




                                   NOSTALGIA
                        I wonder what ever became of...
          
          
               Recently I ran across an article that was talking about
          the  early  days  of  the  ADAM.  In retrospect, it is truly
          remarkable how enthusiastically the ADAM was  received.  And
          how  terribly  Coleco  botched  the  marketing of this great
          machine. Many  of  us  have  heard  of  the  horror  stories
          concerning  the  first production ADAMs. Let me quote to you
          an excerpt from  the  July  1985  Coleco  ADAM  Users  Group
          newsletter:
          
          
               "A  while ago I talked with Joseph Sheppard and this is
          what he had to say.
          
          CAUG: Would you still buy an ADAM today?
          
          JB: Yes, I would. I still feel, regardless  of  what  Coleco
          has  done,  ADAM, right out of the box, is the best computer
          for the money. My expanded  ADAM  (two  tape  and  two  disc
          drives)  with all the Coleco and third party software that I
          have is, in my opinion, more than enough computer for me and
          most people.
          
               In fact, I was at  Honeywell  the  other  day  and  the
          technician  told  me that the ADAM outperforms the Apple, in
          benchmark tests, for speed and accuracy in computing.
          
          CAUG: Did your ADAM work when you bought it?
          
          JB: I was one of the first consumers in Southern  California
          to  get  an  ADAM  in December '83. Of course, at this early
          date, virtually none of the ADAMs being sold worked and mine
          was  no  exception.  I  returned  my  ADAM  FIVE  times   to
          TOYS-R-US.  The  fifth  didn't work and they were all out of
          stock, so I shipped it back to Coleco  (pre-Honeywell).  Two
          months  later  I  received  my  6th  ADAM from Coleco and it
          didn't work either. By this time TOYS-R-US had some in stock
          so I got my seventh which also  didn't  work.  I  read  that
          Honeywell  was  fixing  them,  so I took it to them and they
          replaced it with the eighth one  (It  worked!)  which  I  am
          still  using  now.  But  the  truth is, I'm very glad that I
          stuck with ADAM!"
          
          
               There were a lot of similar experiences with the  first
          ADAMs. A lot of people point to the bad review that Consumer
          Reports  gave  the  ADAM as being its death knell. I re-read
          that report and it did  have  reservations  about  its  poor
          reliability  .  But  it  also made the ADAM appear to be the
          best computer yet developed (which, of course,  it  was).  I
          never  experienced  any of those problems that gave the ADAM
          such a bad reputation. On the contrary, I have found  it  to
          be  OUTSTANDINGLY  reliable. I have never owned any piece of










          equipment whether an automobile, VCR, TV, Hi-Fi, or  another
          computer  that has even come close to the reliability I have
          had with my ADAM.
          
               There is no question about it, though,  Coleco  made  a
          big  mistake  by  marketing  it before it was ready. But the
          enthusiasm of those  early  ADAM  owners  was  something  to
          behold! They wanted so badly, to get user groups going. From
          personal  experience,  I  know  that  the  IEAUG wasn't born
          overnight. There  were  many  private  meetings  in  various
          homes. They really wanted to get going, but friction and the
          inability to organize, plagued it for months. Many prominent
          ADAM  users  attended  those meetings. Harvey Klein and Mike
          and Paula Smith aggressively tried to get the group  off  of
          dead center. Bill Fee hosted one group which included Taylor
          Barcroft  and  Mike  and  Paula  Smith  and Brian Stranahan.
          Several times, it looked as though a  cohesive  group  would
          emerge.  Barcroft, who had highly commercial ideas about the
          ADAM market, moved off on his own and started putting ads in
          magazines for his ADAM Users of America. He  advertised  his
          newsletter  which  turned out to be that infamous "GARDEN of
          ADAM". Don't get me wrong. That was a real slick newsletter.
          Probably it was the  most  totally  professional  newsletter
          ever  put out by anyone. It was truly outstanding. But there
          was never a second issue. I rather treasure my copy of  that
          newsletter.  It  not  only  looked  good, it WAS good. Wayne
          Motel was one of the contributors. In October  1984,  Taylor
          got  his  newsletter out ahead of nearly everyone. That same
          month saw another commercial national ADAM users group begin
          publication. It was the SPRITE CHASER put out by the  No.  1
          ADAM  Users  Group  of Cherry Hill New Jersey. The president
          was Jay H. Forman and it appeared to be affiliated with M.W.
          Ruth although I don't know that for certain. It was a fairly
          good newsletter but not as good as many others of the months
          that followed. The Nevada ADAM  Users  Group  headed  by  Al
          Roginski   formed  that  month  but  I  have  never  seen  a
          newsletter from them. I'll have to ask Al about that,  since
          he  is  a member of our IEAUG. This was just one month ahead
          of the equally dubious ADAMLAND NEWS  of  the  International
          ADAM  Users Group, located in Lander Wyoming and run by Buck
          A. Rogers.
          
               Buck  Roger's  newsletter  was  not  a  fly  by   night
          operation  and,  although not as slick as GARDEN of ADAM, it
          was superior in every respect. Very  few  newsletters  since
          have  matched  it  for  technical excellence. There has been
          much said about the incredible claims Rogers  made  for  the
          equipment  he  was  developing. But according to some people
          who actually saw his stuff, he wasn't kidding. That hardware
          was so outrageously advanced, that to this day,  nobody  has
          proposed  anything half so fantastic. All I can say is that,
          if his hardware was as good as his newsletters, then it must
          have been terrific!
          
               Another  newsletter,  also  commercial,  hit  the  ADAM
          community  in  December  1984. It was also highly acclaimed,










          and a very professional newsletter. I speak of  Al  Gerson's
          AUGMENT,  the  official  newsletter of The ADAM Users Group,
          Inc.. Like Taylor Barcroft's users  group,  it  was  heavily
          advertised  and  totally commercial. Unlike Barcroft's club,
          ADAM Users Group Inc. was not a ripoff. It was published  in
          Lynbrook,  N.Y. None of these newsletters are in publication
          today.
          
               In January of 1985, four newsletters made  their  entry
          into  the  field. Three are still in publication. One, NIAD,
          was a commercial newsletter that had no local membership and
          held no meetings.  Another  was  that  very  fine  group  in
          Houston,  known as the Greater Houston Area ADAM Users Group
          under Terry Fowler and Tom Rutan. Also begun this month  was
          the  ADAM-X-Change  in  Wolcott  N.Y.,  first headed by Wade
          Rowley  and  later  by  Robert  Wright.  As  far  as  I  can
          determine,  theirs  was  a  fairly  short  existence.  NIAD,
          founded  by  Lyle  Marschand  in  the  Chicago  area,  still
          survives. It was heavily committed to marketing hardware and
          software,  but was not a users group in the usual sense. The
          third,  still  existing,  club  that  began   publishing   a
          newsletter  this  month  was  our  own IEAUG. It was never a
          commercial enterprise and has never failed to hold a monthly
          meeting since that first meeting in 1985.
          
               The following  month,  the  Puget  Sound  ADAM  Network
          published  its  first  newsletter.  They  were  merged  from
          earlier groups. The Seattle-Tacoma ADAM Users Group,  headed
          by  Barbara Duncan and the Northwest ADAM Users Group headed
          by Valerie Zimmerman predated the Puget Sound ADAM  Network.
          When  the Puget Sound club published their first newsletter,
          Barbara  Duncan  and  Valerie  Zimmerman  appeared   to   be
          co-authors.  In  February, the ADAM Users Group of San Diego
          County put  out  their  first  newsletter.  This  group  was
          directed  by the efforts of Sue and Bill Askew. The group is
          no longer in existence. It  was  largely  held  together  by
          Larry  Overman  who  lived in Fountain Valley California and
          drove almost two hundred miles to each meeting.  It  finally
          disbanded  last  year  with  many of its members joining the
          IEAUG. Strangely, Larry joined the San Diego club because he
          wasn't aware that there were any ADAM groups in  this  area.
          Actually,  at  the  time, there was another very active ADAM
          group in this area (besides  IEAUG)  and  that  was  AUSOCAL
          --ADAM Users of Southern California.
          
               One  of  the  all-time best technical newsletters began
          its short life in February of 1985. That was the  bi-monthly
          ADAM  Technical Journal of Milwaukee Wisconsin. I never knew
          what  happened  to  them.  The  publisher  was   Serendipity
          Productions   and   no  names  were  ever  listed  in  their
          newsletters. It did not appear that it was a users group and
          no  mention  was  ever  made  about  meetings.  But  what  a
          newsletter!! Far and away the best I have ever read.
          
               Another  independent publication, not affiliated with a
          users group was the Expandable Computer  News  published  by










          Sage  Enterprises.  It  began  publication in April of 1984,
          which makes it one of the earliest, if not THE earliest ADAM
          newsletter. It was largely written by Darrel Sage, but there
          were many regular  contributors  who  were  among  the  most
          prolific  writers  of that time. Sage Enterprises was also a
          commercial venture. Toward the end, their interest turned to
          the  Amstrad  computer  and  very  shortly  thereafter,  the
          bi-monthly ECN folded.
          
               In  May  1985,  The  ADAM  Users of Southern California
          (AUSOCAL) published their first  newsletter.  The  principal
          writers  were  the founder, Harvey Klein, and Paul Schector.
          This group drew its support from the  Los  Angeles  and  San
          Fernando  Valley  regions.  The  group  comprised  a  highly
          technically oriented membership.  They  maintained  a  close
          liaison with the Inland Empire ADAM Users Group. Harvey, who
          was the sparkplug of AUSOCAL, was burning the candle at both
          ends.  He  was  working on his thesis for an advanced degree
          which would be more than enough for most  people.  His  wife
          who  helped  type  his  manuscripts,  was  stricken  with  a
          terminal illness  and  died  very  quickly.  Understandably,
          Harvey couldn't continue the enormous workload of scheduling
          meeting  places,  putting  out  a  newsletter  etc.,  so  he
          arranged to merge AUSOCAL with IEAUG. A compromise  location
          in  Anaheim  California  was  convenient for both groups and
          that is where  it  is  today.  The  AUSOCAL  newsletter  was
          published for about three years.
          
               In  July  1985,  Jono Smith embarked on his short lived
          California ADAM Users Group (CAUG) with a  single  issue  of
          his  newsletter.  Greg Noblette was his assistant editor. It
          was a good publication but lacked organization.  Jono  later
          became  the  Sysop of the ADAM forum of the Family Computing
          section on Compuserve. His predecessor  as  Sysop  was  John
          Mesiavech,   a   giant   of  a  man  in  both  physical  and
          intellectual dimensions. John lived in  Glendale  California
          and attended a number of our IEAUG meetings despite the very
          long  drive.  Before  moving  to the Family Computing Forum,
          John was the mainstay at the  Creative  Computing  magazines
          ADAM  section  on  Compuserve. Later, when he was billed for
          over $900 by CIS (which John maintained  was  in  error)  he
          abruptly left CIS and the sysops job fell to the 12 year old
          Jono Smith. Shortly afterward, John bought an Amiga and sold
          the residue of his ADAM equipment to Tom Ball of IEAUG.
          
               The   Kansas   Coleco  ADAM  Users  Group  under  David
          Carmichael, began publishing their newsletter  from  Wichita
          Kansas  in November 1985. It has been a mainstay in the ADAM
          community ever since. David Carmichael has  also  been  very
          active  in  PLINK,  which  has  one  of the friendliest ADAM
          forums in the  country.  The  following  month  The  Greater
          Cincinnati  ADAM Users Group and the Denver ADAM Users Group
          began publishing newsletters. The Denver  newsletter  was  a
          bi-monthly  publication by Jesse Thornhill II. The Covington
          Kentucky newsletter was the  work  of  Harold  Orndorff  and
          Keith Bowman.










          
               I wonder how many of you recall the ADAMNET. It was the
          property   of  Don  Reese  and  generally  operated  out  of
          Arkansas, although it had numerous  addresses  in  Arkansas.
          Although  it was a commercial venture, it had a large impact
          on the ADAM community.  Ultimately,  it  too  vanished.  Don
          Reese  is  now  living  in  Diamond  Bar, California and has
          disposed of all of  his  ADAM  gear  as  well  as  his  huge
          collection  of  ADAMANIA.  An  IEAUG  member, Bob Gorden, of
          Yorba Linda, California bought his equipment. IEAUG has  his
          vast  library  of  computer  programs  (discs)  and  written
          documents.
          
               In the year 1985 there  were  a  few  more  influential
          users  groups founded. If they published newsletters, I have
          never seen any. The Bellevue AUG was started by Norm  Castro
          in  the  Omaha, Nebraska area. Norm is still very active and
          has  the  exclusive  rights  to  sell  the  back  issues  of
          Expandable  Computer  News.  There  was  a  group  that  Don
          Zimmerman started in the east, called  the  Genessee  Valley
          AUG.  Russell  Williams  in  New York City founded the Metro
          AUG. In Bloomsburg Pa. Steve Chamberlain  formed  the  (717)
          ADAM Users Group. And in El Paso Texas, Dick Lewin formed an
          ADAM Users group. Brian Stranahan was listed in almost every
          newsletter  in the country as having the Southern California
          ADAM Users group. This was never the case. Brian did  attend
          a  number  of  the  early  meetings  when  plans  were being
          developed for a users group, but he dropped out  and  to  my
          knowledge, there never was a group led by him.
          
               Another  piece  of nostalgia is a company known as JJ's
          Gourmet Hardware and Software Exchange. It was later  to  be
          known  as Orphanware and still later as CL Digital. And now,
          according to it's founder, John Lingrel, it is Gone With The
          Wind.
          
          
          Thomas J. Keene
          IEAUG
          





















