Software Distributed Electronically
This is a bit puzzling - I cannot find the thread that raised this method of software distribution only a few days ago ;ZX1 and You Spec-Chum and others made some good points . Today a budget game arrived in the post via Ebay ( D-Day Summit budget tape version ) and the cassette says "Software distributed electronically "Title (blank) . I have never had one of these before . Your Chum Chum said this type of software was often sought after by collectors . Well my one is "untitled" so it could be anything but it came with a proper cassette inlay . It appears that this sort of method of distribution was more common than I thought. So it seems to justify a thread of its own perhaps?
Comments
This was a special kiosk placed into branches of the UK shop John Menzies.
The machine could duplicate a disk/cassette and print an inlay to go into a standardised case.
There was also a mail order catalogue you could order from.
Known retailers now appears to be:-
1) R.E.M then known as Rickett Educational Media based in the SW of England . They did software from the likes of Chalksoft both with tapes and +3 disks . I think I may have a late tape copy of "Disease Dodgers" or similar without a full colour inlay (I think - I will need to check this out). Their software of had a large retailers sticker on it .
2)John Menzies as mentioned by Merman (see above) .
Are there any more known retail distributors like this?
I believe ZX1 and myself mentioned about EDOS in your When Did Tapes Go Paperless thread.
Re my "untitled" EDOS tape of D-Day (Summit):- The emulator says ,"It is definitely the right tape"! . The emulator loads code blocks and then stops at about 31 (on my tape counter) to load the other blocks which are various type of the D Day landings . This one will be complicated to TZX . But at least I know it is the right tape even though it appears to have been sold "untitled" ( zx1 said he had to write the game's title on the blank cassette in his own hand , so his ones were originally not properly documented when sold either) . So this lack of documentation appears to be common on some types of EDOS . I will now look at the WOS TZXversion to see how that one works . Maybe this re-release is the same as the original (issued by Games Workshop)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=V_vcdEUQB9U
And on the Amiga:-
https://blog.amigaguru.com/edos-the-software-on-demand-of-the-80s/
And this is a pretty comprehensive look at it:-
https://videogamegeek.com/videogamepublisher/32636/electronic-distribution-software-edos
And there is even an old online catalogue of the software on the above link . The company ran from 1991 to 1994 .
I seem to remenber buying CDs and similar media from shops where they sort of "put it together" . The printed material would be what you went to the counter with and then the shop assistant would find the disk and get it all ready for sale . Maybe EDOS was an earlier "put it all together" system that was a bit more labour intensive as some of the "production" was sort of done in store . The lack of labelling is interesting :but understandable . It would be very expensive to do a "professional" job of this in store.
And here is the link to the other thread with contributions from ZX1 and Your Spec-chum:-
https://worldofspectrum.org/forums/discussion/57307/when-did-cassettes-go-paperless#latest
I never saw a tape version, but it was quite common with disk titles for a while. I'm guessing tapes would have taken up a fair bit of store time, even with high speed duplication, whereas writing a full disk was pretty quick. The move towards multi-disk games and specialist copy protection materials probably put an end to it though, as they'd be more hassle than just stocking products.
One small point . They are said to be collectible . So are they worth more kept unlabelled? Or does it not matter? Certainly they are more easilty lost or reused if they are left unlabelled . Therefore I think they will probably be rarer in the future if left unlabelled (but not sure).
I checked out Ebay and there were a couple of Zx Spectum EDOS tape titles on for about £10.00 or so. So it looks like there is a "bit" of market for them . One of them was TITLED up with handwriting so I guess that does not affect it much.
So as there is now a catalogue for them it should be easy to work out the best of EDOS UK !!!! .Were there any similar systems for the ZX spectrum in Europe ?
The WOS reference to it is here:-
https://worldofspectrum.net/infoseekid.cgi?id=2000118
And 1991 to 1993 is pretty late
Yes it lasted from 1991 to 1993 so it was "pretty late" to arrive on the 8 bit scene and so it can also be seen as a "tail end" way of keeping titles with diminsihing sales going a bit longer . But is seems that changing technologies and changing consumer trends were the "final nail in its coffin" . So it lasted just a short time but it helped the 8 bit scene remain relevant a short while longer.
Maybe the REM stuff (Reckitt Educational Media) was not done under this EDOS scheme but was another "tail-end" scheme for dealing with a declining but still significant market that was worth catering for to a degree. . It had a different feel form EDOS I now think . One example of software I remember (Disease Dodgers) was purchased from REM.I think the cassette was original , the instructions were different and the case was different .
From what I remember the original version of "Disease Dodgers" had a cardboard outer box , maybe with a coloured booklet and original cassette ( I am not sure as I did not have this version) . The version I got had "crystal plastic" big size case , monochrome instruction booklet and original cassette (from memory) . So my "late" original version was different form what I expected but I accepted it as the original "first edition" was no longer available . I now think this system was probably not EDOS but some other system that allowed the big retailers to reissue software in a licensed way using the "parts" that they had available or could be made available . This would have included titles from the likes of Sinclair Research with some other small producers like Chalksoft in the mix
The "untitled" (blanK) EDOS Cassette of "D-Day" by Summit:-
Possible combinations with "tail-end" software (1991-1994 period or similar):-
1)Untilted EDOS tape with original cassette inlay ( as in D-Day Summit example above)
2) Original "proper" cassette tape with "photocopied" or mono chrome associated material like instruction manuals etc.
3) EDOS or original cassette tape but with "unoriginal" cassette case (eg original "Sinclair" type card case replaced with big sized crystal plastic case)
4) Properly titled and printed EDOS tape ( this one is possible but not seen yet)
There must be loads of variations like this . I think some show a big retailers stamp or label showing their role in distribuitng the software .
It would be interesting to the most commonly used system .What the examples seen so far I think that 1) above was most used but there could be some other variations WOSSERS may know about .
Repair Guides. Spanish Hardware site.
WoS - can't download? Info here...
former Meulie Spectrum Archive but no longer available :-(
Spectranet: the TNFS directory thread
! Standby alert !
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb!
Looking forward to summer in Somerset later in the year :)
https://google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=to+blank
I was amazed to find that a BLANK is a verb ,a noun and an adjective all at the same time . No wonder they left the cassettes blank . They probably thought "you could do anything" with it like that! So why not make it an adverb as well! I am sure (if you tried really hard) you could make it into an adverb ,surely with something like this? : " I was blanked ,very blankly" ( my wife would not give me an opinion as the whether this usage is OK though )
I think my cassette tape was awesomly blanked. I deserve a "blankit response" on that one ( I know, I cheated, it should be "blanket response")
I preferred Woolworths cos for some reason the store detective at WH Smiths used to follow me around for some reason, when he wasn't chatting up schoolgirls. Creep!
Yes I must have missed this period with the large retailers as I did not always find them customer friendly . One time , when I DID go into Woolies , I remember an old man who wanted a replacement ZX Spectrum tape , being turned away ,because they got him to admit that he had left it in front of the telly and this must have caused the fault himself (waves from the telly said to damage the recording).- so he did not get a replacement for a faulty tape he had got for his grand kids .And I had to wait in the queue and listen to all this total ".... ".!That stuck in my mind so I tended to buy from the small independents rather than the big chains . So maybe that is why I did not get to see these EDOS systems!