UPDATE OF QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS
I have now received a total of 27
completed questionnaires (a reflection
of the slowly rising membership), so it
seems a good idea to provide an updated
list of the rather limited statistics
provided in Issue 21. Also included
later in this article is an updated
list of members' interests, so that
members can if they wish get in touch
with other members who share their
interests.
HARDWARE OWNED
According to the questionnaire results,
fourteen members own Master 128
computers, twelve own BBC 'B's, and one
member has a Master Compact. In
addition to this, I know that one other
member who has yet to return his
questionnaire owns a Master Compact,
and three members own Master 512
systems, including Alan Blundell and
Gareth Moore, who both have 512
sections in their PD libraries.
This means that a narrow majority of
members (14 against 13) have shadow RAM
in their machines. The average number
of Sideways RAM banks owned is 2.4.
This indicates that all but a few users
have at least one SRAM bank, with the
majority having four. I would advise
users without any sideways RAM at all
to get an upgrade.
Sixteen members have ADFS in their
machines, as against ten without.
However, ADFS issues seem to be
presenting some problems for members
with BBC 'B's due to memory
restrictions, so at present I am only
sending them out to Master owners, and
BBC 'B' owners who specifically request
it. Twenty people have 5.25" drives
only, six people have both 5.25" and
3.5", and one person has only 3.5".
Twelve members use televisions, ten
good colour monitors, four poor colour
monitors, and one a good monchrome
monitor. Four members considered moving
to a Teletext format all-important, as
against 23 who didn't, although this is
largely irrelevant now.
As for additional hardware, this is now
more widespread; two members have
65C102 co-processors, and one a 6502
second processor (these are effectively
the same in operation, although the
65C102 runs twice as fast). Two members
(myself and Hugh Williams) own 1Mb
32016 co-processors, although I have
received at least half-a-dozen
enquiries from other 32016 users who
are interested in joining 8-Bit
Software, and plan to find many more.
We now have six members who own modems,
and three members use Econet or know
someone who does. Six members have a
mouse, and three have either a Music
500 or a Music 5000. All but two
members own a printer.
MISCELLANEOUS
The 27 members who filled in
questionnaires knew 16 people who owned
Acorn Electrons between them. Making
issues compatible with the Electron
remains a long-term objective, but not
one that is likely to be achieved
within the next three issues.
Twenty-two members thought that the 50p
charge was reasonable, and four didn't.
All members but one thought a two-disk
issue should be produced if necessary.
The average age of members has risen to
34.8. The ages of members vary between
15 and 76, with all age-groups in
between represented, and the most
common being mid- to late teens. The
average length of time members have
owned their machines for is now 6.5
years.
Five members said they had no
programming ability at all; eight said
they can write simple BASIC, five more
complex BASIC, four members can write
complex BASIC and simple assembler, and
we now have a total of four
"experienced coders".
PREFERRED ARTICLES
The average ratings for different types
of articles have changed by a fair
amount since the scores published in
issue 21. Simple Programming and
Advanced Programming both still score
highly, though not as highly as before,
6.0 and 6.5 respectively. However,
Hardware Information has now leaped up
to an average score of 7.5, while
reviews and cheats for commercial
software has dropped to 5.9, only just
above General topics (5.6).
Modems/Comms scored 4.6.
PREFERRED SOFTWARE
Utilities still score the highest by
far with 8.6, Applications are now next
with 7.2, Graphics/demos are down to
6.8. This leaves Games with 6.11, Music
with 5.5, and Educational software with
5.2.
MEMBERS' INTERESTS
Interests are included under two
headings (where available),
computer-related and general. Phone
numbers are included where members have
requested it. Addresses are only
included where members have either
published their address in the past, or
where members have asked me to publish
their phone numbers (in which case I
have assumed they don't mind their
address being published as well).
If neither address nor phone number are
given, a textfile message can be sent
to the member via the 8BS messaging
system (see issue 20 or the printed
notes for details). Alternatively, send
the message you want the member to have
on paper (no more than one sheet of A4)
to me, and I will enclose it with the
next issue.
If any of the details below are wrong,
please let me know ASAP and I will
correct them. Also let me know if I
have not published your address and you
would like me to.
05B John T.C. Frost 0473 822547
5 GAELL CRESCENT, HADLEIGH, IPSWICH,
IP7 5HT
Computing Interests:
Spreadsheets Utilities Genealogy
General Interests:
Gamefishing Gardening
15A Steven Flintham
6 LAYTHORPE AVENUE, SKEGNESS,
LINCOLNSHIRE, PE25 3BX
Computing interests:
BASIC & C Utility Writing
Fractals Artificial Intelligence
General interests:
Astronomy Science Science fiction
16C Michael T Farnworth
27 Hunt St, Atherton, Manchester, M29
9JF
Computing interests:
Programming
General interests:
St John Ambulance Piano
176 Eric J Shuker 0271 864500
89 CHANNEL VIEW, ILFRACOMBE, DEVON EX34
9PU
Computing interests:
BASIC Programming Applications
Word Processing
18E Steven J. Johnson
9 FOXGROVE, MILTON REGIS,
SITTINGBOURNE, KENT, ME10 2DW
Computing Interests:
Business Education Games
General Interests:
Carpentry Music Sport
1K1 Abdus Sattar Shakoor
Computing interests:
PASCAL & 6502 Programming Kick Off 2
General interests:
Football Squash Badminton
1V5 James M. Cavanagh 091 264 3250
8, DOWNHAM, WEST DENTON, NEWCASTLE ON
TYNE, TYNESIDE, NE5 2YN
Computing interests:
Programming Games Graphics
General interests:
Satellite TV Music Videos
204 Carl Wheat
Computing interests:
BASIC Programming Games Educational
20G Roy Dickens 0933 55556
40 SHORTSTOCKS, RUSHDEN, NORTHANTS,
NN10 0EB
Computing interests:
Programming Board Games
26M Roy W. Goodall 0532 679881
24 SILKMILL DRIVE,TINSHILL,LEEDS
16,LS16 6DX
Computing interests:
Comms Education
General interests:
Ham Radio
275 David Roy Steadman 0777 706995
7 WOODSIDE, RETFORD, NOTTS, ND22 7YA
Computing interests:
Education Puzzles Chess
General interests:
Gardening DIY Electronics
27N John Roy Ilsley
61 KINGSLEY ROAD, EASTNEY, PORTSMOUTH,
HAMPSHIRE
Computing interests:
Programming Utilities AMX-type stuff
General Interests:
Mechanics Music Snakes
29Q Kenneth L Shenton
Computing Interests:
Programming Graphics Word-processing
General Interests:
Art Oil/Water Theatre/Cinema
Astronomy
2CU Conrad S. Gay
Computing Interests:
Programming Versatility
Entertainment
General interests:
Drawing/Art Music Dr.Who/Startrek
2J3 Chris Richardson
Computing interests:
Word Processing Programming Cheats
General interests:
Cycling Model Building Electronics
483 Daniel G. Shimmin 0204 492613
1 OAKWOOD DRIVE, HEATON, BOLTON, BL1
5EE
Computing Interests:
BASIC/C/LISP Hardware Expansion WP
General Interests:
PBM Gaming Hockey
53B John G Carpenter
Computing Interests:
Running a BB BASIC Programs
General Interests
Music Driving (!?)
6EE Michael G Needham 0742 424474
153 FIRTH PARK ROAD, SHEFFIELD, S5 6WU
Computing interests:
Desktop Publishing Graphics Music
709 Hugh Stuart Williams 0873 810162
17 EVEREST DR, CRICKHOWELL, POWYS,
SOUTH WALES, NP8 1DH
Computing interests:
Programming Graphics Comms
General interests:
PBM Gaming Food Films Bridge Chess
7GE Matthew R Price
Computing interests:
Word Processing DTP Games
General interests:
PBM Gaming War/Board Games Music
B27 Hedley L. Clarke
Computing Interests:
Database Design Printer Utils
Disk Utils
BC1 Brian W. Wood
General interests:
Photography Elect./Radio
C83 David R Stillman
Computing interests:
DIY Hardware Graphics Games
General interests:
Martial Arts TV Reading Stephen King
YJ2 Andrew P Snodgrass
Computing interests:
BASIC Programming AMX DTP Digi I.
Sound Sampling
General interests:
PBM Games Amateur Video Hill Walking
Badminton