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[News] individual Computers: C-One production startedANN.lu
Posted on 10-Apr-2003 12:04 GMT by Jens Schönfeld23 comments
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After more than two years development time, the C-One production has started. It'll start selling on may 5th in Germany and the Netherlands. Our other European partners should have the boards by may 9th, when the board will also be launched in North America.

Many projects have dealt with re-configurable computers so far, but none of them is as consistent and flexible as the C-One. Other projects only kept parts of the hardware re-configurable, but the C-One can change the behaviour of it's chipset even during runtime. Therefore, the C-One is the world's first re-configurable computer. Read more on the official homepage of the C-One.
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 1 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by takemehomegrandma on 10-Apr-2003 12:13 GMT
WOW! :-D

This is really good news! Count me in for *at least* one of those! :-)

I wonder if GGS data will sell them?
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 2 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Lando on 10-Apr-2003 14:00 GMT
Good. I'll most likely get one, but I'll wait for the final version and the 6502 module!
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 3 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by brotheris on 10-Apr-2003 14:46 GMT
Wasn't Sprinter (Speccy clone) first ? ;-) (based on altera aswel)
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 4 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by redrumloa on 10-Apr-2003 15:44 GMT
-ahem-
/gets into his best Monty Burns' voice

Excelent!
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 5 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 10-Apr-2003 15:49 GMT
Oh great..
I preordered from KDH, but canceled my order when they postponed the delivery date. Now it's finally coming and I no longer have the cash. Oh well, I'll catch it later I guess..
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 6 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Atheist2 on 10-Apr-2003 17:26 GMT
This is THE computer for horsing around with!!!!!!!!!!!!


Compact Flash Media slot (drool), SOOOOOOOOO COOOOOLLLLL!

No hard drive necessary, near instant boot up...

ONLY AmigaOne will be better!!!

This thing ROCKS!!!!!!

AmigaOne! I adore my C-ONE = 64!!!
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 7 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by takemehomegrandma on 10-Apr-2003 18:32 GMT
In reply to Comment 6 (Atheist2):
I adore my commodore, my commodore sixty four! :-)
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 8 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Jens Schönfeld on 10-Apr-2003 18:33 GMT
In reply to Comment 3 (brotheris):
The "Sprinter" is not re-configurable on the fly. It configures once on bootup, but then has a static behaviour. To my knowledge (and I've done quite a bit of research before I made that issue), the C-One is the world's first fully re-configurable computer.

Many attempts in making such a computer have been made before, and that includes the Boxer (wannabe Amiga clone that never came out, also based on Altera). Ther's also a project around the Acorn scene, but that has been postponed a lot of times, and not even shown a prototype until today.

More FPGA based things like the CPCNG are also very unlikely to hit the market any time soon. Even if they make it, they have no plans on being re-configurable on the fly, but this is IMHO a key feature that makes the C-One very special. There are quite a few problems to be solved to make it 100% flexible, and I guess this is what delays many projects.

Jens Schönfeld
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 9 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Jens Schönfeld on 10-Apr-2003 18:41 GMT
In reply to Comment 7 (takemehomegrandma):
rock it!

Song one:

I adore my 64, my commodore 64
a sing with it, write with it
figure my path of flight with it
my commodore 64
I rate with it, create with it,
telecommunicate with it
my commodore 64

[background singers 'ba-baaa baaaa']

I adore my 64, my commodore 64!



Song 2:

I adpore my 64, my commodore 64
I cook with it, scheme with it,
educate the team with it,
my commodore 64

I pitch with it, catch with it
count my chicks before they hatch with it
my commodore 64

I adore my 64, my commodore 64!

----------
well... actually, the C-One is a lot more than just a suped-up C64. Just look at the website or the yahoo mailing list archives, many people got the idea of a re-comfigurable computer. Making it a C64 is just a good marketing thing, but the possibilities are infinitely higher.

Jens Schönfeld
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 10 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by takemehomegrandma on 10-Apr-2003 18:59 GMT
In reply to Comment 9 (Jens Schönfeld):
> Making it a C64 is just a good marketing thing, but the possibilities are
> infinitely higher.

I know! Who knows what the future will bring out of this! :-)
Hmm, maybe there will be some kind of a community driven initiative, kind of a "CROS" (Commodore Research Operating System)?
;-)

Speaking of that, are there (or will there be) any kind of developer kits for this machine? For SW and/or for HW (if there really are any difference anymore? ;-) )
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 11 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Atheist2 on 10-Apr-2003 19:39 GMT
I could see a GUI on C-ONE running CIRCLES around win95 and w98se even,

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!

AmigaOne! Is F U N computing making a comeback!?!?!
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 12 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by 3seas on 10-Apr-2003 19:52 GMT
These girls are gonna show us guys how computers are done!!! Those who forgot.... they should pay extra special attention.(cool, reconfigured to have a heart beat)
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 13 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Anonymous on 10-Apr-2003 20:08 GMT
In reply to Comment 8 (Jens Schönfeld):
I'm not at all sure the word "reconfigurable" means anything in the sense that you are using it. Or rather, as Humpty Dumpty says, it means exactly what you want it to mean, and nothing else.

Let me be more specific. There are two meaningful aspects to the computer. It computes (which is totally generalisable, due to Turing equivalency) and it does I/O. Machines have been built in which I/O is totally (down to TTL levels and clock timings) under CPU control. Machines have been built in which microcode is on-the-fly rewritable, taking self-modifying code to another level.

So what's unique about the C=1 ?

BTW The C=1 is a cool toy and I'm impressed by the engineering. I'm just not sure it's a "world's first" anything in particular.
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 14 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Atheist2 on 10-Apr-2003 21:38 GMT
In reply to Comment 13 (Anonymous):
How about,
price/performance/flexibility wise, at the moment?

Or is there a unit out there that is one better? Tell us!

AmigaOne! "What? Commodore again??", "but we sent our best man..."
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 15 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by brotheris on 11-Apr-2003 02:25 GMT
In reply to Comment 8 (Jens Schönfeld):
Thanks for making it more clear.
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 16 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Kjetil on 11-Apr-2003 04:49 GMT
In reply to Comment 8 (Jens Schönfeld):
Well I not so interested in having one, even so se how hard she is has worked on it, and from what I se in pictures and from what describes on the web page, I’m not a hardware man so don’t know the septic challenges, now that I have made this clear, I can safely say the I where hopping the Boxer where reseed instead of C-One that is if there where possible to chose,

And now I don’t se the point in the BoXeR, how that the legacy is dead anyway, and AmigaOne takes over, and even MorphOS is replacing the BoXeR and old legacy Draco/Amiga systems, so now I hope no one picks up the work of the BoXeR, it will only slow down the transformation form 68k to PPC.

I do not know the benefits of a reconfigurable computer, form me as a user, and for me as developer I don’t have knowledge or interest to reconfigure any of these chips for any task, I simply don’t know what to do whit them. I guess the concept is to new for me to grasp.
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 17 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Don Cox on 11-Apr-2003 06:25 GMT
In reply to Comment 8 (Jens Schönfeld):
"The "Sprinter" is not re-configurable on the fly. It configures once on bootup, but then has a static behaviour. To my knowledge (and I've done quite a bit of research before I made that issue), the C-One is the world's first fully re-configurable computer."

IMO this is a brilliant project, and Jeri and Jens are to be congratulated. It opens up a big range of possibilities.

Let's hope all the planned modules can be produced. Is an A500 module technically possible, or is the C=One limited to 8-bit computers?
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 18 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Andy on 11-Apr-2003 06:45 GMT
In reply to Comment 16 (Kjetil):
Well, as for me reconfigurable on the fly means that you may use hardware implemented processing in your applications. But GUYS! just think of it for a second! Which processing you would demand today/in the near future? video? - alredy implemented as powerful cheap processor and available as pci-card... sound - same... super i/o storage - same... what else? NOTHING! all you need alredy implemented as comlete solution (example: VIA - EPIA). CPU slot - that's probalby to simulate ZX-SPECCY,ATARI,ACORN,CP/M,MSX,APPLE2 may be even Apple2gs... but think again! why do we need this scrap - all this platforms implemented nearly perfect as software emulators. So this computer rather geek toy.
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 19 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Frans on 11-Apr-2003 07:00 GMT
In reply to Comment 18 (Andy):
"So this computer rather geek toy"

That alone is reason enough for me, and I assume many others, to buy it!

Retro and emulation freaks will want one... For me there's nothing like actual hardware performing retro things instead of only software on-top-of an OS...
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 20 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by david on 11-Apr-2003 15:31 GMT
http://www.millipede.co.uk/imago/spec2.htm
I wonder Millipede's Imago for the RiscOS also is reconfigurable?
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 21 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Oliver Achten on 11-Apr-2003 18:38 GMT
In reply to Comment 18 (Andy):
"...but think again! why do we need this scrap - all this platforms implemented nearly perfect as software emulators. So this computer rather geek toy."

You don´t see the bigger picture, do you? Implementing classic computers into the CommodoreOne is a nice feature, but it is rather uninteresting considering the fact that we will have a machine here where the main chips are fully reconfigurable, even while the machine is running! For the first time, we have an almost generic hardware, which offers a lot of interesting and new options for computer user. Remember that the performance of programmable logic can easily outbeat a software program/algorithm running on a modern cpu.

Unlike the Pegasos/AmigaOne boards, the C=1 is a real new innovation, which deserves MUCH, MUCH more respect than being branmarked as an expensive C64 emulator. (IMHO not a good marketing strategy by Jeri and Jens)

Regards

Oliver
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 22 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by CodeSmith on 11-Apr-2003 23:07 GMT
In reply to Comment 21 (Oliver Achten):
> Unlike the Pegasos/AmigaOne boards, the C=1 is a real new innovation, which
> deserves MUCH, MUCH more respect than being branmarked as an expensive C64
> emulator.

Agreed - in terms of sheer technology, the C=1 is IMHO the equivalent of the A1000 all those years ago. High-end graphics cards are migrating towards fully-programmable rendering pipelines, this makes the *entire chipset* programmable.

(IMHO not a good marketing strategy by Jeri and Jens)

Here I disagree. I remember the early days of the Amiga - loads of promise, no software. The C=1 will immediately have a software base (just not a very modern one, but still better than zilch). On the other hand you have to remember this is not a project focus-grouped by some suit, this is a project that exists because someone wanted to have fun. It started life as a gfx-card for a C64, and evolved from there (I won't say anything about out-of-control feature creep ;P)
individual Computers: C-One production started : Comment 23 of 23ANN.lu
Posted by Atheist2 on 12-Apr-2003 02:04 GMT
It's the *most* LEGO of computers you can own.

AmigaOne! A relative!
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