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Bachelor Numpad
Sep 16, 2001

All wreckin' and smashin' my junk on the crossbar
I want to know: where the hell are they finding these 80s sets? Whoever's designing the sets or finding the locations makes it look so good it hurts.

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Finndo
Dec 27, 2005

Title Text goes here.
Re Macintosh -- Earlier in the episode someone made a comment about "Did you see windows?" I am pretty sure windows came several years after Macintosh took the world... well colleges, anyway... by storm. (And if we're going to get nitpicky, I'm pretty sure that GUI and using a mouse were actually from the LISA, while Macintosh put those same things in a cute, relatively affordable little package). But then again since both Apple and Microsoft were ripping off Xerox, maybe Windows was already underway when the Mac came out. Either way, I spent my time scratching my head at timing issues instead of fully appreciating the Macintosh reveal.

Kilson
Jan 16, 2003

I EAT LITTLE CHILDREN FOR BREAKFAST !!11!!1!!!!111!

Finndo posted:

Re Macintosh -- Earlier in the episode someone made a comment about "Did you see windows?" I am pretty sure windows came several years after Macintosh took the world... well colleges, anyway... by storm. (And if we're going to get nitpicky, I'm pretty sure that GUI and using a mouse were actually from the LISA, while Macintosh put those same things in a cute, relatively affordable little package). But then again since both Apple and Microsoft were ripping off Xerox, maybe Windows was already underway when the Mac came out. Either way, I spent my time scratching my head at timing issues instead of fully appreciating the Macintosh reveal.

Wikipedia for Windows 1.0:

"Microsoft first presented Windows to the public on 10 November 1983".

It wasn't officially released until November 1985 though.

Factor Mystic
Mar 20, 2006

Baby's First Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
There's actually a demo of Windows 1.0 in part 3 of the IRL Comdex 83 home video posted on the last page. It's pretty cool.

3 Action Economist
May 22, 2002

Educate. Agitate. Liberate.
The Slingshot "team" got the specs from the fax Gordon sent to Donna, which is how they were so far ahead.

But I have to agree, Cameron flipping out is kind of dumb. "Hey Cameron, don't worry about it, once we have some capital we'll introduce the Giant II with your OS. We already know what we need for it!"

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012

Colonial Air Force posted:

The Slingshot "team" got the specs from the fax Gordon sent to Donna, which is how they were so far ahead.

But I have to agree, Cameron flipping out is kind of dumb. "Hey Cameron, don't worry about it, once we have some capital we'll introduce the Giant II with your OS. We already know what we need for it!"

I'm pretty anxious for the finale because I don't think the show writers have learned anything. We might see Joe make some emotional heartfelt plea to Cameron about how she was right and her OS would've blown the doors off Comdex, only to have her yell at him for turning her baby into a beige box and storm off into the night.

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

pentyne posted:

I'm pretty anxious for the finale because I don't think the show writers have learned anything. We might see Joe make some emotional heartfelt plea to Cameron about how she was right and her OS would've blown the doors off Comdex, only to have her yell at him for turning her baby into a beige box and storm off into the night.

If that happens I won't be back for season 2 (if there is one); but the way things are going it wouldn't surprise me, maybe even likely.

I've never been to Comdex but I've been to plenty of conventions and it's odd they never manned their booth except for 5 minutes. I would say that part was off-camera but really they spent a lot of time doing other poo poo (much of it hysterical drama) and the booth would have been empty almost the entire time. Doesn't seem wise. I understand that you wouldn't want to film the main characters standing around a booth all day but it's Comdex, that should have been covered somehow. Also their reaction to the Slingshot seemed extreme, like their balloon was completely deflated at it's mere mention. I understand Donna's reaction at being betrayed but the rest of them acted like children who lost their favorite toy. I don't know, might just be my unfamiliarity with that type of business.

ascii genitals
Aug 19, 2000



wormil posted:

If that happens I won't be back for season 2 (if there is one); but the way things are going it wouldn't surprise me, maybe even likely.

I've never been to Comdex but I've been to plenty of conventions and it's odd they never manned their booth except for 5 minutes. I would say that part was off-camera but really they spent a lot of time doing other poo poo (much of it hysterical drama) and the booth would have been empty almost the entire time. Doesn't seem wise. I understand that you wouldn't want to film the main characters standing around a booth all day but it's Comdex, that should have been covered somehow. Also their reaction to the Slingshot seemed extreme, like their balloon was completely deflated at it's mere mention. I understand Donna's reaction at being betrayed but the rest of them acted like children who lost their favorite toy. I don't know, might just be my unfamiliarity with that type of business.

If you were a retailer in 1983 would you rather work with Texas Instruments on a state of the art (buggy) PC or a small unknown company? They were pretty much hosed by the Slingshot, the other realities besides design (manufacturing, support) etc would crush them if they have a competitor that matches their specs and design.

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

ascii genitals posted:

If you were a retailer in 1983 would you rather work with Texas Instruments on a state of the art (buggy) PC or a small unknown company? They were pretty much hosed by the Slingshot, the other realities besides design (manufacturing, support) etc would crush them if they have a competitor that matches their specs and design.

Then they should have taken the idea to TI but the question was about their behavior which was completely defeatist. In 1983 I would have reacted the same way but I was a kid then, at 30 years old I would have acted like an adult and tried to lock down some orders based on a working prototype over a poster and some promises.

Rap Game Goku
Apr 2, 2008

Word to your moms, I came to drop spirit bombs


The slingshot wasn't from TI though. Affair guy resigned in the last episode.

hohum
Mar 17, 2010

umoms.

ascii genitals posted:

If you were a retailer in 1983 would you rather work with Texas Instruments on a state of the art (buggy) PC or a small unknown company?

Cardiff isn't some small unknown company. It's heavily implied that they had some major inroads in the mainframe business; which then get eroded away by IBM in an effort to deter them from entering the PC market.

Sober
Nov 19, 2011

First touch: Life.
Second touch: Dead again. Forever.
That subtle "1492" room number was where the people were watching the Mac reveal, hahaha.

TheRationalRedditor
Jul 17, 2000

WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

ascii genitals posted:

If you were a retailer in 1983 would you rather work with Texas Instruments on a state of the art (buggy) PC or a small unknown company? They were pretty much hosed by the Slingshot, the other realities besides design (manufacturing, support) etc would crush them if they have a competitor that matches their specs and design.
The Slingshot wasn't a TI product, the guy left mysteriously the previous episode and founded his own terribly devised eponymous label.

savinhill
Mar 28, 2010

TheRationalRedditor posted:

The Slingshot wasn't a TI product, the guy left mysteriously the previous episode and founded his own terribly devised eponymous label.

That makes them being able to make such a close copy of the Giant in a fraction of the time it took for the original to be made even more implausible. Like you said earlier, the reveal of the Slingshot was a good surprise plot twist at first, it just doesn't make any sense whatsoever though once the initial surprise wears off and I think about it even a little bit.

Anyway, does Gordon and Donna's pillowtalk consist mainly of PC specs discussion? I'm just wondering how Gordon jumped so fast from "Our whole PC design and concept got jacked by these assholes" to "Donna's been sleeping with her thief boss"

GutBomb
Jun 15, 2005

Dude?

savinhill posted:

That makes them being able to make such a close copy of the Giant in a fraction of the time it took for the original to be made even more implausible. Like you said earlier, the reveal of the Slingshot was a good surprise plot twist at first, it just doesn't make any sense whatsoever though once the initial surprise wears off and I think about it even a little bit.

They didn't have a working product yet. They just had pictures.

Baronash
Feb 29, 2012

So what do you want to be called?

GutBomb posted:

They didn't have a working product yet. They just had pictures.

"Guys, have you seen that brochure for the Zaltair? We're finished, time to pack it up and go home."

GutBomb
Jun 15, 2005

Dude?

JohnSherman posted:

"Guys, have you seen that brochure for the Zaltair? We're finished, time to pack it up and go home."

Did you miss the printer scene? It was exactly that.

Besides, they didn't pack it up and go home. Did you even watch the episode?

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

GutBomb posted:

Did you miss the printer scene? It was exactly that.

Besides, they didn't pack it up and go home. Did you even watch the episode?

Mentally they did.

While the printer guys were a similar situation, the scale was way different, two guys vs IBM.

TheRationalRedditor
Jul 17, 2000

WHO ABUSED HIM. WHO ABUSED THE BOY.

savinhill posted:

That makes them being able to make such a close copy of the Giant in a fraction of the time it took for the original to be made even more implausible. Like you said earlier, the reveal of the Slingshot was a good surprise plot twist at first, it just doesn't make any sense whatsoever though once the initial surprise wears off and I think about it even a little bit.
Indeed. HACF has problems with sticking convincing dramatic landings all the way, so far.

GutBomb posted:

They didn't have a working product yet. They just had pictures.
The guy kept boasting that they were going to beat the Giant to stores by at least a month so that still doesn't make any sense.

Finndo
Dec 27, 2005

Title Text goes here.

TheRationalRedditor posted:

The guy kept boasting that they were going to beat the Giant to stores by at least a month so that still doesn't make any sense.

A sales guy making promises... you can take that to the bank!

ascii genitals
Aug 19, 2000



Athenry posted:

The slingshot wasn't from TI though. Affair guy resigned in the last episode.

Ah duh I missed that, would have made a lot more sense if the larger company was the one screwing them.

Meatwave
Feb 21, 2014

Truest Detective - Work Crew Division.
:dong::yayclod:
There's something logically askew here. The Slingshot guys didn't have a product and yet they offered to pay Cardiff off. If they were genuinely going to be first to market with a cheaper product, why do that? Is it to pay Cardiff to not compete? That doesn't make sense given the crapheap of players. Why worry about Cardiff's competition?

Is it to prevent a legal battle? As the guy said, they're in the compatible business and Cardiff is knee-deep in poo poo already. By the time a lawsuit got settled, the fight would be long over. That reason also doesn't make sense.

I bet those guys were actually working for IBM. I bet they're being bankrolled by Joe's dad, which makes perfect sense given how IBM is set up as the antagonist and how there have been hints about IBM's portables. The timeline is right, too.

If Cardiff accepted the payoff, Slingshot's company ("Whitwell Computing") probably would have immediately been sold to IBM, where the only value of that business would be their settlement contract with Cardiff. They don't have a computer, they don't have the manpower for a litigation-proof IBM bios like Cardiff made, they're just trying to steering things to make way for IBM's upcoming portable. In this part of the story story, Cardiff is obviously Compaq and the Giant is the Compaq Portable.

By the way, this little preview of the finale is funny as hell:
http://www.amctv.com/halt-and-catch-fire/videos/sneak-peek-episode-110-halt-and-catch-fire-1984
(It doesn't give away anything really, as far as I can tell).

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012

Meatwave posted:

By the way, this little preview of the finale is funny as hell:
http://www.amctv.com/halt-and-catch-fire/videos/sneak-peek-episode-110-halt-and-catch-fire-1984
(It doesn't give away anything really, as far as I can tell).

Haha, that preview looks like Donna is setting up the entire evaluation to make it seem like her direct boss/lover took advantage of her, stole secret documents while working for TI, and then suddenly quit to try and launch his own PC company.

ballistics statistics
Nov 27, 2003

:shepface:God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title:shepface:


pentyne posted:

Haha, that preview looks like Donna is setting up the entire evaluation to make it seem like her direct boss/lover took advantage of her, stole secret documents while working for TI, and then suddenly quit to try and launch his own PC company.

Just seems like she's telling the truth about what happened. When you condense all the facts down to 20 seconds, it does sound pretty ridiculous. Really it just seems like she's in the process of quitting and trying to just get fired for incompetence so that they don't nail her with a non-compete agreement. Unless I'm remembering the scene from the last episode, I thought she was interested in moving over to Cardiff. It also seems like the TI story is wrapping up or even over now that the affair story is done and the boss resigned.

Fiendish Dr. Wu
Nov 11, 2010

You done fucked up now!
Donna is going to use her Speak and Spell experience and make the Giant talk

3 Action Economist
May 22, 2002

Educate. Agitate. Liberate.

Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:

Donna is going to use her Speak and Spell experience and make the Giant talk

I honestly thought she had already done it after looking at the broken Symphonix speaker. I was expecting it this episode.

Gonz
Dec 22, 2009

"Jesus, did I say that? Or just think it? Was I talking? Did they hear me?"
Lee Pace was very convincing as an intergalactic technology expert in Guardians of the Galaxy.

ballistics statistics
Nov 27, 2003

:shepface:God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title:shepface:


Tonight's the season finale, right?

hohum
Mar 17, 2010

umoms.
Yeah but it really feels so much like a season 2 plot line.

Whispering Machines
Dec 27, 2005

Monsters? They look like monsters to you?
I missed the beginning of the episode- did they establish where Cameron is and how much time has elapsed between that convention and now?

hohum
Mar 17, 2010

umoms.

Whispering Machines posted:

I missed the beginning of the episode- did they establish where Cameron is and how much time has elapsed between that convention and now?

Cameron is was working for the phone company now. She designed a modem that runs at 9600 baud and got chewed out by her employer for letting an unauthorized modem on their network. She quit. Now Joe is begging her to run away with him.

hohum fucked around with this message at 03:34 on Aug 4, 2014

Nolan Arenado
May 8, 2009

Someone please gif the cookie sad face.

hohum
Mar 17, 2010

umoms.
It sounds like Cameron is inventing AOL

Whispering Machines
Dec 27, 2005

Monsters? They look like monsters to you?
Thanks! Yeah, just saw that bit.

Maybe they're inventing Bonzai Buddy?

hohum
Mar 17, 2010

umoms.
He loving shaved! That's it. I'm not watching any more of this poo poo.

MakaVillian
Aug 16, 2003

Well, in Whoville they say - that his tiny hands grew three sizes that day.

That was a ridiculous finale

ballistics statistics
Nov 27, 2003

:shepface:God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title:shepface:


The shave takes half the character out of Gordon. I haven't decided if I like the blowup with Joe just yet. We were warned at the start of the season that he'd have a meltdown, but I don't buy it happening the way that it did. He can't be going back to Cardiff after torching the truck and walking away either. Maybe next season everyone ends up at Mutiny and the season is focused on getting the modem and software up?

hypersleep
Sep 17, 2011

I watched the entire season of this show and wanted to like it, but it spent so much time on the characters' personal lives and building up contrived conflicts that it quickly became not just a chore to watch at points, but unbelievable. I get that the show is supposed to be a drama, but so much soap opera level stuff began happening at the middle point that I almost stopped watching entirely. The last 2 episodes had much better writing.

From what I've read, it seems that this show hasn't been renewed for another season yet, and ratings aren't good enough to expect another season. Despite what I did like about this show (all of the primary actors are great in their roles), I wouldn't care too much if it doesn't get renewed.

Kelfeftaf
Sep 9, 2011
Next season?

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Truther Vandross
Jun 17, 2008

This show had so much promise and they really crapped the whole thing away trying to make Joe the 80s Don Draper.

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