A new regular feature, conceived to provide a round-up of the latest developments in the world of micros and presented exclusively for ES&CM by the Editor of Electronics & Computing — Gary Evans

Latest news from the computing world is that Amstrad, masters of the low cost, all singing, all dancing, hi-fi system are to launch their own computer. Details are scarce at the moment, though Amstrad do say that the launch is planned for early this year and that the machine will be based on a Z80 MPU. The news is a signpost to the direction in which the computer market in general is likely to develop in the near future.

Last year saw, for the first time, the major High Street multiples jumping on to the computer bandwagon in a big way. With sales in the pre-Christmas rush running at anything up to ten times the target figures, computers have become the latest boom product. High Street chains are in the business of 'shifting boxes' and the performance of the best selling computers in this respect means that these outlets are now very computer aware. The shift at the retail end, away from the small specialist shop and towards the large store able to give attractive discounts, is likely to be reflected at the manufacturing end of things during this year. The Amstrad machine is just such an example. Until now, with a few notable exceptions, many of the computers produced in this country have been designed and manufactured by companies strong on innovative ideas but short on financial backing and marketing experience. The pattern is set to change during this year.

Quality Of Support

With this change of emphasis in the market, there is one aspect to which careful attention will have to be paid. This is in the important area of after-sales support. To date the micro industry has not been renowned for the reliability of its products. Indeed in the early days of two of today's best selling machines the reported failure rates were relatively high. A retailer's reaction when faced with a machine that fails to function is important if customers are not to be put off computing from the word go. It is important that a retailer can ascertain for himself that it is the machine at fault and not finger trouble on the user's part. Training of staff in the traditional outlets, for electrical products, has to date been reasonable although there is scope for improvement. When it comes to stores more associated with magazines or pharmaceuticals however, the story is not always as good. In addition, many purchases take place on that traditional shopping day, Saturday. On these occasions the influx of part time employees to help with the rush will often mean very little in the way of knowledgeable advice.

These comments apply not only to the problems of setting up a computer in the first place but, perhaps more importantly, when a customer wishes to add peripherals to his system. The average High Street outlet at present seems to be very short of staff who can meaningfully comment on the suitability of particular devices for a specific computer.

Many outlets will have to pay careful attention to the training of their staff if they are to maintain any customer loyalty in what to them, as well as their customers, is a new area of activity.

Electron Update

The Electron computer comes from the same stable as the hugely successful BBC micro and, when it was launched, was thought to have a huge selling potential over the Christmas period. Unfortunately, the curse of all new computers, namely that of supply problems caused by defects in the first machines off the production line, meant that only a trickle of Electrons (not much current — Ed) made it to the shops by the start of this year.

These problems should now be behind Acorn, and the Electron is likely to be widely available in outlets such as W H Smith in the very near future. At £199, the computer is an attractive machine offering a range of facilities with one of its major plus points being the compatibility of its BASIC with that of the BBC micro.

The description of the machine as a 'stripped down BBC computer', gives some hint as to the problems that will be faced by many people who wish to use the Electron for anything more than playing games. One of the economies made by Acorn in order to produce the sub £200 machine, has been to omit the majority of I/O featured on the computer's bigger brother. Gone is the printer port, gone the user port and gone the A/D converters. Instead, all these have been replaced by a Spectrum-like expansion port at the rear of the machine. To make use of this to, say, drive a printer, voice synthesizer, or to input information from any other device requires some extra electronics to convert the rather esoteric signals produced by the Electron into a rather more standard form. Acorn have themselves promised such a device, but as yet there is no sign of it and indeed it could be some little time before it is available in any quantity.

Help is at hand from a company called Micro-Z, who can be contacted at (Contact Details). They, have come up with a £25 interface that endows the Electron with a Centronics Printer Interface and a lot more.

The Centronics part of the interface supports the *FX commands familiar to BBC owners and also a feature of the Electron, with the VDU1, VDU2 and VDU3 and control characters providing full printer control à la BBC. Also, the interface provides an additional eight bit I/O port giving a total of 16 I/O lines and four control lines for user applications. The unit includes full instructions for use and with so many possibilities for use the unit deserves close attention from any present or future Electron owner.