ teardown
previously on scuzzblog : The PCW9512+ update - Citizen 'Came'
previously on scuzzblog : Amstrad PCW8256
previously on scuzzblog: Amstrad MEGA blast - Part 2
previously on scuzzblog: Amstrad MEGA blast - Part 1
ScuzzBlog: Diaries March 2025
Entry 31st March 2025: Post 1: Amstrad driving force - The three inch failure.
Amstrad driving force - The three inch failure.
Having concluded my bench testing of my Amstrads with the 3" disc
drives I turned to the Amstrads with other types of drives. Whilst
checking over the 9512+ with the 3.5" floppy and the PC1512s with
the 5.25 drives I was again reminded of the driving force behind
Amstrad. For here we have a company with a very powerful steering
force with Alan Sugar at the helm, and yet like so many he either
took his eye off the ball or simply misjudged his own product.
It was clear from the ribbon drive to the PCW8256 utilising a
standard 3.5" floppy there was no issue with the technology of
an early age accommodating the 3.5" drives. Also the PCW9512+ did
eventually swing over to the 3.5" drives.
Amstrad preoccupied themselves with the 3" CF2 disks even though
it was obvious most of the main stream were going over to 3.5".
This curious way of thinking was also notable with the business
machines where Sugar opted for the 5.25" drives and the GEM desktop.
And yet in 1987 Amstrad were shipping the Microsoft operating
system with the GEM DESKTOP, Locomotive BASIC and GEMPAINT.
This set against a backcloth of dealing with MS trying to get a
better deal.
Later machines would dabble with 3.5" drives as with the PPC512 and
PPC640. And yet when draining the very last drops of blood from the
8-bit 6128Plus machines he fully remodelled the machine but still
had BASIC on a cartridge and used the 3" discs. The enthusiasm and
forward thinking that brought Sugar to the fore with Amstrad and
his range of computers was failing the business during its later
years, even though there was a clear path as to how the machines
should develop. His keen eye for 'doing stuff on the cheap' was
finally coming home to roost and with it a product line that was
soon to become archaic.
Shame really cus I reflect on my years with Amstrad as my main
computer and have no regrets opting for the range of machines. By
the time I had eyes on a new machine beyond the 1512 I was already
being tempted by Windows based tower systems.
Anyhoo I was saved by the Amiga in the end which used 3.5" disks
and no bloody rubber bands. The idea of using a rubber band in a
modern computer was really not a sensible way of doing things.
Like sticking a battery on a motherboard, another notable stupid
idea. The Amstrad MegaPC has both the genius of a Mega Drive
on the system plus the nonsense of the battery. A truly bonkers
computer... though it did have the 3.5" disk drive.
Amstrad driving force - The three inch failure.
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