Home computers History of personal computers

1 home computers

1.1 atari 400/800
1.2 sinclair
1.3 ti-99
1.4 vic-20 , commodore 64
1.5 bbc micro
1.6 commodore/atari price war , crash
1.7 japanese computers

home computers

byte in january 1980 announced in editorial era of off-the-shelf personal computers has arrived . magazine stated desirable contemporary personal computer has 64 k of memory, 500 k bytes of mass storage on line, old competently designed computer architecture, upper , lowercase video terminal, printer, , high-level languages . author reported when needed purchase such computer did @ local store $6000 in cash, , cited example of state of art @ present ... mass-produced product . year radio shack, commodore, , apple manufactured vast majority of 1 half-million microcomputers existed. component prices continued fall, many companies entered computer business. led explosion of low-cost machines known home computers sold millions of units before market imploded in price war in 1980s.

atari 400/800

atari well-known brand in late 1970s, both due hit arcade games pong, hugely successful atari vcs game console. realizing vcs have limited lifetime in market before technically advanced competitor came along, atari decided competitor, , started work on new console design more advanced.

while these designs being developed, trinity machines hit market considerable fanfare. atari s management decided change work home computer system instead. knowledge of home market through vcs resulted in machines indestructible , easy use games machine – plug in cartridge , go. new machines first introduced 400 , 800 in 1978, production problems meant widespread sales did not start until next year.

at time, machines offered higher performance contemporary designs , number of graphics , sound features no other microcomputer match. became popular result, eclipsing trinity machines in sales. in spite of promising start 600,000 sold 1981, looming price war left atari in bad position. unable compete commodore, , 2 million machines produced end of production run.

sinclair

sinclair zx spectrum

sinclair research ltd british consumer electronics company founded sir clive sinclair in cambridge. incorporated in 1973 ablesdeal ltd. , renamed westminster mail order ltd , sinclair instrument ltd. in 1975. company remained dormant until 1976, when activated intention of continuing sinclair s commercial work earlier company sinclair radionics; adopted name sinclair research in 1981. in 1980, clive sinclair entered home computer market zx80 @ £99.95, @ time cheapest personal computer sale in uk. in 1982 zx spectrum released, later becoming britain s best selling computer, competing aggressively against commodore , british amstrad. @ height of success, , largely inspired japanese fifth generation computer programme, company established metalab research centre @ milton hall (near cambridge), in order pursue artificial intelligence, wafer-scale integration, formal verification , other advanced projects. combination of failures of sinclair ql computer , tv80 led financial difficulties in 1985, , year later sinclair sold rights computer products , brand name amstrad. sinclair research ltd exists today one-man company, continuing market sir clive sinclair s newest inventions.

zx80

the zx80 home computer launched in february 1980 @ £79.95 in kit form , £99.95 ready-built. in november of same year science of cambridge renamed sinclair computers ltd.

zx81

the zx81 (known ts 1000 in united states) priced @ £49.95 in kit form , £69.95 ready-built, mail order.

zx spectrum

the zx spectrum launched on 23 april 1982, priced @ £125 16 kb ram version , £175 48 kb version.

sinclair ql

the sinclair ql announced in january 1984, priced @ £399. marketed more sophisticated 32-bit microcomputer professional users, used motorola 68008 processor. production delayed several months, due unfinished development of hardware , software @ time of ql s launch.

zx spectrum+

the zx spectrum+ repackaged zx spectrum 48k launched in october 1984.

zx spectrum 128

the zx spectrum 128, ram expanded 128 kb, sound chip , other enhancements, launched in spain in september 1985 , uk in january 1986, priced @ £179.95.

ti-99

texas instruments (ti), @ time world s largest chip manufacturer, decided enter home computer market texas instruments ti-99/4a. announced long before arrival, industry observers expected machine wipe out competition – on paper performance untouchable, , ti had enormous cash reserves , development capability.

when released in late 1979, ti took slow approach introducing it, focusing on schools. contrary earlier predictions, ti-99 s limitations meant not giant-killer expected, , number of design features highly controversial. total of 2.8 million units shipped before ti-99/4a discontinued in march 1984.

vic-20 , commodore 64

1982: commodore 64.

realizing pet not compete color machines apple ii , atari, commodore introduced vic-20 address home market. limitations due tiny 4 kb memory , relatively limited display in comparison machines offset low , ever falling price. millions of vic-20s sold.

the best-selling personal computer of time released commodore international in 1982: commodore 64 (c64) sold on 17 million units before end. c64 name derived 64kb of ram , came side mount rom cartridge slot. used 6510 microprocessor cpu; mos technology, inc. owned commodore.

bbc micro

the bbc became interested in running computer literacy series, , sent out tender standardized small computer used show. after examining several entrants, selected known acorn proton , made number of minor changes produce bbc micro. micro relatively expensive, limited commercial appeal, widespread marketing, bbc support , wide variety of programs, system sold many 1.5 million units. acorn rescued obscurity, , went on develop arm processor (acorn risc machine) power follow-on designs. arm used day, powering wide variety of products iphone.

commodore/atari price war , crash

in 1982, ti 99/4a , atari 400 both $349, radio shack s color computer sold @ $379, , commodore had reduced price of vic-20 $199 , commodore 64 $499. ti had forced commodore calculator market dropping price of own-brand calculators less cost of chipsets sold third parties make same design. commodore s ceo, jack tramiel, vowed not happen again, , purchased mos technology ensure supply of chips. supply guaranteed, , control on component pricing, tramiel launched war against ti after introduction of commodore 64.

now vertically integrated, commodore lowered retail price of 64 $300 @ june 1983 consumer electronics show, , stores sold little $199. @ 1 point company selling many computers rest of industry combined. commodore—which discontinued list prices—could make profit when selling 64 retail price of $200 because of vertical integration. competitors reduced prices; atari 800 s price in july $165, , time ti ready in 1983 introduce 99/2 computer—designed sell $99—the ti-99/4a sold $99 in june. 99/4a had sold $400 in fall of 1982, causing loss ti of hundreds of millions of dollars. service merchandise executive stated ve been in retailing 30 years , have never seen category of goods on self-destruct pattern . such low prices hurt home computers reputation; 1 retail executive said of 99/4a, when went $99, people started asking s wrong it? founder of compute! stated in 1986 our market dropped 300 percent growth per year 20 percent .

while tramiel s target ti, in home computer market hurt process; many companies went bankrupt or exited business. in end commodore s own finances crippled demands of financing massive building expansion needed deliver machines, , tramiel forced company.

japanese computers

from late 1970s 1990s, japan s personal computer market largely dominated domestic computer products. nec s pc-88 , pc-98 market leader, though competition sharp x1 , x68000, fm-7 , fm towns, , msx , msx2, latter gaining popularity in europe. key difference between western , japanese systems @ time latter s higher display resolutions (640x400) in order accommodate japanese text. japanese computers employed yamaha fm synthesis sound boards since 1980s produce higher quality sound. japanese computers used produce video games, though small portion of japanese pc games released outside of country. successful japanese personal computer nec s pc-98, sold more 18 million units 1999.