Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single, non-technical user. These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business, scientific, or engineering-oriented computers of the time, such as those running CP/M or the IBM PC , and were generally less powerful in terms of memory and expandability. However, a home computer often had better graphics and sound than contemporary business computers. Their most common uses were word processing , playing video games , and programming .
207-636: The Atari 8-bit computers , formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System , are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. , in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 6502 CPU and three custom coprocessors which provide support for sprites , smooth multidirectional scrolling, four channels of audio, and other features. The graphics and sound are more advanced than most of its contemporaries, and video games are
414-493: A disk drive (the Commodore 1541 was the only fully-compatible model) or Datasette before they could make use of it as anything but a game machine or TV Typewriter . In the early part of the 1980s, the dominant microprocessors used in home computers were the 8-bit MOS Technology 6502 (Apple, Commodore, Atari, BBC Micro ) and Zilog Z80 ( TRS-80 , ZX81 , ZX Spectrum , Commodore 128 , Amstrad CPC ). One exception
621-596: A membrane keyboard and single internal ROM slot, outsold the Atari 800 by a 2-to-1 margin. Only one cartridge for the 800's right slot was produced by March 1983, and later machines in the series have only one slot. Creative Computing mentioned the Atari machines in an April 1979 overview of the CES show. Calling Atari "the videogame people", it stated they came with "some fantastic educational, entertainment and home applications software". In an August 1979 interview Atari's Peter Rosenthal suggested that demand might be low until
828-518: A $ 12.2 billion hostile bid to acquire Time Inc. in an attempt to end a stock-swap merger deal between Time Inc. and Warner Communications. Time Inc. raised its bid to $ 14.9 billion in cash and stock. Paramount responded by filing a lawsuit in a Delaware court to block the Time Warner merger. The court ruled twice in favor of Time Inc., forcing Paramount to drop both the Time Inc. acquisition and
1035-456: A 26% stake in the entertainment portion of the company, calling that division Time Warner Entertainment. US West's stake eventually passed to acquired cable company MediaOne , then to AT&T Broadband in 1999 when that company acquired MediaOne, then finally to Comcast in 2001 when that company bought the AT&;T Broadband division. Comcast sold their stake in the company in 2003, relegating
1242-427: A 6502 processor and ran DOS from internal ROM. While this gave Commodore systems some advanced capabilities – a utility program could sideload a disk copy routine onto the drive and return control to the user while the drive copied the disk on its own – it also made Commodore drives more expensive and difficult to clone. Many home computers had a cartridge interface which accepted ROM-based software. This
1449-532: A 6502B. SALLY was incorporated into late-production 400 and 800 models, all XL/XE models, and the Atari 5200 and Atari 7800 consoles. SALLY adds logic to disable the clock signal, called HALT , which ANTIC uses to shut off the CPU to access the data/address bus. Mirroring the 400/800, two systems were planned, the 1000 with 16 KB and the 1000X with 64 KB, each expandable via a Parallel Bus Interface slot on
1656-488: A board meeting prompted Steve Case to contact each of the directors and push for CEO Gerald Levin's ouster. Although Case's coup attempt was rebuffed by Parsons and several other directors, Levin became frustrated with being unable to "regain the rhythm" at the combined company and handed in his resignation in the fall of 2001, effective in May 2002. Although Co-COO Bob Pittman was the strongest supporter of Levin and largely seen as
1863-608: A brief filed by the Justice Department, it was argued that the decision to approve the acquisition ran "contrary to fundamental economic logic and the evidence". On August 7, 2018, AT&T acquired the remaining controlling stake in Otter Media from the Chernin Group for an undisclosed amount. The company operated as a division of WarnerMedia. On August 29, 2018, Makan Delrahim told Recode that if
2070-538: A built-in keyboard to support its C7420 Home Computer Module. Among third-generation consoles , Nintendo 's Family Computer offered Family BASIC (sold only in Japan), which included a keyboard that could be connected to an external tape recorder to load and store programs. Books of type-in program listings like BASIC Computer Games were available, dedicated for the BASICs of most models of computer, with titles along
2277-604: A common category of utility software in this pre- DMCA era. In another defining characteristic of the home computer, instead of a command line , the BASIC interpreter served double duty as a user interface. Coupled to a character-based screen or line editor , BASIC's file management commands could be entered in direct mode . In contrast to modern computers, home computers most often had their operating system (OS) stored in ROM chips. This made startup times very fast (no more than
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#17327730586242484-525: A dedicated phone line operated bulletin boards of their own. This capability anticipated the internet by nearly 20 years. Some game consoles offered "programming packs" consisting of a version of BASIC in a ROM cartridge . Atari's BASIC Programming for the Atari 2600 was one of these. For the ColecoVision console, Coleco even announced an expansion module which would convert it into a full-fledged computer system. The Magnavox Odyssey² console had
2691-637: A few seconds), but made OS upgrades difficult or impossible without buying a new unit. Usually, only the most severe bugs were fixed by issuing new ROMs to replace the old ones at the user's cost. In addition, the small size and limited scope of home computer "operating systems" (really little more than what today would be called a kernel) left little room for bugs to hide. Although modern operating systems include extensive programming libraries to ease development and promote standardization, home computer operating systems provided little support to application programs. Professionally-written software often switched out
2898-470: A first for a stand-alone computer, costing far less than dedicated motion-video processing equipment costing many thousands of dollars. Stereo sound became standard for the first time; the Atari ST gained popularity as an affordable alternative for MIDI equipment for the production of music. Clock rates on the 68000-based systems were approximately 8 MHz with RAM capacities of 256 kB (for
3105-639: A floppy disk drive. It was available for the TRS-80 and some others. A closely-related technology was the ZX Microdrive , developed by Sinclair Research in the UK, for their ZX Spectrum and QL home computers. Eventually, mass production of 5.25" drives resulted in lower prices, and after about 1984, they pushed cassette drives out of the US home computer market. 5.25" floppy disk drives would remain standard until
3312-432: A game now and then, learn more about computers, and help educate their children". By 1986, industry experts predicted an "MS-DOS Christmas", and the magazine stated that clones threatened Commodore, Atari, and Apple's domination of the home-computer market. The declining cost of IBM compatibles on the one hand, and the greatly-increased graphics, sound, and storage abilities of fourth generation video game consoles such as
3519-464: A government official the following day, with the latter criticizing the reports as being an effort to politicize the deal. Stephenson also disputed the relevance of CNN to the antitrust concerns surrounding the acquisition, as AT&T did not already own a national news channel. On November 20, 2017, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit over the acquisition; Delrahim stated that
3726-732: A great deal of software support from the traditional Japanese publishers of game software. Microsoft developed the MSX-DOS operating system, a version of their popular MS-DOS adapted to the architecture of these machines, that was also able to run CP/M software directly After the first wave of game consoles and computers landed in American homes, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began receiving complaints of electromagnetic interference to television reception. By 1979
3933-473: A high performer, the Equity was a reliable and compatible design for half the price of a similarly-configured IBM PC. Epson often promoted sales by bundling one of their printers with it at cost. The Equity I sold well enough to warrant the furtherance of the Equity line with the follow-on Equity II and Equity III. In 1986, UK home computer maker Amstrad began producing their PC1512 PC-compatible for sale in
4140-418: A higher-end machine known as "Colleen" (named after two Atari secretaries). Atari would market Colleen as a computer and Candy as a game machine or hybrid game console. Colleen includes user-accessible expansion slots for RAM and ROM , two 8 KB ROM cartridge slots, RF and monitor output (including two pins for separate luma and chroma suitable for superior S-Video output) and a full keyboard. Candy
4347-415: A home television. Indeed, the use of a television set as a display almost defines the pre-PC home computer. Although dedicated composite or " green screen " computer displays were available for this market segment and offered a sharper display, a monitor was often a later purchase made only after users had bought a floppy disk drive, printer, modem, and the other pieces of a full system. The reason for this
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#17327730586244554-668: A host of other manufacturers. For many of these businesses, the development of the microcomputer made computing and business software affordable where they had not been before. Introduced in August 1981, the IBM Personal Computer would eventually supplant CP/M as the standard platform used in business. This was largely due to the IBM name and the system's 16 bit open architecture , which expanded maximum memory tenfold, and also encouraged production of third-party clones . In
4761-563: A joint venture with credit card company American Express called Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment . This company owned such cable channels as MTV , Nickelodeon , The Movie Channel , and VH1 (which was launched in 1985 on the channel space left by Turner 's Cable Music Channel ). Warner bought out American Express's half in 1984 and sold the venture a year later to the original iteration of Viacom , which renamed it MTV Networks (now known as Paramount Media Networks). In 1982, Warner purchased Popular Library from CBS Publications . By
4968-617: A key part of the software library. The 1980 first-person space combat simulator Star Raiders is considered the platform's killer app . The Atari 800 was positioned as a high-end model and the 400 as more affordable. The 400 has a pressure-sensitive, spillproof membrane keyboard and initially shipped with a non-upgradable 8 KB of RAM. The 800 has a conventional keyboard, a second cartridge slot, and allows easy RAM upgrades to 48K. Both use identical 6502 CPUs at 1.79 MHz ( 1.77 MHz for PAL versions) and coprocessors ANTIC , POKEY , and CTIA/GTIA . The plug-and-play peripherals use
5175-474: A keyboard integrated into the same case as the motherboard , or, more frequently, a mainboard . While the expandable home computers appeared from the very start (the Apple II offered as many as seven expansion slots) as the whole segment was generally aimed downmarket , few offers were priced or positioned high enough to allow for such expandability. Some systems have only one expansion port, often realized in
5382-494: A major corporate revamp that resulted in TBS, TNT and TruTV being brought back under the same umbrella as Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Boomerang and TCM, under a consolidation of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment's respective assets that formed the combined WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group unit. Casey Bloys—who has been with WarnerMedia since 2004 (as director of development at HBO Independent Productions), and
5589-504: A meeting between AT&T CEO Randall L. Stephenson and Makan Delrahim , assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division , indicated that AT&T had been recommended to divest DirecTV or Turner Broadcasting, seek alternative antitrust remedies, or abandon the acquisition. Some news outlets reported that AT&T had been ordered to specifically divest CNN, but these claims were denied by both Stephenson and
5796-618: A merger structure in which each original company merged into a newly created entity. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cleared the deal on December 14, 2000, and gave final approval on January 11, 2001; the company completed the merger later that day. The deal was approved on the same day by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and had already been cleared by the European Commission (EC) on October 11, 2000. AOL Time Warner Inc. , as
6003-485: A movie review aggregator. In June 2012, Time Warner acquired Alloy Entertainment , a publisher and television studio whose works are aimed at teen girls and young women. On August 6, 2012, Time Warner acquired Bleacher Report , a sports news website. The property was placed under the control of the Turner Sports division. On March 6, 2013, Time Warner intended to spin off its publishing division Time Inc. as
6210-468: A new publicly traded company, Warner Bros. Discovery . The deal closed on April 8, 2022. The company's previous assets included Time Inc., TW Telecom , AOL , Time Warner Cable , AOL Time Warner Book Group , and Warner Music Group ; these operations were either sold to others or spun off as independent companies. The company was ranked No. 98 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. On February 10, 1972,
6417-686: A palette of 512. MSX was a standard for a home computing architecture that was intended and hoped to become a universal platform for home computing. It was conceived, engineered and marketed by Microsoft Japan with ASCII Corporation . Computers conforming to the MSX standard were produced by most all major Japanese electronics manufacturers, as well as two Korean ones and several others in Europe and South America. Some 5 million units are known to have been sold in Japan alone. They sold in smaller numbers throughout
Atari 8-bit computers - Misplaced Pages Continue
6624-433: A place to plug in cartridge-based games. Usually, the manufacturer would sell peripheral devices designed to be compatible with their computers as extra-cost accessories. Peripherals and software were not often interchangeable between different brands of home computer, or even between successive models of the same brand. To save the cost of a dedicated monitor, the home computer would often connect through an RF modulator to
6831-491: A program that allowed businesses to sell computers tax-free to its employees, often accompanied by home training programs. Naturally, these businesses chose to equip their employees with the same systems they themselves were using. Today, a computer bought for home use anywhere will be very similar to those used in offices; made by the same manufacturers, with compatible peripherals, operating systems, and application software. Many home computers were superficially similar. Most had
7038-506: A reboot to use the system for something else. In an enduring reflection of their early cassette-oriented nature, most home computers loaded their disk operating system (DOS) separately from the main OS. The DOS was only used for disk and file-related commands and was not required to perform other computing functions. One exception was Commodore DOS , which was not loaded into the computer's main memory at all – Commodore disk drives contained
7245-525: A result of planned cost cutting programs, the sale of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment was proposed, but ultimately abandoned due to COVID-19 related growth in the Gaming industry, as well as a positive reception to upcoming DC Comics , Lego Star Wars , and Harry Potter titles from fans and critics. Crunchyroll was sold to Sony 's Funimation for US$ 1.175 billion in December 2020, with
7452-584: A separate, publicly traded company. The transaction was completed on June 6, 2014. In January 2014, Time Warner, Related Companies , and Oxford Properties Group announced that the then Time Warner intended to relocate the company's corporate headquarters and its New York City-based employees to 30 Hudson Yards in the Hudson Yards neighborhood in Chelsea, Manhattan , and has accordingly made an initial financial commitment. Time Warner sold its stake in
7659-629: A series of registers that can be user-controlled via memory load/store instructions running on the 6502. For example, the GTIA uses a series of registers to select colors for the screen; these colors can be changed by inserting the correct values into its registers, which are mapped into the address space that is visible to the 6502. Some of the coprocessors use data stored in RAM, such as ANTIC's display buffer and display list , and GTIA's Player/Missile ( sprite ) information. The custom hardware features enable
7866-506: A singular umbrella unit on August 10, 2020, through a consolidation of the WarnerMedia Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment assets into a new unit, WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group. On May 17, 2021, nearly three years after the acquisition, AT&T decided to leave the entertainment business by announcing that it had proposed to sell its ownership of WarnerMedia in a merger with Discovery, Inc. to form
8073-403: A smaller company made up of Turner Broadcasting, Warner Bros. and HBO. On February 28, 2008, co-chairmen and co-CEOs of New Line Cinema Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne resigned from the 40-year-old movie studio in response to Jeffrey Bewkes' demand for cost-cutting measures at the studio, which he intended to dissolve into Warner Bros. In 2009, Time Warner spun out its Time Warner Cable division (it
8280-563: A standard of its own, known as Tandy Graphics Adapter or TGA. Later, Tandy produced Tandy 1000 variants in form factors and price-points even more suited to the home computer market, comprised particularly by the Tandy 1000 EX and HX models (later supplanted by the 1000 RL ), which came in cases resembling the original Apple IIs (CPU, keyboard, expansion slots, and power supply in a slimline cabinet) but also included floppy disk drives. The proprietary Deskmate productivity suite came bundled with
8487-451: A television production company, for £100 million. Its distribution operation, Outright Distribution, was folded into Warner Bros. International Television Production. On August 26, 2010, Time Warner acquired Chilevisión . WarnerMedia already operated in the country with CNN Chile . In May 2011, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group acquired Flixster , a movie discovery application company. The acquisition also includes Rotten Tomatoes ,
Atari 8-bit computers - Misplaced Pages Continue
8694-485: A turbo NEC V40 CPU (up-rated 8088) which was rather slow for its time, but the video monitor did feature 400-pixel vertical resolution. This unique computer failed for the same reasons as did IBM's PCjr: poor performance and expandability, and a price too high for the home market. Another company that offered low-cost PCs for home use was Leading Edge , with their Model M and Model D computers. These were configured like full-featured business PCs, yet still could compete in
8901-410: Is no. 'What will it do for me?' That's his major concern. ... why try to scare the consumer off by making it so he or she has to have a double E or be a computer programmer to utilize the full capabilities of a personal computer?" For example, cartridges were expected to make the computers easier to use. To minimize handling of bare circuit boards or chips, as is common with other systems of that period,
9108-654: Is now part of Charter Communications), and later AOL, as independent companies; AOL was later purchased by Verizon in 2015. In the first quarter of 2010, Time Warner purchased additional interests in HBO Latin America Group for $ 217 million, which resulted HBO owning 80% of the equity interests of HBO LAG. In 2010, HBO purchased the remainder of its partners' interests in HBO Europe (formerly HBO Central Europe) for $ 136 million, net of cash acquired. In August 2010, Time Warner agreed to acquire Shed Media,
9315-536: Is responsible for sales and distribution), while Turner gained access to Warner Bros.' post-1950 library, as well as other Warner Bros.-owned properties. The Turner deal also brought two separate film companies, New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment , both of which were integrated into Warner Bros. The Turner deal also gave Time Warner Entertainment access to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)'s pre-May 1986 library. Time Warner Entertainment completed its purchase of Six Flags Theme Parks in 1993 after buying half of
9522-481: The 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City . It was established as Time Warner in 1990, following a merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications. The company had film, television and cable operations. Its assets included WarnerMedia Studios & Networks (which consisted of the entertainment assets of Turner Broadcasting , HBO , and Cinemax as well as Warner Bros. , which itself consisted of
9729-548: The AT&;T SportsNet regional networks led by CNN president Jeff Zucker . Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, their respective production studios, as well as Turner Classic Movies and Otter Media would be moved directly under Warner Bros. Gerhard Zeiler moved from being president of Turner International to chief revenue officer of WarnerMedia, and would oversee the consolidated advertising and affiliation sales. David Levy and HBO chief Richard Plepler stepped down as part of
9936-609: The Atari 1040ST (not the 520ST), Amiga , and Tandy 1000 , did house floppy drive(s) internally. At any rate, to expand any computer with additional floppy drives, external units would have to be plugged in. Toward the end of the home computer era, drives for a number of home computer models appeared offering disk-format compatibility with the IBM PC. The disk drives sold with the Commodore 128, Amiga, and Atari ST were all able to read and write PC disks, which themselves were undergoing
10143-532: The Atari SIO serial bus , and one of the SIO developers eventually went on to co-patent USB (Universal Serial Bus). The core architecture of the Atari 8-bit computers was reused in the 1982 Atari 5200 game console, but games for the two systems are incompatible. The 400 and 800 were replaced by multiple computers with the same technology and different presentation. The 1200XL was released in early 1983 to supplant
10350-410: The BASIC programming language included on the system ROM , it was easy for users to get started creating their own simple applications. Many users found programming to be a fun and rewarding experience, and an excellent introduction to the world of digital technology. The line between 'business' and 'home' computer market segments vanished completely once IBM PC compatibles became commonly used in
10557-596: The CTIA (the VCS version was the TIA). During the early development period, the home computer era began in earnest with the TRS-80 , PET , and Apple II —what Byte magazine dubbed the "1977 Trinity". Nolan Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications for US$ 28 million in 1976 to fund the launch of the VCS. In 1978, Warner hired Ray Kassar to become the CEO of Atari. Kassar said
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#173277305862410764-593: The Columbus Circle building for $ 1.3 billion to Related and two wealth funds. The move would be completed in 2019. In June 2014, Rupert Murdoch made a bid for Time Warner at $ 85 per share in stock and cash ($ 80 billion total) which Time Warner's board of directors turned down in July. Time Warner's CNN unit would have been sold to ease antitrust issues of the purchase. On August 5, 2014, Murdoch withdrew his offer to purchase Time Warner. On October 20, 2016, it
10971-468: The Commodore PET , and the original Apple II in 1977, almost every manufacturer of consumer electronics rushed to introduce a home computer. Large numbers of new machines of all types began to appear during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mattel , Coleco , Texas Instruments , and Timex , none of which had any prior connection to the computer industry, all had short-lived home computer lines in
11178-463: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) introduced new testing standards which are extremely exacting and difficult to meet. Other manufacturers avoided the problem by using built-in composite monitors, such as the Commodore PET and TRS-80. The TRS-80 has a slightly modified black and white television as a monitor. It was notorious for causing interference, and production was canceled when
11385-500: The HBO Max streaming service). Despite spinning off Time Inc. in 2014, the company retained the Time Warner name until 2018, when the company was renamed WarnerMedia after it was acquired by AT&T. On October 22, 2016, AT&T officially announced that they intended on acquiring Time Warner for $ 85.4 billion (or $ 108.7 billion when including assumed Time Warner debt), valuing the company at $ 107.50 per share. The proposed merger
11592-465: The Motorola 68008 with its external 8-bit bus). Graphics resolutions approximately doubled to give roughly NTSC -class resolution, and color palettes increased from dozens to hundreds or thousands of colors available. The Amiga was built with a custom chipset with dedicated graphics and sound coprocessors for high-performance video and audio. The Amiga found use as a workstation for desktop video ,
11799-750: The Nintendo Entertainment System reignited the console market, Atari Corporation packaged the 65XE as a game console, with an optional keyboard, as the Atari XEGS . It is compatible with 8-bit computer software and peripherals. The 8-bit computers were sold both in computer stores and department stores such as Sears using an in-store demo to attract customers. Two million Atari 8-bit computers were sold during its major production run between late 1979 and mid-1985. In 1984, Atari reported 4 million owners of its computers and 5200 game console combined. The primary global competition came when
12006-473: The Nintendo Entertainment System , but no longer sold home computers. Toward the end of the 1980s, clones also became popular with non-corporate customers. Inexpensive, highly-compatible clones succeeded where the PCjr had failed. Replacing the hobbyists who had made up the majority of the home computer market were, as Compute! described them, "people who want to take work home from the office now and then, play
12213-484: The PCjr as a PC/DOS-compatible machine aimed squarely at the home user. It proved a spectacular failure because IBM deliberately limited its capabilities and expansion possibilities in order to avoid cannibalizing sales of the profitable PC. IBM management believed that if they made the PCjr too powerful, too many buyers would prefer it over the bigger, more expensive PC. Poor reviews in the computer press and poor sales doomed
12420-554: The Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System on the other, combined to cause the market segment for home computers to vanish by the early 1990s in the US. In Europe, the home computer remained a distinct presence for a few years more, with the low-end models of the 16-bit Amiga and Atari ST families being the dominant players, but by the mid-1990s, even the European market had dwindled. The Dutch government even ran
12627-416: The "excellent 'feel ' " of the keyboard. InfoWorld favorably reviewed the 800's performance, graphics, and ROM cartridges, but disliked the documentation and cautioned that the unusual right Shift key location might make the computer "unsuitable for serious word processing". There is an "Atari key" between the / and shift, whereas a typical keyboard would extend the shift key into this area. Noting that
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#173277305862412834-511: The 1200XL in mid-1983, the new models did not arrive until late that year. Although the 600XL/800XL were well positioned in terms of price and features, during the critical Christmas season they were available only in small numbers while the Commodore 64 was widely available. Brian Moriarty stated in ANALOG Computing that Atari "fail[ed] to keep up with Christmas orders for the 600 and 800XLs", reporting that as of late November 1983
13041-506: The 1200XL's than the 400 and 800's, and the "inadequate and frankly disappointing" documentation, ANALOG concluded that "our first impression ... is mixed but mostly optimistic." The magazine warned, however, that because of "Atari's sluggish marketing", unless existing customers persuaded others to buy the XL models, "we'll all end up marching to the beat of a drummer whose initials are IBM." The high-end 1400XL and 1450XLD were announced alongside
13248-401: The 1450XLD so delayed that it would never ship. Other prototypes which never reached market include the 1600XL, 1650XLD, and 1850XLD. The 1600XL was to have been a dual-processor model capable of running 6502 and 80186 code, and the 1650XLD is a similar machine in the 1450XLD case. These were canceled when James J. Morgan became CEO and wanted Atari to return to its video game roots. The 1850XLD
13455-528: The 1980–81 time frame, when he predicted about one million home computers being sold. The April 1980 issue compared the machines with the Commodore PET , focused mostly on the BASIC dialects. Ted Nelson reviewed the computer in the magazine in June 1980, calling it "an extraordinary graphics box". Describing his and a friend's "shouting and cheering and clapping" during a demo of Star Raiders , Nelson wrote that he
13662-459: The 600XL and 800XL. They added a built-in 300 baud modem and a voice synthesizer , and the 1450XLD has a built-in double-sided floppy disk drive in an enlarged case, with a slot for a second drive. Atari BASIC is built into the ROM and the PBI at the back for external expansion. The 1400XL and the 1450XLD had their delivery dates pushed back, and in the end, the 1400XL was canceled outright, and
13869-432: The 800, "buy an 800 quick!" In May 1981, the Atari 800's price was $ 1,050 (equivalent to $ 3,500 in 2023), but by mid-1983, because of price wars in the industry, it was $ 165 (equivalent to $ 500 in 2023) and the 400 was under $ 150 (equivalent to $ 460 in 2023). The 1200XL was a flop, and the earlier machines were too expensive to produce to be able to compete at the rapidly falling price points. A new lineup
14076-461: The 800. It was discontinued months later, but the industrial design carried over to the 600XL and 800XL released later the same year. After the company was sold and reestablished, Atari Corporation released the 65XE (sold as the 800XE in some European markets) and 130XE in 1985. The XL and XE are lighter in construction, have two joystick ports instead of four, and Atari BASIC is built-in. The 130XE has 128 KB of bank-switched RAM. In 1987, after
14283-527: The 800XL had not appeared in Massachusetts stores while 600XL "quantities are so limited that it's almost impossible to obtain". After losing $ 563 million in the first nine months of the year, Atari that month announced that prices would rise in January, stating that it "has no intention of participating in these suicidal price wars." The 600XL and 800XL's prices in early 1984 were $ 50 higher than for
14490-481: The AOL division dropped significantly, not unlike the market valuation of similar independent internet companies that drastically fell, and forced a goodwill write-off , causing AOL Time Warner to report a loss of $ 99 billion in 2002 — at the time, the largest loss ever reported by a company. The total value of AOL stock subsequently went from $ 226 billion to about $ 20 billion. An outburst by Vice-Chairman Ted Turner at
14697-420: The AOL division for failing to meet expectations and dragging down the combined company. AOL Time Warner COO Pittman, who expected to have the divisions working closely towards convergence instead found heavy resistance from many division executives, who also criticized Pittman for adhering to optimistic growth targets for AOL Time Warner that were never met. Some of the attacks on Pittman were reported to come from
14904-489: The Atari and Commodore 8-bit machines, coprocessors were added to speed processing of graphics and audio data. For these computers, clock rate was considered a technical detail of interest only to users needing accurate timing for their own programs. To economize on component cost, often the same crystal used to produce color television-compatible signals was also divided down and used for the processor clock. This meant processors rarely operated at their full rated speed, and had
15111-458: The Atari market, and urged readers to contact the companies' leaders. "The Atari 800 computer has been in existence since 1979. Six years is a pretty long time for a computer to last. Unfortunately, its age is starting to show", ANALOG Computing wrote in February 1986. The magazine stated that while its software library was comparable in size to that of other computers, "now—and even more so in
15318-444: The Atari work during a visit to Grass Valley. He realized the Commodore design would not be competitive but he was under a strict non-disclosure agreement with Atari, and was unable to tell anyone at Commodore to give up on their own design. Peddle later commented that "the thing that Jay did, just kicked everybody's butt." Management identified two sweet spots for the new computers: a low-end version known internally as "Candy", and
15525-568: The Atari ;ST in 1985, Tramiel stated that sales of Atari 8-bit computers were "very, very slow". They were never an important part of Atari's business compared to video games, and it is possible that the 8-bit line was never profitable for the company though almost 1.5 million computers had been sold by early 1986. By that year, the Atari software market was decreasing in size. Antic magazine stated in May 1985 that it had received many letters complaining that software companies were ignoring
15732-482: The BASIC interpreter was also used as the user interface , and given tasks such as loading, saving, managing, and running files. One exception was the Jupiter Ace , which had a Forth interpreter instead of BASIC. A built-in programming language was seen as a requirement for any computer of the era, and was the main feature setting home computers apart from video game consoles . Still, home computers competed in
15939-519: The CTIA. CTIA processes the sprite and playfield data in the light of its own color, sprite, and graphics registers to produce the final color video output. The resulting system was far in advance of anything then available on the market. Commodore was developing a video driver at the time, but Chuck Peddle , lead designer of the MOS Technology 6502 CPU used in the VCS and the new machines, saw
16146-469: The Department of Justice provided insufficient evidence that the proposed transaction would result in lessened competition. He also warned the government that attempting to obtain an appeal or stay on the ruling would be manifest unjust, as it would cause "certain irreparable harm to the defendants". On June 14, 2018, AT&T announced that it had closed the acquisition of Time Warner. Jeff Bewkes stepped down as CEO of Time Warner while retaining ties with
16353-539: The ECI port. The Atari XEGS (XE Game System) was launched in 1987. A repackaged 65XE with a removable keyboard, it boots to the 1981 port of Missile Command instead of BASIC if the keyboard is disconnected. The Atari machines consist of a 6502 as the main processor, a combination of ANTIC and GTIA chips to provide graphics, and the POKEY chip to handle sound and serial input/output. These support chips are controlled via
16560-471: The FCC demanded that home computer makers submit samples for radio frequency interference testing. It was found that "first generation" home computers emitted too much radio frequency noise for household use. The Atari 400 and 800 were designed with heavy RF shielding to meet the new requirements. Between 1980 and 1982 regulations governing RF emittance from home computers were phased in. Some companies appealed to
16767-497: The FCC rejected the design, delaying that machine's release. TI ultimately shipped early machines with a custom television as the testing process dragged on. To meet the off-the-shelf requirement while including internal TV circuitry, the new machines needed to be heavily shielded. Both were built around very strong cast aluminum shields forming a partial Faraday cage , with the various components screwed down onto this internal framework. This resulted in an extremely sturdy computer, at
16974-400: The FCC to waive the requirements for home computers, while others (with compliant designs) objected to the waiver. Eventually techniques to suppress interference became standardized. Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia ) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T . It was headquartered at
17181-526: The Macintosh itself was too expensive for most households. The Amiga in particular had true multitasking capability, and unlike all other low-cost computers of the era, could run multiple applications in their own windows. The second generation of MSX computers (MSX2) achieved the performance of high-performance computers using a high-speed video processor ( Yamaha V9938 ) capable of handling resolutions of 512 × 424 pixels, and 256 simultaneous colors from
17388-490: The OS goes to the "Memo Pad" which is a built-in full-screen editor without file storage support. As the design process for the new machines continued, there were questions about what the Candy should be. There was a running argument about whether the keyboard would be external or built-in. By the summer of 1978, education had become a focus for the new systems. The Colleen design was largely complete by May 1978, but in early 1979
17595-467: The PCjr. Tandy Corporation capitalized on IBM's blunder with its PCjr-compatible Tandy 1000 in November. Like the PCjr, it was pitched as a home, education, and small-business computer, featuring joystick ports, better sound and graphics (same as the PCjr but with enhancements), combined with near-PC/DOS compatibility (unlike Tandy's earlier Tandy 2000 ). The improved Tandy 1000 video hardware became
17802-519: The ROM-based OS anyway to free the address space it occupied and maximize RAM capacity. This gave the program full control of the hardware and allowed the programmer to optimize performance for a specific task. Games would often turn off unused I/O ports, as well as the interrupts that served them. As multitasking was never common on home computers, this practice went largely unnoticed by users. Most software even lacked an exit command, requiring
18009-432: The SIO port is not connected, which prevents a few devices from working. The +12V was typically used to power RS-232 devices, which now required an external power source. An improved video circuit provides more chroma for a more colorful image, but the chroma line is not connected to the monitor port, the only place that could make use of it. The operating system has compatibility problems with some older software. The 1200XL
18216-452: The Sweet 8 (or Liz NY) and Sweet 16 projects to create an upgraded set of machines that were easier to build and less costly to produce. Atari ordered a custom 6502, initially labelled 6502C, but eventually known as SALLY to differentiate it from a standard 6502C. A 6502C was simply a version of the 6502 able to run up to 4 MHz. The A models run at 1, and the B's at 2. The basis for SALLY is
18423-549: The Tandy 1000s. Deskmate was suited to use by computer novices with its point-and-click (though not graphical) user interface. From the launch of the Tandy 1000 series, their manufacture were price-competitive because of Tandy's use of high-density ASIC chip technology, which allowed their engineers to integrate many hardware features into the motherboard (obviating the need for circuit cards in expansion slots as with other brands of PC). Tandy never transferred its manufacturing operation to Asia; all Tandy desktop computers were built in
18630-513: The Time Warner board on October 31, 2005. Jeff Bewkes , who eventually became CEO of Time Warner in 2008, described the 2001 merger with AOL as 'the biggest mistake in corporate history'. In 2005, Time Warner was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $ 250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush . On December 27, 2007, newly installed Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes discussed possible plans to spin off Time Warner Cable and sell off AOL and Time Inc. This would leave
18837-491: The Turner Broadcasting System. Its assets were dispersed across two new camps, WarnerMedia Entertainment and WarnerMedia News & Sports. WarnerMedia Entertainment would consist of HBO, TBS, TNT, TruTV, and the direct-to-consumer video service HBO Max. WarnerMedia News & Sports would have CNN Worldwide, Turner Sports (later known briefly as Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, and TNT Sports from 2023), and
19044-664: The UK. Later they would market the machine in the US as the PC6400. In June 1987, an improved model was produced as the PC1640. These machines had fast 8086 CPUs, enhanced CGA graphics, and were feature-laden for their modest prices. They had joystick adapters built into their keyboards and shipped with a licensed version of the Digital Research 's GEM , a GUI for the MS-DOS operating system. They became marginal successes in
19251-654: The USA (this was not true of the laptop and pocket computers, nor peripherals). In 1985, the Epson corporation, a popular and respected producer of inexpensive dot-matrix printers and business computers (the QX-10 and QX-16 ), introduced its low-cost Epson Equity PC. Its designers took minor shortcuts, such as few expansion slots and a lack of a socket for an 8087 math chip, but Epson did bundle some utility programs that offered decent turnkey functionality for novice users. While not
19458-457: The VIC-20 and Commodore 64. ANALOG Computing , writing about the 600XL in January 1984, stated that "the Commodore 64 and Tandy CoCo look like toys by comparison." The magazine approved of its not using the 1200XL's keyboard layout, and predicted that the XL's parallel bus "actually makes the 600 more expandable than a 400 or 800." While disapproving of the use of an operating system closer to
19665-475: The Winter CES in January 1979 and shipped in November 1979. The names originally referred to the amount of memory: 4 KB RAM in the 400 and 8 KB in the 800. By the time they were released, RAM prices had started to fall, so the machines were both released with 8 KB, using 4kx1 DRAMs. The user-installable RAM modules in the 800 initially had plastic casings but this caused overheating issues, so
19872-431: The ability to run industry-standard MS-DOS software on affordable, user-friendly PCs was anticipated as a source of new sales. Furthermore, many in the industry felt that MS-DOS would eventually (inevitably, it seemed) come to dominate the computer business entirely, and some manufacturers felt the need to offer individual customers PC-style products suitable for the home market. In early 1984, market colossus IBM produced
20079-480: The acquisition closing in August 2021. On December 21, 2020, WarnerMedia acquired You.i TV, an Ottawa , Ontario -based developer of tools for building cross-platform video streaming apps. The company's products have been the basis of various WarnerMedia streaming platforms, including AT&T TV Now and the Turner channels' apps, and would be used as part of international expansion of HBO Max. On May 16, 2021, it
20286-606: The amount of software and hardware available for the computer "is no match for that of the Apple II or the TRS-80", the magazine concluded that the 800 "is an impressive machine that has not yet reached its full computing potential". Though planning an extensive advertising campaign for 1980, Atari found difficult competition from Commodore, Apple, and Tandy. By mid-1981, it had reportedly lost $ 10 million on sales of $ 10–13 million from more than 50,000 computers. In 1982, Atari started
20493-481: The author to obtain the programs on disk or cassette for a few dollars. Before the Internet, and before most computer owners had a modem , books were a popular and low-cost means of software distribution—one that had the advantage of incorporating its own documentation. These books also served a role in familiarizing new computer owners with the concepts of programming; some titles added suggested modifications to
20700-508: The back of the machine. The original Sweet 8/16 plans were dropped and only one machine using the new design was released. Announced at a New York City press conference on December 13, 1982, the 1200XL was presented at the Winter CES on January 6–9, 1983. It shipped in March 1983 with 64 KB of RAM, built-in self test, a redesigned keyboard (with four function keys and a HELP key), and redesigned cable port layout. The number of joystick ports
20907-477: The base Amiga 1000 ) up to 1024 kB ( 1 MB , a milestone, first seen on the Atari 1040ST). These systems used 3.5" floppy disks from the beginning, but 5.25" drives were made available to facilitate data exchange with IBM PC compatibles. The Amiga and ST both had GUIs with windowing technology. These were inspired by the Macintosh , but at a list price of US$ 2,495 (equivalent to $ 7,100 in 2023),
21114-500: The buyer would fill with the integrated circuits , other individual electronic components, wires and connectors, and then hand- solder all the connections. While two early home computers ( Sinclair ZX80 and Acorn Atom ) could be bought either in kit form or assembled, most home computers were only sold pre-assembled. They were enclosed in plastic or metal cases similar in appearance to typewriter or hi-fi equipment enclosures, which were more familiar and attractive to consumers than
21321-618: The case. On October 10, 2018, WarnerMedia announced that it would launch an over-the-top streaming service in late 2019, featuring content from its entertainment brands. On December 14, 2018, Kevin Reilly, president of TNT and TBS, was promoted to chief content officer of all WarnerMedia digital and subscription activities, including HBO Max, reporting to both Turner's president David Levy and WarnerMedia's CEO John Stankey. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. unanimously upheld
21528-466: The casings were removed. Later, the expansion cover was held down with screws instead of the easier-to-open plastic latches. The computers eventually shipped with maxed-out RAM: 16k and 48k, respectively, using 16kx1 DRAMs. Both models have four joystick ports, permitting four simultaneous players, but only a few games (such as M.U.L.E. ) use them all. Paddle controllers are wired in pairs, and Super Breakout supports eight players. The Atari 400, with
21735-507: The chief financial officer. According to AOL President and COO Bob Pittman, the slow-moving Time Warner Entertainment would now take off at Internet speed, accelerated by AOL: "All you need to do is put a catalyst to [Time Warner Entertainment], and in a short period, you can alter the growth rate. The growth rate will be like an Internet company." The vision for Time Warner Entertainment's future seemed clear and straightforward; by tapping into AOL, Time Warner Entertainment would reach deep into
21942-481: The chipset should be used in a home computer to challenge Apple. To adapt the machine to this role, it needed character graphics, some form of expansion for peripherals , and run the then-universal BASIC programming language. The VCS lacks bitmap graphics and a character generator . All on-screen graphics are created using sprites and a simple background generated by data loaded by the CPU into single-scan-line video registers. Atari engineer Jay Miner architected
22149-419: The co-head of a new strategy committee of the board, making speeches to divisions on synergism and the promise of the Internet. However, under pressure from institutional investor vice-president Gordon Crawford who lined up dissenters, Case stated in January 2003 that he would not stand for re-election as executive chairman in the upcoming annual meeting, making CEO Richard Parsons the chairman-elect. In July 2003,
22356-516: The company as senior advisor of AT&T. John Stankey , who headed the AT&T/Time Warner integration team, took over as CEO. On the next day, AT&T renamed the company as WarnerMedia (legally Warner Media, LLC). On July 12, 2018, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal with the D.C. Circuit to reverse the District Court's approval. Although the Department of Justice reportedly contemplated requesting an injunction to stop
22563-499: The company dropped the "AOL" from its name, and spun off Time-Life 's ownership under the legal name Direct Holdings Americas, Inc. On November 24, 2003, Time Warner announced they would sell the Warner Music Group , which hosted a variety of acts such as Madonna and Prince , to an investor group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Thomas H. Lee Partners , in order to cut its debt down to US $ 20 billion. Case resigned from
22770-449: The company in 1991, saving it from financial trouble. The company was later sold to Oklahoma-based theme park operator Premier Parks under certain terms and conditions on April 1, 1998. Dick Parsons, already a director on the board since 1991, was hired as Time Warner Entertainment president in 1995, although the division operational heads continued to report directly to chairman and CEO Gerald Levin . In 1991, HBO and Cinemax became
22977-526: The company was then called, was supposed to be a merger of equals with top executives from both sides. Gerald Levin , who had served as chairman and CEO of Time Warner Entertainment, was CEO of the new company. AOL co-founder Steve Case served as Executive Chairman of the board of directors, Robert W. Pittman (president and COO of AOL) and Dick Parsons (president of Time Warner) served as Co-Chief Operating Officers, and J. Michael Kelly (the CFO from AOL) became
23184-406: The computer through a single shielded connector. The internal slots were reserved for ROM and RAM modules; they did not have the control lines necessary for a fully functional expansion card, nor room to route a cable outside the case to communicate with external devices. After Atari announced its intent to enter the home computer market in December 1978, the Atari 400 and Atari 800 were presented at
23391-441: The computers to perform many functions directly in hardware, such as smooth background scrolling, that would need to be done in software in most other computers. Graphics and sound demos were part of Atari's earliest developer information and used as marketing materials with computers running in-store demos. ANTIC is a microprocessor which processes a sequence of instructions known as a display list . An instruction adds one row of
23598-423: The computers were designed with enclosed modules for memory, ROM cartridges, with keyed connectors to prevent them being plugged into the wrong slot. The operating system boots automatically, loading drivers from devices on the serial bus (SIO). The disk operating system for managing floppy storage was menu-driven. When no software is loaded, rather than leaving the user at a blank screen or machine language monitor,
23805-474: The data can be fetched from arbitrary, non-sequential memory addresses. Home computer Home computers were usually sold already manufactured in stylish metal or plastic enclosures. However, some home computers also came as commercial electronic kits , like the Sinclair ZX80 , which were both home and home-built computers since the purchaser could assemble the unit from a kit. Advertisements in
24012-450: The deal from closing after the District Court's ruling, the department ultimately did not file the motion because WarnerMedia's operation as a separate group from the rest of AT&T would make the business relatively easy to unwind should the appeal be successful. The next day, however, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told CNBC that the appeal would not affect its plans to integrate WarnerMedia into AT&T, or services already launched. In
24219-449: The deal would "greatly harm American consumers". AT&T asserted that this suit was a "radical and inexplicable departure from decades of antitrust precedent". On December 22, 2017, the merger agreement deadline was extended to June 21, 2018, under a vote of confidence. On June 12, 2018, District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor of AT&T, thus allowing the acquisition to go ahead with no conditions or remedies. Leon argued that
24426-588: The deal, leaving the review to the Department of Justice (DOJ). On March 15, 2017, the merger was approved by the European Commission (EC). On August 22, 2017, the merger was approved by the Mexican Comisión Federal de Competencia . On September 5, 2017, the merger was approved by the Chilean Fiscalía Nacional Económica. In the wake of the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump , Time Warner's ownership of CNN
24633-491: The decision was made that Candy would also be a complete computer, but intended for children. As such, it would feature a new keyboard designed to be resistant to liquid spills. Atari intended to port Microsoft BASIC to the machine as an 8 KB ROM cartridge. However, the existing 6502 version from Microsoft was around 7,900 bytes, leaving no room for extensions for graphics and sound. The company contracted with local consulting firm Shepardson Microsystems to complete
24840-477: The default PC floppy was double-sided, with about twice the storage capacity of floppy disks used by 8-bit home computers. PC drives tended to cost less because they were most often built-in, requiring no external case, controller, or power supply. The faster clock rates and wider buses available to later Intel CPUs compensated somewhat for the custom graphics and sound chips of the Commodores and Ataris. In time,
25047-488: The disadvantage of added manufacturing expense and complexity. The FCC ruling also made it difficult to have any sizable holes in the case, which would allow RF leakage. This eliminated expansion slots or cards that communicated with the outside world via their own connectors. Instead, Atari designed the Serial Input/Output (SIO) computer bus , a system for daisy-chaining multiple, auto-configuring devices to
25254-478: The early 1980s. Some home computers were more successful. The BBC Micro , Sinclair ZX Spectrum , Atari 8-bit computers , and Commodore 64 sold many units over several years and attracted third-party software development. Almost universally, home computers had a BASIC interpreter combined with a line editor in permanent read-only memory , which one could use to type in BASIC programs and execute them immediately, or save them to tape or disk. In direct mode ,
25461-493: The end of the 8-bit era. Though external 3.5" drives were made available for home computer systems toward the latter part of the 1980s, almost all software sold for 8-bit home computers remained on 5.25" disks. 3.5" drives were used for data storage, with the exception of the Japanese MSX standard, on which 5.25" floppies were never popular. Standardization of disk formats was not common; sometimes, even different models from
25668-550: The entertainment assets of the Kinney National Company were reincorporated as Warner Communications due to a financial scandal involving price fixing in its parking operations. Warner Communications served as the parent company for Warner Bros. Pictures , the Warner Music Group (WMG), Warner Books and Warner Cable during the 1970s and 1980s. It also owned DC Comics and Mad magazine . The European publishing division, which produced magazines and comics,
25875-454: The expected synergies between AOL and other Time Warner Entertainment divisions never materialized, as most Time Warner Entertainment divisions were considered independent fiefs that rarely cooperated prior to the merger. A new incentive program that granted options based on the performance of AOL Time Warner, replacing the cash bonuses for the results of their own division, caused resentment among Time Warner Entertainment division heads who blamed
26082-416: The family TV set, which served as both video display and sound system. The rise of the home computer also led to a fundamental shift during the early 1980s in where and how computers were purchased. Traditionally, microcomputers were obtained by mail order or were purchased in person at general electronics retailers like RadioShack . Silicon Valley , in the vanguard of the personal computer revolution,
26289-465: The few business users. Various copy protection schemes were developed for floppy disks; most were broken in short order. Many users would only tolerate copy protection for games, as wear and tear on disks was a significant issue in an entirely floppy-based system. The ability to make a "working backup" disk of vital application software was seen as important. Copy programs that advertised their ability to copy or even remove common protection schemes were
26496-626: The film, animation, television studios, the company's home entertainment division and Studio Distribution Services, its joint venture with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment , DC Comics , New Line Cinema , and, together with CBS Entertainment Group , a 50% interest in The CW ); WarnerMedia News & Sports (consisted of the news and sports assets of Turner Broadcasting, including CNN , Turner Sports , and AT&T SportsNet ); WarnerMedia Sales & Distribution (consisted of digital media company Otter Media ); and WarnerMedia Direct (consisted of
26703-484: The first premium pay services to offer multiplexing to cable customers, with companion channels supplementing the main networks. In 1993, HBO became the world's first digitally transmitted television service. In 1995, CNN introduced CNN.com which later became a leading destination for global digital news, both online and mobile. In 1996, Warner Bros. spearheaded the introduction of the DVD, which gradually replaced VHS tapes as
26910-477: The form of cumbersome "sidecar" systems, such as on the TI-99/4 , or required finicky and unwieldy ribbon cables to connect the expansion modules. Sometimes they were equipped with a cheap membrane or chiclet keyboard in the early days, although full-travel keyboards quickly became universal due to overwhelming consumer preference. Most systems could use an RF modulator to display 20–40 column text output on
27117-589: The future—there is going to be less software being made for the Atari 8-bit computers", warning that 1985 only saw a "trickle" of major new titles and that 1986 "will be even leaner". Computer Gaming World that month stated "games don't come out for the Atari first anymore". In April, the magazine published a survey of ten game publishers which found that they planned to release 19 Atari games in 1986, compared to 43 for Commodore 64, 48 for Apple II, 31 for IBM PC, 20 for Atari ST, and 24 for Amiga. Companies stated that one reason for not publishing for Atari
27324-606: The game console showed a blank screen or continued playing the same repetitive game. Another capability home computers had that game consoles of the time lacked was the ability to access remote services over telephone lines by adding a serial port interface, a modem , and communication software . Though it could be costly, it permitted the computer user to access services like Compuserve , and private or corporate bulletin board systems and viewdata services to post or read messages, or to download or upload software. Some enthusiasts with computers equipped with large storage capacity and
27531-422: The government were to win the appeal, AT&T would only sell Turner and if they lost the appeal then the February 2019 expiration of a consent decree AT&T reached with the Justice Department shortly before the deal closed would allow AT&T to do what they want with Turner. The appeal was expected to have zero impact on the integration. By September 2018, nine state Attorneys General sided with AT&T on
27738-414: The growing popularity of home PCs spurred many software publishers to offer gaming and children's software titles. Many decision-makers in the computer industry believed there could be a viable market for office workers who used PC/DOS computers at their jobs and would appreciate an ability to bring diskettes of data home on weeknights and weekends to continue work after-hours on their "home" computers. So,
27945-491: The guy that designed it". Kilobaud Microcomputing wrote in September 1980 that the Atari 800 "looks deceptively like a video game machine, [but had] the strongest and tightest chassis I have seen since Raquel Welch . It weighs about ten pounds ... The large amount of engineering and design in the physical part of the system is evident". The reviewer praised the documentation as "show[ing] the way manuals should be done", and
28152-427: The heir-apparent, Dick Parsons was instead chosen as CEO. Time Warner Entertainment CFO J. Michael Kelly was demoted to COO of the AOL division and replaced as CFO by Wayne Pace. AOL Chairman and CEO Barry Schuler was removed from his position and placed in charge of a new "content creation division", being replaced on an interim basis by Pittman, who was already serving as the sole COO after Parsons' promotion. Many of
28359-551: The high-end XL models were canceled and the low-end XLs were redesigned into the XE series. Nearly all research, design, and prototype projects were canceled, including the Amiga-based 1850XLD . Tramiel focused on developing the 68000 -based Atari ST computer line and recruiting former Commodore engineers to work on it. Atari sold about 700,000 computers in 1984 compared to Commodore's two million. As his new company prepared to ship
28566-451: The home market on price because Leading Edge had access to low-cost hardware from their Asian manufacturing partners Mitsubishi with the Model M and Daewoo with the Model D. The LEWP was bundled with the Model D. It was favorably reviewed by the computer press and sold very well. By the mid '80s, the market for inexpensive PCs for use in the home market was expanding at such a rate that
28773-483: The home market. In 1987, longtime small computer maker Zenith introduced a low-cost PC they called the EaZy PC . This was positioned as an "appliance" computer much like the original Apple Macintosh: turnkey startup, built-in monochrome video monitor, and lacking expansion slots, requiring proprietary add-ons available only from Zenith, but instead with the traditional MS-DOS Command-line interface . The EaZy PC used
28980-433: The home". In 1990, the company reportedly refused to support joysticks on its low-cost Macintosh LC and IIsi computers to prevent customers from considering them as "game machines". Although the Apple II and Atari computers are functionally similar, Atari's home-oriented marketing resulted in a game-heavy library with much less business software. By the late 1980s, many mass merchants sold video game consoles like
29187-484: The home, since now both categories of computers typically use the same processor architectures, peripherals, operating systems, and applications. Often, the only difference may be the sales outlet through which they are purchased. Another change from the home computer era is that the once-common endeavor of writing one's own software programs has almost vanished from home computer use. As early as 1965, some experimental projects, such as Jim Sutherland's ECHO IV , explored
29394-453: The homes of tens of millions of new customers. AOL would use Time Warner Entertainment's high-speed cable lines to deliver to its subscribers Time Warner Entertainment's branded magazines, books, music, and movies. This would have created 130 million subscription relationships. However, the growth and profitability of the AOL division stalled due to advertising and loss of market share to the growth of high-speed broadband providers. The value of
29601-462: The image of, as Compute! wrote, "a low-powered, low-end machine primarily suited for playing games". Apple consistently avoided stating that it was a home-computer company, and described the IIc as "a serious computer for the serious home user", despite competing against IBM's PCjr home computer. John Sculley denied that his company sold home computers; rather, he said, Apple sold "computers for use in
29808-609: The industrial metal card-cage enclosures used by the Altair and similar computers. The keyboard - a feature lacking on the Altair - was usually built into the same case as the motherboard . Ports for plug-in peripheral devices such as a video display, cassette tape recorders, joysticks , and (later) disk drives were either built-in or available on expansion cards . Although the Apple II had internal expansion slots, most other home computer models' expansion arrangements were through externally-accessible 'expansion ports' that also served as
30015-406: The late 1970s, the 6502-based Apple II had carved out a niche for itself in business, thanks to the industry's first killer app , VisiCalc , released in 1979. However, the Apple II would quickly be displaced for office use by IBM PC compatibles running Lotus 1-2-3 . Apple Computer 's 1980 Apple III was underwhelming, and although the 1984 release of the Macintosh introduced the modern GUI to
30222-453: The lawsuit, and allowing the two companies to merge, which was completed on January 10, 1990. US West partnered with Time Warner Entertainment in 1993 to form what was later known as TW Telecom , initially known as Time Warner Communications (also utilized as the brand name for cable operation previously under the ATC name), in order to bring telephone via fiber to the masses. US West also took
30429-402: The lines of 64 Amazing BASIC Games for the Commodore 64 . While most of the programs in these books were short and simple games or demos , some titles, such as Compute! ' s SpeedScript series, contained productivity software that rivaled commercial packages. To avoid the tedious process of typing in a program listing from a book, these books would sometimes include a mail-in offer from
30636-410: The lower court's ruling in favor of AT&T on February 26, 2019, stating it did not believe the merger with Time Warner would have a negative impact on either consumers or competition. The Justice Department declined to appeal the decision further, thus allowing the consent decree to expire. On March 4, 2019, AT&T announced a major reorganization of its broadcasting assets to effectively break-up
30843-512: The market, it was not common until IBM-compatible computers adopted it. Throughout the 1980s, businesses large and small adopted the PC platform, leading, by the end of the decade, to sub-US$ 1000 IBM PC XT -class white box machines, usually built in Asia and sold by US companies like PCs Limited . In 1980, Wayne Green , the publisher of Kilobaud Microcomputing , recommended that companies avoid
31050-487: The meeting, Joe Decuir proposed placing an RF modulator on one end, thereby completely isolating any electrical signals so that the computer would have no RF components. This would mean the computer would not have to meet the FCC requirements, yet users could still attach a television simply by plugging it in. His manager, Wade Tuma, later refused the idea saying "The FCC would never let us get away with that stunt." Unknown to Atari, TI used Decuir's idea. As Tuma had predicted,
31257-459: The merger, were chosen because they were considered the most successful operational executives in the conglomerate and they would report to AOL Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons. Logan, generally admired at Time Warner Entertainment and reviled by AOL for being a corporate timeserver who stressed incremental steady growth and not much of a risk-taker, moved to purge AOL of Pittman allies. AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case took on added prominence as
31464-465: The mid to late 1980s, Warner began to face financial difficulties. From 1976 to 1984, Warner Communications owned Atari, Inc. , but suffered substantial losses due to the video game crash of 1983 , and had to spin them off in 1984. Taking advantage of Warner Communications' financial situation, Time Inc. announced on March 4, 1989, that the two companies were to merge. During the summer of 1989, Paramount Communications (then Gulf+Western ) launched
31671-467: The more stringent FCC requirements came into effect on January 1, 1981. Apple Computer famously left off the modulator and sold them under a third party company as the Sup'R'Mod so they did not have to be tested. In a July 1977 visit with the engineering staff, a Texas Instruments (TI) salesman presented a new possibility in the form of an inexpensive fiber-optic cable with built-in transceivers . During
31878-474: The name to a subdivision under Time Warner Cable. On October 10, 1996, Time Warner Entertainment acquired Turner Broadcasting System , which was established by Ted Turner in 1965. Not only did this result in the company re-entering the cable television industry as a national programmer, but Warner Bros. also regained the rights to their pre-1950 film library, which by then had been owned by Turner (the films are still technically held by Turner, but Warner Bros.
32085-441: The new company while Time Warner Entertainment shareholders owned only 45%, so in actual practice AOL had merged with Time Warner Entertainment, even though Time Warner Entertainment had far more assets and revenues. Time Warner Entertainment had been looking for a way to embrace the digital revolution, while AOL wanted to anchor its stock price with more tangible assets. The deal, officially filed on February 11, 2000, employed
32292-664: The new machine and its MS-DOS operating system. Even basic PCs cost thousands of dollars and were far out of reach for typical home computer users. However, in the following years, technological advances and improved manufacturing capabilities (mainly greater use of robotics and relocation of production plants to lower-wage locations in Asia) permitted several computer companies to offer lower-cost, PC-style machines that would become competitive with many 8-bit home-market pioneers like Radio Shack, Commodore, Atari, Texas Instruments, and Sinclair. PCs could never become as affordable as these because
32499-413: The new streaming service. On May 31, 2019, Otter Media was transferred from Warner Bros. to WarnerMedia Entertainment, and Otter's COO Andy Forssell became the executive vice president and general manager of the streaming service, while still reporting to Otter CEO Tony Goncalves — who would lead development. On July 9, 2019, it was announced that the new streaming service would be known as HBO Max , which
32706-603: The newly created media and communications group, overseeing America Online, Time, Time Warner Cable, the AOL Time Warner Book Group, and the Interactive Video unit, relegating AOL to being just another division in the conglomerate. Bewkes became chairman of the entertainment and networks group, comprising HBO, Cinemax, New Line Cinema, The WB, TNT, Turner Networks, Warner Bros., and Warner Music Group. Both Logan and Bewkes, who had initially opposed
32913-491: The popular press for early home computers were rife with possibilities for their practical use in the home, from cataloging recipes to personal finance to home automation , but these were seldom realized in practice. For example, using a typical 1980s home computer as a home automation appliance would require the computer to be kept powered on at all times and dedicated to this task. Personal finance and database use required tedious data entry . By contrast, advertisements in
33120-633: The port. They recommended writing a new version from scratch, resulting in Atari BASIC . Televisions of the time normally had only one signal input, which was the antenna connection on the back. For devices like a computer, the video is generated and then sent to an RF modulator to convert it to antenna-like output. The introduction of many game consoles during this era had led to situations where poorly designed modulators would generate so much signal as to cause interference with other nearby televisions, even in neighboring houses. In response to complaints,
33327-757: The possible utility of a computer in the home. In 1969, the Honeywell Kitchen Computer was marketed as a luxury gift item, and would have inaugurated the era of home computing, but none were sold. Computers became affordable for the general public in the 1970s due to the mass production of the microprocessor , starting in 1971. Early microcomputers such as the Altair 8800 had front-mounted switches and diagnostic lights (nicknamed " blinkenlights ") to control and indicate internal system status, and were often sold in kit form to hobbyists. These kits would contain an empty printed circuit board which
33534-546: The price difference between old 8-bit technology and new PCs. Despite their higher absolute prices, PCs were perceived by many to be better values for their utility as superior productivity tools and their access to industry-standard software. Another advantage was the 8088/8086's wide, 20-bit address bus. The PC could access more than 64 kilobytes of memory relatively inexpensively (8-bit CPUs, which generally had multiplexed 16-bit address buses, required complicated, tricky memory management techniques like bank-switching ). Similarly,
33741-533: The print media in the Time, Inc. division under Don Logan . Furthermore, CEO Parsons' democratic style prevented Pittman from exercising authority over the "old-guard" division heads who resisted Pittman's synergy initiatives. Pittman resigned as AOL Time Warner COO after July 4, 2002, being reportedly burned out by the AOL special assignment and almost hospitalized, unhappy about the criticism from Time Warner executives, and seeing nowhere to move up in firm as Parsons
33948-474: The program listings for the user to carry out. Applying a patch to modify software to be compatible with one's system, or writing a utility program to fit one's needs, was a skill every advanced computer owner was expected to have. During the peak years of the home computer market, scores of models were produced, usually as individual design projects with little or no thought given to compatibility between different manufacturers, or even within product lines of
34155-501: The recording back through the modem to "load". Most cassette implementations were notoriously slow and unreliable, but 8" drives were too bulky for home use, and early 5.25" form-factor drives were priced for business use, out of reach of most home buyers. An innovative alternative was the Exatron Stringy Floppy , a continuous-loop tape drive which was much faster than a data cassette drive and could perform much like
34362-584: The reorganization, which was described by The Wall Street Journal as being intended to end "fiefdoms". Turner Podcast Network, formed within Turner Content Distribution in 2017, became WarnerMedia Podcast Network by May 2019. In May 2019, Kevin Reilly signed a four-year extension of his contract with the company, which additionally made him president of TruTV (alongside the other three WarnerMedia Entertainment basic cable networks), and chief content officer of direct-to-consumer for
34569-518: The same manufacturer used different disk formats. Almost universally, the floppy disk drives available for 8-bit home computers were housed in external cases, with their own controller boards and power supplies contained within. Only the later, advanced 8-bit home computers housed their drives within the main unit; these included the TRS-80 Model III , TRS-80 Model 4 , Apple IIc , MSX2 , and Commodore 128D . The later 16-bit machines, such as
34776-445: The same manufacturer. Except for the Japanese MSX standard, the concept of a computer platform was still forming, with most companies considering rudimentary BASIC language and disk format compatibility sufficient to claim a model as "compatible". Things were different in the business world, where cost-conscious small business owners had been using CP/M running on Z80 -based computers from Osborne , Kaypro , Morrow Designs , and
34983-473: The same market as the consoles. A home computer was often seen as simply a higher-end purchase than a console, adding abilities and productivity potential to what would still be mainly a gaming device. A common marketing tactic was to show a computer system and console playing games side by side, then emphasizing the computer's greater ability by showing it running user-created programs, education software, word processing, spreadsheet, and other applications, while
35190-418: The same price-reducing measures were available to all computer makers. Furthermore, software and peripherals for PC-style computers tended to cost more than those for 8-bit computers because of the anchoring effect caused by the pricey IBM PC. As well, PCs were inherently more expensive since they could not use the home TV set as a video display. Nonetheless, the overall reduction in manufacturing costs narrowed
35397-654: The same time as the Atari 520ST , and they visually resemble the ST. The 65XE has 64 KB of RAM and is functionally equivalent to the 800XL minus the PBI connection. The 130XE has 128 KB of memory, accessible through bank switching . The additional 64K can be used as a RAM drive . The 130XE includes the Enhanced Cartridge Interface (ECI), which is almost compatible with the Parallel Bus Interface, but physically smaller and located next to
35604-449: The same umbrella as AT&T's telecommunication holdings, including satellite provider DirecTV . The deal faced criticism for the possibility that AT&T could use Time Warner content as leverage to discriminate against or limit access to the content by competing providers. On February 15, 2017, Time Warner shareholders approved the merger. On February 28, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai refused to review
35811-444: The side-effect that European and North American versions of the same home computer operated at slightly different speeds and different video resolution due to different television standards. Initially, many home computers used the then-ubiquitous compact audio cassette as a storage mechanism. A rough analogy to how this worked would be to place a recorder on the phone line as a file was uploaded by modem to "save" it, and playing
36018-488: The similarly equipped Commodore 64 was introduced in 1982. In 1992, Atari Corporation officially dropped all remaining support for the 8-bit line. Design of the "Home Computer System" started at Atari as soon as the Atari Video Computer System was released in late 1977. While designing the VCS in 1976, the engineering team from Atari Grass Valley Research Center (originally Cyan Engineering ) said
36225-405: The specialty computer press often simply listed specifications, assuming a knowledgeable user who already had applications in mind. If no packaged software was available for a particular application, the home computer user could program one—provided they had invested the requisite hours to learn computer programming , as well as the idiosyncrasies of their system. Since most systems arrived with
36432-494: The specified graphics mode to the display. Each mode varies based on whether it represents text or a bitmap, the resolution and number of colors, and its vertical height in scan lines . An instruction also indicates if it contains an interrupt, if fine scrolling is enabled, and optionally where to fetch the display data from memory. Since each row can be specified individually, the programmer can create displays containing different text or bitmapped graphics modes on one screen, where
36639-466: The standard 400 and 800 compatible cartridge slot. It provides only those signals that do not exist in the latter. ECI peripherals were expected to plug into both the standard Cartridge Interface and the ECI port. Later revisions of the 65XE contain the ECI port. The 65XE was sold as the 800XE in Germany and Czechoslovakia to ride on the popularity of the 800XL in those markets. All 800XE units contain
36846-402: The standard format for home video in the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s. In 1999, HBO became the first national cable television network to broadcast a high–definition version of its channel. In January 2000, America Online (AOL) stated its intentions to purchase Time Warner Entertainment for $ 183 billion. Due to the larger market capitalization of AOL, their shareholders would own 55% of
37053-478: The system would have a three-year lifespan before becoming obsolete. They started blue sky designs for a new console that would be ready to replace it around 1979. They developed essentially a greatly updated version of the VCS, fixing its major limitations but sharing a similar design philosophy. The newer design has better speed, graphics, and sound. Work on the chips for the new system continued throughout 1978 and focused on much-improved video coprocessor known as
37260-406: The term "home computer" in their advertising, as it "I feel is self-limiting for sales...I prefer the term "microcomputers" since it doesn't limit the uses of the equipment in the imagination of the prospective customers". With the exception of Tandy, most computer companies – even those with a majority of sales to home users – agreed, avoiding the term "home computer" because of its association with
37467-599: The time 1801 series CPU , offering a full PDP-11 compatibility and a fully functional Q-Bus slot, though at the cost of very anemic RAM and graphics. The Motorola 6809 was used by the Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer , the Fujitsu FM-7 , and Dragon 32/64 . Processor clock rates were typically 1–2 MHz for 6502 and 6809-based CPUs and 2–4 MHz for Z80-based systems (yielding roughly equal performance), but this aspect
37674-453: The transition from 5.25" to 3.5" format at the time (though 5.25" drives remained common on PCs until the late 1990s, due to existence of the large software and data archives on five-inch floppies). 5.25" drives were made available for the ST, Amiga, and Macintosh, otherwise 3.5" based systems with no other use for a 5.25" format. Hard drives were never popular on home computers, remaining an expensive, niche product mainly for BBS sysops and
37881-836: The two leaders in the US, Commodore and Atari, themselves felt compelled to enter the market with their own lines. They were only marginally successful compared to other companies that made only PCs. Still, later prices of white box PC clone computers by various manufacturers became competitive with the higher-end home computers (see below). Throughout the 1980s, costs and prices continued to be driven down by: advanced circuit design and manufacturing, multi-function expansion cards, shareware applications such as PC-Talk , PC-Write , and PC-File , greater hardware reliability, and more user-friendly software that demanded less customer support services. The increasing availability of faster processor and memory chips, inexpensive EGA and VGA video cards, sound cards , and joystick adapters also bolstered
38088-600: The two video chips for the Atari 8-bit computers. The CTIA chip includes sprites and background graphics, but to reduce load on the main CPU, loading video registers and buffers is delegated to a dedicated microprocessor, the Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller or ANTIC . CTIA and ANTIC work together to produce a complete display, with ANTIC fetching scan line data from a framebuffer and sprite memory in RAM, plus character set bitmaps for character modes, and feeding these to
38295-509: The viability of PC/DOS computers as alternatives to specially-made computers and game consoles for the home. From about 1985, the high end of the home computer market began to be dominated by "next-generation" home computers using the 16-bit Motorola 68000 chip, which enabled the greatly-increased abilities of the Amiga and Atari ST series (in the UK, the Sinclair QL was built around
38502-548: The world. Due to the "price wars" being waged in the USA home computer market during the 1983-85 period, MSX computers were never marketed to any great extent in the USA. Eventually more advanced mainstream home computers and game consoles obsoleted the MSX machines. The MSX computers were built around the Zilog Z80 8-bit processor, assisted with dedicated video graphics and audio coprocessors supplied by Intel , Texas Instruments , and General Instrument . MSX computers received
38709-573: Was also used for expansion or upgrades such as fast loaders . Application software on cartridge did exist, which loaded instantly and eliminated the need for disk swapping on single-drive setups, but the vast majority of cartridges were games. From the introduction of the IBM Personal Computer (ubiquitously known as the PC) in 1981, the market for computers meant for the corporate, business, and government sectors came to be dominated by
38916-505: Was announced at the 1983 Summer CES , closely following the original Sweet concepts. The 600XL is essentially the Liz NY model and the spiritual successor of the 400, and the 800XL would replace both the 800 and 1200XL. The machines follow the styling of the 1200XL but are smaller from back to front, and the 600XL is more so. Atari had difficulty in transitioning manufacturing to Asia after closing its US factory. Originally intended to replace
39123-482: Was confirmed on June 12, 2018, after AT&T won an antitrust lawsuit that the U.S. Justice Department filed in 2017 to attempt to block the acquisition, and was completed two days later, when the company became a subsidiary of AT&T. The company's final name was adopted a day later. Under AT&T, the company moved to launch a streaming service built around the company's content, known as HBO Max. WarnerMedia refolded Turner's entertainment-based networks under
39330-450: Was considered a potential source of scrutiny for the deal, as Trump had repeatedly criticized the network for how it covered his administration , and stated during his campaign that he planned to block the acquisition because of the potential impact of the resulting consolidation. Following his election, however, his transition team stated that the government planned to evaluate the deal without prejudice. On November 8, 2017, reports of
39537-434: Was discontinued in June 1983. Compute! stated in an early 1983 editorial that the 1200XL was too expensive; John J. Anderson of Creative Computing agreed. Bill Wilkinson, author of Atari BASIC, co-founder of Optimized Systems Software , and columnist for Compute! , criticized the computer's features and price. He wrote that the 1200XL was a "terrific bargain" if sold for less than $ 450, but that if it cost more than
39744-478: Was eventually elevated to President of Programming at HBO and Cinemax in May 2016—added oversight of WarnerMedia's basic cable networks and HBO Max to his purview. In October 2020, it was announced that the company was planning to execute over a 1,000 job cuts in order to reduce costs. WarnerMedia plans to reduce costs by at least 20% in order to deal with the profit shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic . As
39951-404: Was firmly entrenched as CEO. Pittman's departure was seen as a great victory to Time Warner executives who wanted to undo the merger. In a sign of AOL's diminishing importance to the media conglomerate, Pittman's responsibilities were divided between two Time Warner Entertainment veterans; Jeffrey Bewkes who was CEO of Home Box Office, and Don Logan who had been CEO of Time. Logan became chairman of
40158-418: Was initially designed as a game console, lacking a keyboard and input/output ports, although an external keyboard was planned for joystick ports 3 and 4. At the time, plans called for both to have a separate audio port supporting cassette tapes as a storage medium. A goal for the new systems was user-friendliness. One executive stated, "Does the end user care about the architecture of the machine? The answer
40365-559: Was known as Williams Publishing ; thanks to a prior acquisition (from Gilberton World-Wide Publications ), it had European-language branches in the United Kingdom, Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , the Netherlands, Norway , and Sweden . Most of these publishers were sold off around 1979. During its time as Warner Communications, the company made several further acquisitions. In 1979, Warner formed
40572-518: Was launched on May 27, 2020. In September 2019, Stankey was promoted to AT&T president and chief operating officer. By April 1, 2020, former Hulu chief Jason Kilar took over as WarnerMedia CEO. In August 2020, the company had a significant restructuring laying off around 800 employees including around 600 from Warner and 150+ from HBO. At WarnerMedia's Atlanta base, marketing and cable operations teams were particularly affected. On August 10, 2020, WarnerMedia restructured several of its units in
40779-424: Was not emphasized by users or manufacturers, as the systems' limited RAM capacity, graphics abilities, and storage options had a more perceivable effect on performance than CPU speed. For low-price computers, the cost of RAM memory chips contributed greatly to the final product price to the consumer, and fast CPUs demanded expensive, fast memory. As a result, designers kept clock rates only adequate. In some cases, like
40986-403: Was reduced from 4 to 2. There is no PAL version of the 1200XL. Announced at a retail price of $ 1000, the 1200XL was released at $ 899 (equivalent to about $ 2,800 in 2023). This is $ 100 less than the announced price of the Atari 800 at its release in 1979, but by this time the 800 was priced much lower. The system uses the SIO port again instead of the Parallel Bus Interface. The +12V pin in
41193-477: Was reported that AT&T was in talks to acquire Time Warner. The proposed deal would give AT&T significant holdings in the media industry. AT&T's competitor Comcast had previously acquired NBCUniversal in a similar bid to increase its media holdings, in concert with its ownership of television and internet providers. On October 22, 2016, AT&T reached a deal to buy Time Warner for $ 85.4 billion. The merger would bring Time Warner's properties under
41400-449: Was reported that AT&T was in talks with Discovery, Inc. —which primarily operated television channels and platforms devoted to non-fiction and unscripted content—for it to merge with WarnerMedia, forming a publicly traded company that would be divided between its shareholders. The proposed spin-off and merger was officially announced the next day, which is to be structured as a Reverse Morris Trust . AT&T shareholders would receive
41607-444: Was so impressed that "I've been in computer graphics for twenty years, and I lay awake night after night trying to understand how the Atari machine did what it did". He described the machine as "something else" but criticized the company for a lack of developer documentation. He concluded by stating "The Atari is like the human body – a terrific machine, but (a) they won't give you access to the documentation, and (b) I'd sure like to meet
41814-417: Was that while those TV-monitors had difficulty displaying the clear and readable 80-column text that became the industry standard at the time, the only consumers who really needed that were the power users utilizing the machine for business purposes, while the average casual consumer would use the system for games only and was content with the lower resolution, for which a TV worked fine. An important exception
42021-474: Was the Radio Shack TRS-80 , the first mass-marketed computer for home use, which included its own 64-column display monitor and full-travel keyboard as standard features. This " peripherals sold separately" approach is another defining characteristic of the home computer era. A first-time computer buyer who brought a base C-64 system home and hooked it up to their TV would find they needed to buy
42228-501: Was the TI-99/4 , announced in 1979 with a 16-bit TMS9900 CPU. The TI was originally to use the 8-bit 9985 processor designed especially for it, but this project was cancelled. However, the glue logic needed to retrofit the 16-bit CPU to an 8-bit 9985 system negated the advantages of the more powerful CPU. Another exception was the Soviet Elektronika BK series of 1984, which used the fully-16-bit and powerful for
42435-424: Was the first place to see the appearance of new retail stores dedicated to selling only computer hardware, computer software, or both, and also the first place where such stores began to specialize in particular platforms. By 1982, an estimated 621,000 home computers were in American households, at an average sales price of US$ 530 (equivalent to $ 1,673 in 2023). After the success of the Radio Shack TRS-80 ,
42642-512: Was the unusually high amount of software piracy on the computer, partly caused by the Happy Drive . The magazine warned later that year, "Is this the end for Atari 800 games? It certainly looks like it might be from where I write". In 1987, MicroProse confirmed that it would not release Gunship for the Atari 8-bits, stating that the market was too small. The 65XE and 130XE (XE stands for XL-Compatible Eight-bit) were announced in 1985 at
42849-545: Was to have been based on the Lorraine chipset which became the Amiga . Commodore founder Jack Tramiel resigned in January 1984 and in July, he purchased the Atari consumer division from Warner for an extremely low price. No cash was required, and instead Warner had the right to purchase $ 240 million in long-term notes and warrants, and Tramiel had an option to buy up to $ 100 million in Warner stock. When Tramiel took over,
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