Popular SAM Coupé Misconceptions

[Quazar]

I find this particularly frustrating.

It really is. No research, no accountability, no desire to correct the narrative when mistakes are highlighted. All to easy to ignore or cite "research oversights" and with the majority of readers of these general retro publications they won't be SAM owners so they'll take what's printed as gospel.

The review of my mechanical keyboard with the inaccurate synopsis was in Pixel Addict and from my interactions to bring it to their attention they appear to be all too happy to hide behind their disclaimer: "We take great care to ensure that what we publish is accurate, but cannot be liable for any mistakes or misprints." and that is certainly not the way to run a publication. From my own experiences producing SAM Revival over the years I'd have to say that receiving feedback has always been an essential part of what helps improve the magazine.

[dvduk]

Even certain so-called newspapers have had to print corrections when they've made errors.... and I know publications i've worked on have done that where applicable.

[Vampyre]

Forgive me, as my knowledge of the SAM is not great. But as I understand it, as supplied, it did not have a copy of the ZX Spectrum ROM. If this is the case, then any code which required or used any part of the ZX Spectrum ROM directly (thinking of machine code mainly) could never have been compatible.
Mark

It was only recently I found out this myself. By the time the SAM finally came out I was long out of the Sinclair loop but had been reading (a small amount) about it in the mags. When I started adding the SAM reviews to ZXSR, in 2021-2022 ish, I went into a deeper-dive about the machine and was gobsmacked to find out that the compatibility was through an emulator and not native to the machine. I'm sure it was hyped at the time that "it was better than an ST and would play all your Speccy games".

Purchasers must have been p***ed when they got that machine.

[stupidget]

For some reason I seem to remember reading in a magazine that SAM stood for SpectrumAMiga and that it was going to be this giant slaying super computer. Apparently not

[Stefan]

I went into a deeper-dive about the machine and was gobsmacked to find out that the compatibility was through an emulator and not native to the machine.

It is not an emulator in today’s sense. It is running native Z80 code on a real Z80, screen mode 1 is identical to the Speccy screen layout, port 254 natively emits rat farts and natively reads the keyboard.

Screen mode 1 also applies extra contention to keep the faster Z80 running speed in line with a Speccy’s.

The Spectrum ROM, if needed, is simply loaded into RAM and write protection can be applied.

[Timmy]

Talking about Misconceptions...

I understood that the computer is not called "SAM Coupé" and "SAM" has nothing to do with the computer?

Was that true or did I read the adverts wrong back then?

[bluespikey]

For some reason I seem to remember reading in a magazine that SAM stood for SpectrumAMiga and that it was going to be this giant slaying super computer. Apparently not

Back in the day at one of the roadshows they did, I got it straight from one of the founders (Either Alan Miles or Bruce Gordon) that it was either named for their son, or the son of one of their friends. Can't remember. But Wikipedia says something else....

[HEXdidnt]

I understood that the computer is not called "SAM Coupé" and "SAM" has nothing to do with the computer?
Was that true or did I read the adverts wrong back then?

I remember the same ads... adding to the confusion by treating the SAM robot as something entirely separate from the computer:


It seems like such a small thing, but confusing marketing like this can be damaging for a product. The computer is called 'the SAM Coupé'. If it wasn't the label on the shell would have been just 'Coupé', or 'MGT Coupé'... but the MGT logo is in the opposite corner, above the keyboard.

The mascot robot is called SAM, but not SAM Coupé... no problem with that kind of link between the two entities, but for the ads to say the computer isn't called 'SAM' was daft.

Back in the day at one of the roadshows they did, I got it straight from one of the founders (Either Alan Miles or Bruce Gordon) that it was either named for their son, or the son of one of their friends. Can't remember. But Wikipedia says something else....

There are so many explanations of 'SAM' that I'm starting to think it was one of those situations where they gave a different story to everyone who asked. Certainly, it seemed as though every magazine published a different story, or a range of guesses.

[+3code]

For some reason I seem to remember reading in a magazine that SAM stood for SpectrumAMiga and that it was going to be this giant slaying super computer. Apparently not

Haha, no idea why but for long time I was sure SAM stood for SpectrumAdvancedMachine. Error.

[dvduk]

For some reason I seem to remember reading in a magazine that SAM stood for SpectrumAMiga and that it was going to be this giant slaying super computer. Apparently not

Back in the day at one of the roadshows they did, I got it straight from one of the founders (Either Alan Miles or Bruce Gordon) that it was either named for their son, or the son of one of their friends. Can't remember. But Wikipedia says something else....

Nope - that is completely incorrect.

As per an interview I did with Alan, it is "Some Amazing Micro" - not Son of Alan Miles or any other daft variation you may have been told

Coupe (sorry can't do the accent bit!) is based on the car-like profile, and apparently the shape of an ice-cream.

There you go

There are so many explanations of 'SAM' that I'm starting to think it was one of those situations where they gave a different story to everyone who asked. Certainly, it seemed as though every magazine published a different story, or a range of guesses.

Was certainly best to check from one of the creators

Haha, no idea why but for long time I was sure SAM stood for SpectrumAdvancedMachine. Error.

Incorrect - but at least it was closer than some people got it

[HEXdidnt]

The computer is called 'the SAM Coupé'. If it wasn't the label on the shell would have been just 'Coupé', or 'MGT Coupé'...

Coincidentally, this was posted in the SAM Users Facebook group this morning:

from https://www.nickhollanddesign.com/proje ... 4-computer

So, at one point, it was known as the MGT Coupé.

[bluespikey]

Nope - that is completely incorrect.

As per an interview I did with Alan, it is "Some Amazing Micro" - not Son of Alan Miles or any other daft variation you may have been told

Coupe (sorry can't do the accent bit!) is based on the car-like profile, and apparently the shape of an ice-cream.

There you go

Gah! The postcode for MGT Technology in Swansea was SA7, and as every 15 year old boy pumped up on Tom Clancy novels knew, that was the main man-portable SAM launcher used by naughty terrorist groups everywhere. I put my conspiracy theory to the bloke, and he laughed, and told me no, it was named after a boy. Lies! All lies! Just like when he said it would be widely compatible with my current Spectrum software.