Computer shops in and around Leeds from the past.

[jonleeds]

simong wrote: I have a (possibly dead, haven't plugged it in for years) ZX81, an Atari ST 2600 which saw a lot of use in a home studio (I believe there are people who still swear by them (and probably at them)) and a Yamaha CX-5M, which was an early music composer system running on the MSX platform, which was Microsoft's first attempt at a home computer platform in the mid-80s and used cartridges. Considering selling them or possibly donating them - the Computer Museum in Cambridge doesn't have a CX-5M at the moment. Simong, I'll have the old computer stuff if you're giving it away! How much would you want for the MSX machine? I used to tinker around making 'rave' music with Soundtracker on the Amiga 500 via a Yamaha midi keyboard , plus I had a sampling cartridge that we'd make our own samples with and incorporate them into the sequencer. My friends all had the Atari ST with Cubase which became the standard industry software. Also earlier than this I was given a Commodore 64 SFX Sound Expander plug-in synthesizer module and keyboard which was very advanced for its time, I dont know what became of that.

[jonleeds]

tyke bhoy wrote: kango wrote: I remember Boots selling a lot of Sinclair stuff and as mentioned Tandy but in the Merrion centre.     Tandy moved to the Merrion Centre next to Woolworths fromsomewhere in the vicinity of Albion Street but my memory fails as to precisely where. I also seem to recall there was a branch towards the bottom of Eastgate I can remember there was a Tandy / Radioshack in the Merrion Centre sort of opposite the entrance to Morrisions and I believe the was also one for a short while inside the (then) new Schofields centre. Whatever happened to Tandy? Did it go out of business? I can remember they were great for electronics hobbyists, hi-fi buffs and HAM radio types. I can remember buying a few of those build your own electronic gadget kits where you had to assemble / solder all the components onto a bit of bread board or something. I think I got my first multimeter from there and I was really impressed because it had sockets for testing transistors - even though its not a feature I ever used...!!

[raveydavey]

jonleeds wrote: tyke bhoy wrote: kango wrote: I remember Boots selling a lot of Sinclair stuff and as mentioned Tandy but in the Merrion centre.     Tandy moved to the Merrion Centre next to Woolworths fromsomewhere in the vicinity of Albion Street but my memory fails as to precisely where. I also seem to recall there was a branch towards the bottom of Eastgate I can remember there was a Tandy / Radioshack in the Merrion Centre sort of opposite the entrance to Morrisions and I believe the was also one for a short while inside the (then) new Schofields centre. Whatever happened to Tandy? Did it go out of business? I can remember they were great for electronics hobbyists, hi-fi buffs and HAM radio types. I can remember buying a few of those build your own electronic gadget kits where you had to assemble / solder all the components onto a bit of bread board or something. I think I got my first multimeter from there and I was really impressed because it had sockets for testing transistors - even though its not a feature I ever used...!! From Wiki: Tandy stores in the UK sold mainly own-brand goods under the 'Realistic' label and the shops were distinguished on the high street by continuing to use written sales receipts and a cash drawer instead of a till as late as the early 1990s. Staff were required to take the name and address of any customer who made a purchase, however small, in order to put them on the company's brochure mailing list, which often caused disgruntlement. A popular feature of Tandy stores was the free battery club, where customers were allowed to claim a certain number of free batteries per year. In the early 1990s the chain ran the 'Tandy Card' store credit card scheme and the 'Tandy Care' extended warranty policies which were heavily marketed by staff.In 1999 the UK stores were acquired by Carphone Warehouse, as a part of an expansion strategy that saw the majority of the Tandy stores converted to either Carphone Warehouse or Tecno photographic stores. By 2001 all former Tandy stores had been converted or closed. A small number of the stores were sold to a new company called T2 formed by a former Tandy employe Dave Johnson who continued the RadioShack style theme for a while but these stores have also closed, T2 continues as an on-line retailer stocking a range of RadioShack products and other electronics.

[Riponian]

I'd say that the type of retail that Tandy had has now really been taken over by Maplin.

[majorhoundii]

jonleeds wrote: Yes the ZX81 was the first computer I remember people getting besides them Atari 2600 games consoles and those Binatone / Grandstand 'Pong' rip off games which had all versions of 'Squash / Table Tennis / Football' etc on them. I've got an Atari 400 computer I picked up about 15 years ago at York car boot sale, that has a similar annoying touch sensitive keyboard the same as the ZX81 had. What a nightmare to type on.My Commodore Plus 4 I can remember going to buy it from Debenhams in 1983 where is was on special offer for £199 which included a dedicated Commodore Datasette (cassette player / recorder) plus it came with 10 games included - my favorites of which were Icicle Works and Treasure Island. I can still remember the music that played in the background..! Unfortunately I had to play these games on a black and white TV apart form the rare occasion when I got to use the living room telly on a Saturday night if my parent were of t't'con club. Its seems fantastic the amount of money these things cost back in the early 1980s, its almost as though there has been zero inflation on the prices of computers and consoles in that the price of a Playstation 3 today at £200 for example is roughly the same price as an equivalent computer / console back then. It seems the prices of much home technology has either stayed roughly the same or plummetted in price. I can remember when the first video recorders came out they were fabulously expensive yet you can pick up DVD players and even Blu-Ray players for well under £100 now.     You're right about the cost of the games, our first computer of any sort was an Atari and the games even in today's money were an absolute fortune. We bought a Commodore 64 in 1985, and still have it somewhere including the games. The best Commodore game IMO was Kennedy Approach - an ATC simulation. I'd be interested in knowing how to get an emulator for the PC.

[tiddler]

Slightly off topic: With respect to jonleeds' quote about systime"I can re can remember typing in those programme listings, god what a lot of hassle it seems now. I learned BASIC on the BBC Master that I went to Joseph Priestley college in Morley to learn, I had dreams of becoming a wealthy programmer / business man just like John Gow of Leeds based 'Systime Computer Corp' and flying to work in a helicopter each day to get around a drink driving ban!"I was brought up in Churwell across the fields from the back of the Systime glass palace, I can remember the helicopter coming and going. I also remember there must have been some event on at Systime where parachuters came down into the fields at the back of Systime. This must have been early 1980's. No idea what the event was?

[kango]

majorhoundii wrote: jonleeds wrote: Yes the ZX81 was the first computer I remember people getting besides them Atari 2600 games consoles and those Binatone / Grandstand 'Pong' rip off games which had all versions of 'Squash / Table Tennis / Football' etc on them. I've got an Atari 400 computer I picked up about 15 years ago at York car boot sale, that has a similar annoying touch sensitive keyboard the same as the ZX81 had. What a nightmare to type on.My Commodore Plus 4 I can remember going to buy it from Debenhams in 1983 where is was on special offer for £199 which included a dedicated Commodore Datasette (cassette player / recorder) plus it came with 10 games included - my favorites of which were Icicle Works and Treasure Island. I can still remember the music that played in the background..! Unfortunately I had to play these games on a black and white TV apart form the rare occasion when I got to use the living room telly on a Saturday night if my parent were of t't'con club. Its seems fantastic the amount of money these things cost back in the early 1980s, its almost as though there has been zero inflation on the prices of computers and consoles in that the price of a Playstation 3 today at £200 for example is roughly the same price as an equivalent computer / console back then. It seems the prices of much home technology has either stayed roughly the same or plummetted in price. I can remember when the first video recorders came out they were fabulously expensive yet you can pick up DVD players and even Blu-Ray players for well under £100 now.     You're right about the cost of the games, our first computer of any sort was an Atari and the games even in today's money were an absolute fortune. We bought a Commodore 64 in 1985, and still have it somewhere including the games. The best Commodore game IMO was Kennedy Approach - an ATC simulation. I'd be interested in knowing how to get an emulator for the PC. Try here Major...http://www.zzap64.co.uk/c64/c64emulators.html

[jonleeds]

tiddler wrote: Slightly off topic: With respect to jonleeds' quote about systime"I can re can remember typing in those programme listings, god what a lot of hassle it seems now. I learned BASIC on the BBC Master that I went to Joseph Priestley college in Morley to learn, I had dreams of becoming a wealthy programmer / business man just like John Gow of Leeds based 'Systime Computer Corp' and flying to work in a helicopter each day to get around a drink driving ban!"I was brought up in Churwell across the fields from the back of the Systime glass palace, I can remember the helicopter coming and going. I also remember there must have been some event on at Systime where parachuters came down into the fields at the back of Systime. This must have been early 1980's. No idea what the event was? Hi Tiddler! I used to go to Churwell Youth Club in the mid-80s, I lived just at the top of Churwell Hill near St Peters church. Thats interesting to hear about the parachutists landing behind the companys headquarters. The whole Systime story is fascinating and full of tales of dodgy dealings - selling American technology to the Soviet Union via South Africa and industrial espionage / copyright thievery. Its seems that John Gow the founder and boss of Systime was quite a maverick operator, there ought to be a book or film made about the whole story of the company's massive rise and fall. I can remember on their way down they vacated the glass palace to move into much more humble premises opposite my old high school at the top of Bruntcliffe Hill.

[raveydavey]

10 PRINT "SECRET LEEDS ";20 GOTO 10>RUNHours of fun....

[jonleeds]

raveydavey wrote: 10 PRINT "SECRET LEEDS ";20 GOTO 10>RUNHours of fun.... ha ha! raveydavey my chums and me had endless laughs typing that bit of basic programming into demostration computers left on in Debenhams and other outlets, usually writing in some rude words like 'bloody bugger off' or something like 'LUFC RULES' then sneak off chuckling away to ourselves while leaving the program scrolling endlessly down the screen... I dont know, life seemed much simpler then...