Prototype to the Canon Cat: the "Swyft"...

[pookdolie]

Okay so, after a little bit of searching, here's what I found out about this machine:

*Estimated production of anywhere from 60-200, based on various accounts (but who knows?)

*Used at a San Jose school for a test run

*Found 2-3 mentions online of someone owning one

Do you know anything about it? Do you own one? I have one headed my way via UPS; supposedly, it works.

 

[Soupwizard]

Holy cow, you're getting a Swyftcard!!?! How much was that?

Iirc, those are Jef Raskin's (original pre-Jobs macintosh designer) follow-on project to the mac. The Canon Cat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Cat) implemented the Swyftcard in a machine with a keyboard, display, 3.5" floppy, and modem.

I have a book called "Programmers at Work" from the mid-80's; it has an interview with Jef Raskin where he talks about the swyftcard. I"ll see if I can scan the interview in for you.

 

[Soupwizard]

The wikipedia article on Jef Raskin has some info about the swyftcard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jef_Raskin

 

[pookdolie]

Holy cow, you're getting a Swyftcard!!?

Close! I'm getting the Swyftcard's luggable computer cousin. Here's what another one looks like:

http://www.regnirps.com/Apple6502stuff/apple_iie_cat.htm

The one I'm getting also has the same type of sticker on the back: no UL, FCC approval, prototype...

Supposedly more portable than the Cat turned out to be. I like the handle.

 

[pookdolie]

I received this computer today.

In very good physical shape; haven't plugged it in yet. A little anxious about that; unit looks good, but that cord is kind of old. I'm happy to have it, regardless. It's #44 of the ones built.

So, here's the really cool part (which I didn't know when buying the machine, and the seller didn't mention anything): according to what I've read online, Jef Raskin and his team took these prototype Cats to be market tested in San Jose. Sure enough, there's a name tag - a "visitor" tag - sticker on the bottom of my computer. Says Nielsen-something (another research company Nielsen acquired; it's now owned by Gartner)...and, in ball-point pen, printed, is the name "Jef Raskin".

It's only a curiosity of course - who knows when it was written and by whom - but still, how cool is that? :D

 

[ColourClassic]

PIX. now.

 

[Dwight Elvey]

Hi
Calling the Swyftcard a prototype for the Cat is not correct.
The Swyftcard was a real product and was sold as such.
It was the basis for the Cat.
I own a Canon Cat and I've played with it quite a bit.
I believe the reason they used the Apple was that the
two keys next to the space bar produced separate key codes,
unlike the PC keyboards that produced the same key code
for both keys. This allowed the two directions of LEAP.
They started with the Swyftcard and then sold Swyftware
as I recall. These where based on Forth as was the Cat.
You might try to contact Charlie Springer. He worked
for Jef and has a Swyftcard himself.
I wrote a HP printer driver for my Cat since I didn't have
a Canon printer. It took quite a bit of research. I spent
two days at Stanford library, in Palo Alto, looking through
documents there to figure it out. It still required some
decompiling and fiddling to get it right.
Dwight

 

[pookdolie]

PIX. now.

I'm working on them...

Calling the Swiftcard a prototype for the Cat is not correct.

This is true. However, I do not own a Swyftcard; I own a "Swyft". It looks somewhat like your Canon Cat, except that it has a carry handle, a door covering the disk drive, the "LEAP" keys are the same color as the rest of the keys, the case is more angular, etc.

It'll become more self-explanatory with pictures, I'm sure. You can still go to the link I posted up above earlier to see what one looks like.

That's cool that you have a Cat. Can't seem to find one for sale anywhere.

You might try to contact Charlie Springer. He worked
for Jef and has a Swiftcard himself.

Nice! Thanks for the tip.

 

[Dwight Elvey]

Hi
I see, it is a Swyft. That is a rare find as well. These should
work the same as the Cat. I believe the Cat's manual is
still on the web, some place.
These were clones of the Cat from what I understand.
It would be great if yours can be made to work.
If the firmware is similar, I can help you with getting
a different printer drive running on it.
Dwight

 

[Dwight Elvey]

Hi
That is Charlies page that you are pointed to. I just looked
at the URL and realized it.
Dwight

 

[pookdolie]

Hi
I see, it is a Swyft. That is a rare find as well. These should
work the same as the Cat. I believe the Cat's manual is
still on the web, some place.
These were clones of the Cat from what I understand.
It would be great if yours can be made to work.
If the firmware is similar, I can help you with getting
a different printer drive running on it.
Dwight

Two things I've learned in the last half-hour:

1. The machine seems to work perfectly (so far). No monitor noise, disk drive boots, all keys seem to work.

2. Finding a manual for the Canon Cat isn't proving to be easy. And how the heck do you turn this thing off? There's no power switch. It came on when I plugged it in. It does seem to have a "screen saver" of sorts, but it only came on once. Now it just beeps at me really loudly after a few minutes if I leave it alone.

 

[Dwight Elvey]

Two things I've learned in the last half-hour:

1. The machine seems to work perfectly (so far). No monitor noise, disk drive boots, all keys seem to work.

2. Finding a manual for the Canon Cat isn't proving to be easy. And how the heck do you turn this thing off? There's no power switch. It came on when I plugged it in. It does seem to have a "screen saver" of sorts, but it only came on once. Now it just beeps at me really loudly after a few minutes if I leave it alone.

1.
If it is like the Cat, there is no boot disk, although, one can save
some parameters on the disk.
The Cat was suppose to use low density disk but I've had good luck
with 1.44m disk.
2. I'll see if I can locate the manual.
I believe the Swyft was not intended to turn off entirely. It was suppose
to have a shutdown mode. You might ask Charlie about that.
Dwight

 

[pookdolie]

(pictures)

1. If it is like the Cat, there is no boot disk, although, one can save
some parameters on the disk.
The Cat was suppose to use low density disk but I've had good luck
with 1.44m disk.

Gotcha. Mine did come with a disk, but I'm not sure what's on it. It's currently in the drive.

2. I'll see if I can locate the manual.

Thanks! Actually, I finally found it online, and it's helping somewhat. It's full of cute "cat" references.

I believe the Swyft was not intended to turn off entirely. It was suppose
to have a shutdown mode. You might ask Charlie about that.
Dwight

I think you're right; no switch, and it clearly says "not UL approved" on the back (see "swyft1.JPG"). That sticker, BTW, is what led me to think this was a prototype rather than a clone.

It does the old school "phosphor dot" thing on the monitor when I unplug it. I probably should keep an eye on the monitor.

"Swift2.jpg" shows it from the front...

 

[Dwight Elvey]

Hi
I wonder if you can get into the Forth mode?
Look for my notes on the digibarn web page. I
describe this there.
Dwight

 

[pookdolie]

Hi
I wonder if you can get into the Forth mode?
Look for my notes on the digibarn web page. I
describe this there.
Dwight

Well, that sure as heck did something.

Took a picture; it's very blurry, and I doubt you'll be able to see what was on my screen after I followed those steps. But you might.

Also gonna take a picture of the name tag on the bottom. I'll upload them later.

 

[pookdolie]

Pictures:

Swyft4.jpg = The name tag stuck to the bottom...

Swyft5.jpg = 3/4 shot of the machine. I tell co-workers it's my new company-mandated laptop...

Swyft6.jpg = Face forward, drive door open...

Swyft7.jpg = Disk drive

Swyft8.jpg = Disk that came with the system

 

[pookdolie]

For Dwight...

Swift9.jpg = Shot of the sceen after I tried to enable FORTH. No idea if I did it right or not...

 

[Tinkerer]

That is a very cool machine. I can't help but think how a at home it would look in a 1980s sci-fi flick.

 

[pookdolie]

That is a very cool machine. I can't help but think how a at home it would look in a 1980s sci-fi flick.

Used to bring down an alien race: victory at 4MHz (or however fast this thing runs). :D

 

[Dwight Elvey]

For Dwight...

Swift9.jpg = Shot of the sceen after I tried to enable FORTH. No idea if I did it right or not...

Hi
It doesn't look like it went to Forth. It may have just gone to the top of the screen.
It looks like the disk you have is a totorial disk.
You need to get in touch with Charlie. He has a lot of knowledge on these
machines.
He is looking to sell the apple II with the swytcard in it, as seen on his web
page.
Dwight