X128 Work-In-Progress

Vague Stuff
07/12/2025

07/12/2025 (with a little update on 11/12/2025)

Software for home computers had the fundamental problem of having to be delivered on all sorts of different media.

In Europe, audio cassettes were the standard for most 8-bit systems, but most had at least one disk format to support as well. 5.25" disks for the C64/C16/VIC-20, Atari 8-bit, and BBC Micro. 3" disks for the Spectrum +3 and Amstrad machines. 3.5" disks for the 16-bit systems and (less common in the UK) MSX.

Then for the ZX Spectrum you also had a million and one different disk interfaces, as well as Microdrives, Wafadrives, Quick Disks, etc. Some computers even had interfaces that could use those little dictation machine cassettes.

Add onto that the fact that you also have to support single-sided and double-sided drives, 40 and 80 track drives, etc.

8" drives were not an option, although you could theoretically attach an 8" drive to most Commodore machines by using an IEEE-488 interface cartridge. Just don't expect to find any software for it.

Finally, as all the old systems died out, the surviving ones received optional 3.5" drives, but with almost no support. High-density disks came later, but only on PCs and some very, very late interfaces for the C64 and ZX Spectrum.

That sounds expensive...

How could a software company afford to support all of those different media formats? The simple answer was: "they didn't". They stuck to the most common ones. Only some very small-scale software producers (that tended to master their software by hand) supported the less-used formats.

So what if there was a system that took away the publishing risk?

East

In Japan, there was the Famicom Disk System. It had a distribution network using a machine that was placed within stores, and (in exchange for money) it could write to Nintendo's custom Quick Disks. The blank disks could be purchased from the same store (mail order was also possible). The system could only be used with Nintendo's console. I think it would've been interesting if it had been released in Europe, as the price of cartridges was far higher than we were used to. The levels of piracy might've been quite impressive though.

West

In Western Europe, there was EDOS, which stood for "Electronic Distribution Of Software". This was a machine that was placed in stores, but was not used by the public. Only a member of staff was allowed to use it and it was (commonly) kept in a back room to keep it as far away from customers as possible. It was capable of writing to audio cassettes, 5.25" disks, 3.5" disks, and 3" disks. Unlike Nintendo's distribution system, it supported a wide range of computers: the ZX Spectrum, C64, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Atari ST, Amiga, and DOS PCs (3.5" DD and 5.25" DD).

Some sort of download system would've been ideal, but the telephone network was not fast enough to download software, so everything had to be stored on CDs. A modem was involved, but only for administrative purposes.

This link explains the details of it better than I can.

The EDOS experience

In Scotland, the most common place to find it was in John Menzies. It was a chain of high street shops, of that time, that sold a bit of everything. It was like a large newsagent that also sold music, videos, computer games, board games, stationery, art supplies, etc. It was practically the same as WH Smith in the rest of the UK, so you'd rarely see a WH Smith in Scotland, and you'd rarely see a John Menzies in England. You would never see them in the same room at the same time.

While it is common to describe the EDOS experience as being "choose from a catalogue", that was not the impression that I had in John Menzies.

I don't recall seeing any advertising of the system at the time, nor of there being any detailed explanation of the system in-store.

In John Menzies, they tended to pre-prepare a number of games. So, my experience of the system was looking at the boxes on the shelves, then taking the ones I wanted to the counter.

Was it possible to ask them to make one that was not on the shelves? Or to place an order with them and come back later to collect it? I have no idea. There were times when I would see a C64 cassette version of a game and think to myself that I would buy it, if it was the disk version (see the update below for an explanation of this).

If it was possible to place an order, then it seems they missed out on possible sales by failing to make that clear.

What did they look like?

Here is my legitimate, shop-purchased, royalties-paid copy of Spy vs Spy: Arctic Antics for the Amstrad CPC.

Box, inlay, disk, and early 90s marketing

As you can see, the disk is very plain (side 2 is just black, with no sticker at all) and the packaging is very much "one size fits all", so the box is designed to fit the largest supported medium (5.25" disk). There is no plastic insert, so the cassette or disk flops around inside the oversized case. There's room for two cassettes, four 5.25" disks, four 3.5" disks (barely), but only room for two 3" disks, due to their thickness.

The combined inlay and instructions consist of a single, folded sheet of glossy paper. Most of the EDOS releases used the same template for the inlay, making things look a little samey.

If you were the sort of person who considered the packaging to be an important part of the whole software experience, then you might find it a little underwhelming.

What size is that disk?

As you can see, 3" disks are very small. Unlike other odd formats, their capacity could be just as much as the rival 5.25" and 3.5" disks (80 track, double-sided 3" drives did exist, although the 8-bit machines tended to use the 40 track, single-sided drives). They were a little late to the party, so were not as commonly used. Amstrad machines were the most notable for using them. But without widespread support, required to bring economies of scale, the cost of the disks remained relatively high compared to the more common formats.

But how can I convey their size? What would be the correct visual comparison? Other floppy disks? CDs? Gramophones?

They are this size, exactly. No bigger, no smaller. (Why did I put them on a chopping board, on a towel, on a bed?)

What about this?

Magnum metrics

Yes, I think I've found the ideal unit of measurement.

Anyway...

But the packaging wouldn't matter, if you could get access to a far wider range of software than you could usually find?

Well... that did not happen, in practice. Most of the larger companies did not support the system, or only put a few of their games on it. You would think that it would have been suitable for making their back catalogues available at little cost. Perhaps there were contractual issues with their arcade or movie-licenced titles to consider.

Also, if a game had multiple versions (for example, a separate 128K version) then you would be stuck with the most-compatible version that worked on that particular machine (48K or 64K). This was not unique to EDOS though, it was a common pitfall when buying a compilation or a budget re-release.

But it would still be ok, if it meant you could get the games cheaper, as the publisher did not have to pay for the media and duplication costs?

Well... that did not happen either. Mostly, the games were the same price.

But, even then, it would still be worth it, if it meant you could get software for your rare/unsupported drive?

Well... no. Only the standard disk drives of each system were supported. The ZX Spectrum, C64, and Amstrad CPC had both cassette and disk support, but Spectrum +3 disk titles seem to be quite rare compared to the others.

But... it allowed the less-popular computer systems to receive software support?

Again, no. It turned up far too late (1991) to support the 8-bits of the early 80s. There were a tiny number of MSX cassette titles, as it was still used in some European countries. There was no support for the Atari 8-bit, C16/+4, VIC-20, BBC Micro/Electron, Dragon/Tandy CoCo, Oric, Enterprise, or any of the other uncommon or discontinued micros that were once so plentiful.

It was a missed opportunity but, ultimately, it was a business. So, while it would've been a useful service to provide, it wasn't economical to do so.

EDOS was a good idea, in principle, but it did not take off. Perhaps the machines should've been placed in public libraries and used as a form of open-ended software lending, for a small fee.

At some point in the early 90s, all of the high street stores in the UK decided that they would stop carrying 8-bit computer software, bringing the "commercial era" to an abrupt end. EDOS could've been used to continue to provide software support, leaving the shelves free for more profitable goods, but that did not happen either. Online sources say EDOS ran until 1994.

Not long after that, the last of the 8-bit magazines disappeared too. At the time, it felt like the shops were doing their very best to give me no reason to set foot inside them, but they were just acting as businesses. Trying to sell goods as quickly and profitably as possible, but also reducing their footfall and the possibility of a casual purchase in the process.

As the high street declined, many of the shops that used to sell games disappeared. John Menzies decided to leave the high street quite early on, and their stores were bought by WH Smith and rebranded. Now, they have changed hands again, and are trading as TG Jones.

In the end, they never stood a chance against the changing ways of shopping. But it did not help when they stopped selling those cheap games that were such a staple of youth.

(In the making of this article, I dropped an old iPad onto my big toe. I am not pleased).

A little update

Just to clarify the statement about John Menzies selling a cassette version when I wanted the disk version, when the boxes were usually multiformat...

Sometimes John Menzies would put an original box on the shelf, but when you bought it they'd give you an EDOS cassette.

I'm not sure why. Perhaps they had a supply of original boxes, or perhaps they had lost the original cassette and realised that they could still sell the box by using EDOS to make a new cassette. (Game boxes were put on the shelf, while the games were kept in a drawer (or a backroom) because people would just steal the cassettes if you put them on the shelf, so they were kept separate).

I brought back the towel, but should I have brought back the chopping board? Also, the quilt under the towel was very lumpy today, nothing is aligned at all. You see, that's why I should've used the chopping board... arghh.