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What's the point having Cassette BASIC in ROM on IBM PC XT/later systems when there's no cassette port in them?

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First post, by surrodox2001

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As you don't a medium to load/save data to (it can only use IBM's tape interface), there's not much use for users to program in Cassette BASIC in those machines.

With my guess, I think it's just a leftover from the IBM engineers that forgot to remove the BASIC in ROM thing and just left in there until someone notices.

Discussions are welcomed here. (ps this is my first topic here, so if there's a problem, let me know 😀)

EDIT: Aaand I just totally skim over one thing: Even though Cassette BASIC is no use on these machines, Disk and Advanced BASIC still need them, perhaps that's the reason why it's still there?

Last edited by surrodox2001 on 2020-12-02, 13:38. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 1 of 3, by Cyberdyne

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Few first and old and exotic games and programs use it, but really there is no practical need for it.

I am aroused about any X86 motherboard that has full functional ISA slot. I think i have problem. Not really into that original (Turbo) XT,286,386 and CGA/EGA stuff. So just a DOS nut.
PS. If I upload RAR, it is a 16-bit DOS RAR Version 2.50.

Reply 2 of 3, by PTherapist

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It was probably just left in for the sake of not causing any compatibility issues between the PC & XT onwards. And yes as you noted, launching Disk BASIC from IBM's PC DOS will use the ROM BASIC giving you the ability to save programs to disk.

Reply 3 of 3, by Jo22

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Cyberdyne wrote on 2020-12-02, 13:30:

Few first and old and exotic games and programs use it, but really there is no practical need for it.

The audio-in line was interesting, though.
Back in the 1970s/80s, such a capability surely was interesting to amateur radio people.

To decode telex over radio (RTTY) or static pictures (slow scan television, SSTV).

My father, for example, had a Sharp MZ-700 computer with a tape interface.
He used it to decode/encode RTTY via the cassette interface.
We still have the listing of the program here.

On C64 platform, Quick Brown Fox (QBF) uses the tape interface, too.
To decode/encode RTTY and AMTOR transmissions.

On the ZX Spectrum platform, similar programs existed, I believe. Mainly for SSTV.

Edit: On IBM PC/GW-Basic platform, there's an old SSTV program..
It uses the gameport. If the cassette interface was still supported, it might have been used that instead, perhaps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-vAs9PUeHk

Edit: I forgot to mention. Video shows v2 (compiled).

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

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