Atari Portfolio

[8bit]

I was watching Terminator 2 the other day and noticed the character John Connor using a small piece of Atari hardware to work out the pin no. for a stolen credit card and steal cash.
It looked interesting so I went to the Atari museum website and found out it was their palmtop computer the Portfolio (1989), quite a neat little device for its day. Apparently running an 8088 chip at 4mhz. 8)

Atari Portfolio (http://www.atarimuseum.com/computers/pccomputers/portfolio.html)

[x88x]

Wow, that actually sounds really cool...waaay ahead of its time.

[TheGreatSatan]

:pics:

[diluzio91]

http://www.atarimuseum.com/computers/pccomputers/portfolio.JPG

[8bit]

When Atari got sold off after the 1984 videogame crash, new owner Jack Tramiel took Atari away from games and more into computers. They had some good PCs and hardware. When they got back into games they came up with the world's first color handheld (1989), which allowed 4 player wireless gaming on one of the titles. Sadly the Atari Lynx was very expensive and went through batteries quickly, so most went with the cheaper b/w Nintendo Gameboy.:(

Right handed or left handed, Lynx had you covered. Once again Atari was ahead of its time.8)

http://dl.openhandhelds.org/dingoo/screenshots/atari_lynx2.jpg

Lynx on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-u0DLwqt6k)

[x88x]

I actually saw a Lynx in a thrift store a couple months ago...I'd never heard of it before then.

[Konrad]

The Atari Lynx (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Lynx) is a neat little gizmo.

It can play some of my favourite lost retro games (Klax (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klax_(computer_game)), Lode Runner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lode_Runner), Raiden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raiden_(arcade_game)), Rampart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampart_(arcade_game)), Robotron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotron:_2084)), plus a ton of others I used to play for hours at the arcade hear a lot about at school.

There's tons of 'em on ebay, most for around 5-10 bucks or less. I've bid on a broken one. Maybe I can fix it.

Or ... maybe I can modernize it. I have a few devices I can salvage 5:3 3.5" VGA 16-bit TFT/LCD touchscreens from, and my new (conveniently USB-equipped) TI Launchpad boards and MPS430 parts, and some memory chips, and all sorts of dead things with controller parts I can salvage ... assuming that the firmware ("Suzy" ASIC) can be extracted.

I think the games for this 20y-old device are abandonware and can be freely copied now under DMCA exemptions ... lol, assuming "Atari" (Infogrames/Hasbro) would even care.

[x88x]

I think the games for this 20y-old device are abandonware and can be freely copied now under DMCA exemptions ... lol, assuming "Atari" (Infogrames/Hasbro) would even care.

It depends if Atari has renewed their copyrights on them. IDK what their take on it is, just hope it's not the same as Nintendo...they renew all of their copyrights for everything they have ever made, so none of their stuff is public domain, and, it would be safe to assume, probably never will be.

[Konrad]

The games are published as copyrighted digital media. Consumers cannot "reasonably" be expected to use obsolete platforms like the Lynx these days, so this category of DMCA exemptions/provisions allow for the copyrighted media (games) to be duplicated, preserved, archived - basically do whatever you want provided you don't market them.

The trickier legal concern is the firmware. It's implicitly understood that you need to reverse-engineer the ROM to emulate/convert the data, while it's also explicitly illegal. Wozniak "endorsed" Apple IIx firmware being copied, Commodore is extinct and impotent, IBM was circumvented with white rooms, Sony has been a territorial villain, who knows where Atari might stand.

[x88x]

Consumers cannot "reasonably" be expected to use obsolete platforms like the Lynx these days, so this category of DMCA exemptions/provisions allow for the copyrighted media (games) to be duplicated, preserved, archived - basically do whatever you want provided you don't market them.

Not really...well, actually not at all. In the US, the term of a copyrighted work (http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm) that is 'a work of corporate ownership' and was published with a copyright notice is 95 years after publication. It has been in one way or another since 1964. The owner of the copyright can choose not to pursue violators, and most companies don't bother after the first 10-15 years or so, but as an example of what they can do, Nintendo quite vigorously defends its copyrights all the way back to the first stuff that they published. Interestingly though, they don't tend to get upset over virtualization/emulation of their firmware. *shrugs* At the launch event for the Nokia N900, Nokia reps were demonstrating community developed applications, one of which was an NES emulator that they were running a ripped ROM of, iirc, Mario Brothers (the original). Because of this, after the event, Nintendo filed a suit against them for violating their copyright by using an unauthorized ROM.

There is an exemption in the DMCA that states that if a 'dongle' (ie, some sort of proprietary hardware authentication) is required to access a piece of software, it is lawful to bypass that hardware authentication in order to use the (lawfully obtained) software if the 'dongle' is a) no longer manufactured and b) no longer 'reasonably available'. Come think of it, this is probably why Nintendo doesn't get sue-happy about emulators and the like..they're bypassing the need for a console (the 'dongle', in a reasonably loose interpretation of the exemption) that is no longer manufactured.

My original point was that a lot of companies don't bother defending their old stuff and idk what Atari's policy is on that.

[Konrad]

Incidentally, your observations about the DMCA aren't incompatible with mine. I'd never thought of the entire platform (or even the firmware portion of it) as fitting under the "dongle" definition, lol.

idk Atari's policies either. Like you say, ancient machinery (like the Lynx) is generally ignored, essentially becoming abandonware. I suspect Atari wouldn't bother challenging my attempts to play with Lynx hardware/firmware/software unless
1) I was somehow trying to make money off it, selling the games or game systems or Atari brand or whatever,
2) Atari already has (or plans to have) a re-release of the stuff I'm tinkering with,
3) the Lynx incorporates some specific technology which is somehow classified or - worse - now the intellectual property of somebody else.

Not to sound like I'm a criminal (or violate TCBS terms, lol) ... but I personally lean quite heavily into the anti-DRM mindset. This doesn't necessarily mean I download tons of pirated torrents, nor does it mean that I distribute them either. But it does mean that if I buy a machine, or software, or music, or movies then I feel entitled to do whatever I damned well please with the media (in private, lol). Even if that means, for example, getting modded DVD±R firmware or software which strips watermarks, or whatever. (All defined as technically illegal under DMCA.)

In any case - diverting threadjack - the Lynx is a really neat-looking little gadet. I'm not so impressed with the Portfolio, to me it just looks like a primitive rudimentary PDA.

[x88x]

I personally lean quite heavily into the anti-DRM mindset.

Same here, but as the saying goes, "ignorance of the law is no excuse", so I try and keep up with the laws I'm skirting as much as possible. Doesn't really bother me if somebody is going to bend/break certain of those laws, I just try and make sure they know where the line is...whether that helps them bend said law or just lets them know when they should be careful is open to interpretation. ;)

[Konrad]

The argument that ancient Greek philosophers and modern cops/judges deal with frequently. Ultimately, no matter how the law is actually written, something is not actually "illegal" until/unless somebody is formally accused of a crime.

Of course the guild of assassins lawyers knows their craft well. Remember that judges are more than just magnanimous wise and fair arbiters ... they're career lawyers who've been selected and appointed to their positions by politicians (in return for special legal favours, I would presume). The real truth is that the law is largely written to protect the status quo. Justice exists, but not in areas where powerful agencies (corporations) are able to influence the law. Just my opinions, lol, I'm a cynic.

[x88x]

they're career lawyers who've been selected and appointed to their positions by politicians

Actually, something cool I found out a while ago; not all of the states in the US require elected judges to be lawyers.

...sorry, getting even further off topic. :P

[Konrad]

I think we drifted off topic (Atari Portfolio) somewhere around post #5 (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showpost.php?p=304902&postcount=5).

It was ahead of it's time, but the Lynx was way ahead of it's time.

[8bit]

Some might recall back in around 1991 Atari successfully sued Sega for the latter's use of it's joystick controller pin connection (the standard set up with the old VCS 2600). However, that was the old Atari, today's Atari is purely software (except for those retro Flashback consoles). Still, I don't expect Atari modern would go after anyone "Terminator" Nintendo style. There is someone that has been making portable Atari VCS 2600s (chopping up big consoles, adding an LCD screen) and he hasn't been prosecuted. But with Nintendo you could be sued for even putting up an image of a vintage Game & Watch, lol.:(

Klax was a beautiful game, that nearly got released on the Atari 7800 console. It was about to be ported to that console in 1992, when they canned it to make way for the 1993 Jaguar 64 bit console.

Klax Lynx (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLWxCB-hxTE)

Klax VCS 2600 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcTaULQRulg)

Nintendo Parachute (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=156617731052271&set=a.155691087811602.31052.149641291749915)

[Twigsoffury]

When Atari got sold off after the 1984 videogame crash, new owner Jack Tramiel took Atari away from games and more into computers. They had some good PCs and hardware. When they got back into games they came up with the world's first color handheld (1989), which allowed 4 player wireless gaming on one of the titles. Sadly the Atari Lynx was very expensive and went through batteries quickly, so most went with the cheaper b/w Nintendo Gameboy.:(

Right handed or left handed, Lynx had you covered. Once again Atari was ahead of its time.8)

http://dl.openhandhelds.org/dingoo/screenshots/atari_lynx2.jpg

Lynx on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-u0DLwqt6k)


I had one of those.

[Drum Thumper]

Still, I don't expect Atari modern would go after anyone "Terminator" Apple style. [/URL]

Fixed. Proof here (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20019855-17.html?tag=mncol;9n).

[x88x]

.....and crap like that is why I have such a low opinion of Apple... Yes, they're fully within their rights to do it, but really? Going after a company that provides a service that they don't, because they're not licensing the plugs? Maybe this is why so much of the rest of the industry just uses the same plugs. :P

[msmrx57]

:stupid: Jobs being an a@# again.

[AmEv]

Wow.

It's just a magnet, voltage wires, and signal wires.

I agree Apple is getting out of hand. Most people think a Mac is a Mac, no matter how old it is.
"Why doesn't my iMac G3 run Adobe Photoshop as well as my 2011 iMac?"
DUH!