Subject: RE: Re: OT: "Nortair" on TV

From: "Steve Thatcher" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue Apr 8 10:56:00 2003

If they used Norton then they were a few years too early to warrant
giving him any credit. He was a PC guy that released the Norton
Utilities in 1982-1983 timeframe - after the blinkly light period
of the late 70s (unless someone can tell me what credit Peter
should deserve for the non-pc era).

best regards, Steve Thatcher

>--- Original Message ---
>From: Jeffrey Sharp <[email-masked]>
>To: [email-masked]
>Date: 4/8/03 3:32:39 AM
>
On Monday, April  7, 2003, Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
>> On Mon, 7 Apr 2003, Andrew Strouse wrote:
>> > Hi all.  I was watching Malcom in the Middle last night
and they had a
>> > classic computer storyline.  The were cleaning out their
garage and
>> > found a "Nortair" computer.  It looked to me like an altair
front panel
>> > with the base but no cover and no cards inside.
>> 
>> I guess that name is supposed to be a catenation of "Northstar"
and
>> "Altair".
>
>You give these people too much credit.  I'd say "Norton" and
"Altair".
>-- 
>Jeffrey Sharp

---

From: Jeffrey Sharp <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue Apr 8 11:35:01 2003

On Tuesday, April  8, 2003, Steve Thatcher wrote:
> > > I guess that name is supposed to be a catenation of "Northstar" and
> > > "Altair".
> >
> > You give these people too much credit.  I'd say "Norton" and "Altair".
>
> If they used Norton then they were a few years too early to warrant giving
> him any credit. He was a PC guy that released the Norton Utilities in
> 1982-1983 timeframe - after the blinkly light period of the late 70s
> (unless someone can tell me what credit Peter should deserve for the
> non-pc era).

No, I meant that Sellam was giving the TV show's makers too much credit.
The way I thunk it, they knew that this Norton guy had been around for a
while, and they 'knew' that the Altair was the 'first computer', so they
just put them together.  That was based on my opinions on how much Hollywood
and friends know about computer history.

-- 
Jeffrey Sharp

---

From: Vintage Computer Festival <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue Apr 8 12:49:01 2003

> and friends know about computer history.

It could be that there's a vintage geek on the show's writing crew.  But
anyway, I don't know why they didn't just make it an Altair.  It's not
like they would be violating copyrights or giving some company free
advertising.  Who knows.

-- 

Sellam Ismail                                        Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger                http://www.vintage.org

 * Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *

---

From: "Fred Cisin (XenoSoft)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue Apr 8 13:05:00 2003

> like they would be violating copyrights or giving some company free

How much does it cost for a "product placement"?
Might there be a studio POLICY that NO product name goes unmangled until
fees are paid?

OR
If they used a REAL name, then geeks would write in griping about
inaccuracies of model number, etc.  If they HAD said Altair, and used a
homemade mockup, instead of a real one, then they would become the subject
of lots of email on lists like this.
Therefore, what they had probably WAS a Nortair.  The only Nortair to ever
exist.

---

From: "Hans Franke" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue Apr 8 14:08:00 2003

> Therefore, what they had probably WAS a Nortair.  The only Nortair to ever

I öove your explanation Fred.

Gruss
H.

--
VCF Europa 4.0 am 03./04. Mai 2003 in Muenchen
http://www.vcfe.org/

---

From: Kevin Handy <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue Apr 8 14:30:00 2003

>>>like they would be violating copyrights or giving some company free
Looking at it, it had an Altair front panel, but behind that it looked
like a stereo inside.  Was there any audio equipment company starting
with "Nor" that they could have cojoined to Altair?

And, considering that he broke it in half over his knee, I doubt anyone
who ever picked up a real Altair would believe that someone could
possibly do that.

---

From: "Fred Cisin (XenoSoft)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue Apr 8 17:03:00 2003

> who ever picked up a real Altair would believe that someone could

It would be best to not argue with anybody who is capable of breaking an
Altair over their knee.

---

From: "Charles E. Fox" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed Apr 9 07:45:00 2003

>It would be best to not argue with anybody who is capable of breaking an

         I once caught an XT with my knee when the cover came off 
unexpectedly, it didn't seem to bother the XT, can't say the same for my knee!

         Charlie Fox
                                 Charles E. Fox Video Production
                                         793 Argyle Rd.
                                 Windsor Ontario Canada N8Y 3J8
                                 519-254-4991    [email-masked]
                                 Check out the "Camcorder Kindergarten"
                                         at http://chasfoxvideo.com

---

From: "Fred Cisin (XenoSoft)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed Apr 9 12:52:00 2003

> unexpectedly, it didn't seem to bother the XT, can't say the same for my knee!

During the Loma Prieta quake, a seven foot high three foot wide bookcase
full of computer books toppled onto an open 5150 in my office.  It bent
the corner of the case slightly.