
The home computer is a consumer-friendly word for the second generation of microcomputers (the technical term that was previously used), entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s. The home computer became affordable for the general public due to the mass production of the silicon chip based microprocessor and as the name indicates, tended to be used in the home rather than in business/industrial contexts (the name also marks the difference from the :Category:Early microcomputers of microcomputers (from 1974/75 onwards) which catered mostly to engineers and hobbyists with good soldering skills, as they were often sold as kits to be assembled by the customer). The home computer largely died out at the end of the decade (in the United States) or in the early 1990s (in Europe) due to the rise of the IBM PC compatible personal computer (the IBM PC and its clones are not covered in this article). ==History== In a manner resembling the expansion of new animal forms in the Cambrian period, large numbers of new machines of all types, including such exotica as the Forth programming language-based Jupiter Ace appeared on the market, and disappeared again. A few types remained for much longer, such as the BBC Micro and Commodore 64 which still have a devoted following. However by the end of the decade most were squeezed out between the IBM PC compatible and the newer generations of video game consoles because they each used their own incompatible formats. The PC revolution was initiated by the August 1981 release of the IBM PC (its original designation actually being the quite anonymous, classic IBM-nomenclature, "IBM 5150"). Many home computers were superficially similar, some having a very chiclet keyboard integrated into the processor unit and displaying 20–40 column text output on a home television. Many used ordinary and widely available compact audio cassettes as a (notoriously slow and sometimes unreliable) storage mechanism since floppy disk drives were very expensive at the time, especially in Europe (often a disk drive would be priced higher than the computer itself due to its more complicated mechanical construction, and thus, manufacturing cost). All in all, cheapness was the order of the day for most of these machines, in order to get the prices low enough to encourage ordinary-income people to buy. A prime buyer segment were families with school-age children. All modern desktop computers employ an operating system (OS) which acts as an interface between the operator and the computer's internal hardware (random access memory, central processing unit, etc). Home computers most often had their OS, of which one part was usually a BASIC programming language interpreter (computer software), stored in one or more Read-only memory chips. The term software commonly denoted application programs sitting 'above' the OS to perform a specific task, e.g. wordprocessor or computer games. As many older computers have become obsolete it has become popular amongst enthusiasts to enable one type of computer to emulate another via the use of Emulator. Thus, many of the operating environments for the computers listed below can be recreated on a modern PC. Home computers were mostly based on 8-bit microprocessor technology, typically the MOS Technology MOS Technology 6502 or the Zilog Z80. A large variety of 8-bit home computers were designed and marketed during the early to mid-1980s. These were then gradually supplanted by the PC (mostly the PC compatibles—clones—costing significantly less than the IBM PC) and the PC's competing Motorola 68000-based home/personal computers appearing from 1984 onwards. Some vendors attempted to prolong the market life of their 8-bit computers by price cuts and other means (see, for example, GEOS), but their era had ended. See the list of home computers by category for a comprehensive listing of most well-known home computers, divided by wordlength (8, 16-bit) and CPU architecture. ==Notable home computers== The list below shows the more popular and/or historically significant home computers (and computer ranges) of the 1980s and their initial year of release. A plethora of home computers came out during this period, but most failed to have a significant impact on the market or the history of home computing and as such are not mentioned. Different models in a line of compatible computers are listed as a whole, such as the TRS-80 and Apple II families. ===North America=== * Apple II family (June 1977) (color graphics, eight expansion slots) * TRS-80 (August 1977) (first home computer for less than US$600) * Commodore PET (December 1977) (first all-in-one computer: keyboard/screen/tape storage) * Atari_8-bit_family#Original_400/800_series (1979) (custom chip set with Sprite (computer graphics), etc) * Commodore VIC-20 (1980) (under US$300; first computer in the world to pass the one million sold mark) * TRS-80 Color Computer (1980) (Motorola 6809, OS-9 multi-user multi-tasking) * Texas Instruments TI-99/4A (June 1981) (Texas Instruments TMS9900) * Sinclair ZX81 (1981) (under US$100 in kit form) * Commodore 64 (September 1982) (best-selling computer model of all time: > 20 million sold) * Coleco Adam (1983) (low-cost bundle including printer, also compatible with Colecovision game console) * Apple Macintosh (1984) (first fully graphical user interface-based home/personal computer; first 16/32-bit) * IBM PCjr (March 1984) (IBM PC-compatible home computer; failed in marketplace) * Atari ST (1985) (first with built-in Musical Instrument Digital Interface interface; also 512 kilobyte random-access memory for less than US$1000) * Commodore Amiga (July 1985) (Original Amiga chipset for graphics and sound; multitasking AmigaOS) ===Europe=== * BBC Micro (1981) (premier educational computer in the UK for a decade; advanced BBC BASIC programming language) * Sinclair ZX81 (1981) (under £to be confirmed in kit form; also available pre-built) * ZX Spectrum (April 1982) (best-selling British home computer; "made" the UK software industry) * Amstrad/Schneider Amstrad CPC & Amstrad PCW ranges (British std. prior to IBM PC; German sales next to Commodore 64) * Acorn Archimedes (1987) (successor to the BBC Micro; the first home computer to come with a 32-bit RISC Central processing unit) ===Japan=== * NEC PC-8801 (1979) * MSX (late 1984) (major home computer standard in Japan; conceived at Microsoft Japan) ==Notable game consoles== The list below includes the most popular and/or significant video game consoles of the home computer era. Though not general purpose computers, many consoles competed for consumer money in the same market as the more low-end home computers (and used ~similar hardware). This market was also flooded with several oddball or badly marketed systems that never achieved much success; accordingly, those systems are not mentioned here. *Magnavox Odyssey (1972) (first home video game console, and the only one without sound; B/W graphics) *Fairchild Channel F (1976) (first microprocessor-based console, first one with sound, and color) *Atari 2600 (1977) (aka Atari VCS) (first very successful console, largest video game library) *Magnavox Odyssey² (1978) (aka Philips Videopac G7000) (first with full QWERTY membrane keyboard) *Mattel Intellivision (1980) (most direct competitor against Atari 2600; first 8/16-bit console) *Vectrex (1982) (only console with built-in display screen, only one with real vector graphics) *Colecovision (1982) (most advanced 2nd-gen. 8-bit console, first with arcade game-quality graphics) *Nintendo Entertainment System (1983/1985) (most popular 3rd-gen. 8-bit console in the U.S.) *Sega Master System (1985) (outselling the Nintendo Entertainment System in parts of Europe and South America) *Sega Mega Drive (1988) (aka Sega Genesis (1989)) (first 16-bit console; victor of 16-bit console war) *Game Boy (1989) (first successful, and bestselling, handheld video game console) *Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1990) (arguably most advanced 16-bit console, top U.S. 16-bit seller) == See also == *History of computing hardware (1960s-present) *List of home computers *List of home computers by category *List of video game consoles == External links == *[http://pc-museum.com/ Rune's PC Museum] *[http://www.retromadness.com/ Computer History Museum] - Museum of home computing and gaming. Home computers
==IBM PC really no home computer== ''"The list below shows the more popular and/or historically significant home/personal computers (and computer ranges) of the 1980s and their initial year of release."'' and you've removed the IBM PC. WTF? -User:Tagishsimon :The original PC (incl PC-XT, PC-AT) was no home computer; for that its price point was set far too high for the absolute majority of consumers. And the PCjr was a flop, so neither does that machine warrant a mention in this article. I therefore removed the PC image (misleading for illustrating the category 'home computers') as well as its list entry in ==Notable home computers==. Not until the advent of consumer-friendly priced PC clones in the (mid-to-)late 1980s were PCs particularly relevant as home computers. BTW, another illustration should be found. --User:Wernher 00:15, 8 May 2004 (UTC) ::Is that evidence-based or your POV? --User:Tagishsimon :::Thanks for your trust in my seriousness. ;-\ :-) It is quite evident from historical sources that the PC was priced to be, and indeed intended as, a business tool; the word 'Personal' was more an indicator of IBM's perceived market segment in the business world (i.e. single business employees/executives wanting to have the advantage of their own local spreadsheet/word processing tool) rather than the sense of ordinary people using it at home. And lo and behold, because IBM wanted in on the home market, they launched the PCjr. :::That said, one should perhaps write something in the article about the distinction between ''home'' computers and business-oriented ''personal'' computers... --User:Wernher 00:27, 8 May 2004 (UTC) ::::In fact, such an indication was already in place in the intro text, but I tacked on a mild disclaimer regarding the PC and its many offspring, just in case. --User:Wernher 01:22, 8 May 2004 (UTC) :::::You know what the old IBM PCs are good at these days? Being boat anchors. --User:Robo-Jesus ==Computer list needs to be concise== Just to give a rationale for my revert of Special:Contributions/65.87.129.55's recent modifications to the "Notable home computers" list: the list is meant as a quick reference to the most common/notable home computers, and, as such, does not need to give more that a bare essence of characteristics of each machine. The interested reader will get the details by visiting the articles. --User:Wernher 00:48, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Home_computer:
Home_computer
Home_computer
Home_Computers
Home_computers
Home_computers
Home_computer_games
Home_computer_hardware_companies
Home_Computer_Initiative
Home_computer_magazines
Home_computer_peripherals
Home_computer_software
Home_computer_software_companies
Home computer
The home computer is a consumer-friendly word for the second generation of microcomputers (the technical term that was previously used), entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s. The home computer became affordable for the general public due to the mass production of the silicon chip based microprocessor and as the name indicates, tended to be used in the home rather than in business/industrial contexts (the name also marks the difference from the :Category:Early microcomputers of microcomputers (from 1974/75 onwards) which catered mostly to engineers and hobbyists with good soldering skills, as they were often sold as kits to be assembled by the customer). The home computer largely died out at the end of the decade (in the United States) or in the early 1990s (in Europe) due to the rise of the IBM PC compatible personal computer (the IBM PC and its clones are not covered in this article). ==History== In a manner resembling the expansion of new animal forms in the Cambrian period, large numbers of new machines of all types, including such exotica as the Forth programming language-based Jupiter Ace appeared on the market, and disappeared again. A few types remained for much longer, such as the BBC Micro and Commodore 64 which still have a devoted following. However by the end of the decade most were squeezed out between the IBM PC compatible and the newer generations of video game consoles because they each used their own incompatible formats. The PC revolution was initiated by the August 1981 release of the IBM PC (its original designation actually being the quite anonymous, classic IBM-nomenclature, "IBM 5150"). Many home computers were superficially similar, some having a very chiclet keyboard integrated into the processor unit and displaying 20–40 column text output on a home television. Many used ordinary and widely available compact audio cassettes as a (notoriously slow and sometimes unreliable) storage mechanism since floppy disk drives were very expensive at the time, especially in Europe (often a disk drive would be priced higher than the computer itself due to its more complicated mechanical construction, and thus, manufacturing cost). All in all, cheapness was the order of the day for most of these machines, in order to get the prices low enough to encourage ordinary-income people to buy. A prime buyer segment were families with school-age children. All modern desktop computers employ an operating system (OS) which acts as an interface between the operator and the computer's internal hardware (random access memory, central processing unit, etc). Home computers most often had their OS, of which one part was usually a BASIC programming language interpreter (computer software), stored in one or more Read-only memory chips. The term software commonly denoted application programs sitting 'above' the OS to perform a specific task, e.g. wordprocessor or computer games. As many older computers have become obsolete it has become popular amongst enthusiasts to enable one type of computer to emulate another via the use of Emulator. Thus, many of the operating environments for the computers listed below can be recreated on a modern PC. Home computers were mostly based on 8-bit microprocessor technology, typically the MOS Technology MOS Technology 6502 or the Zilog Z80. A large variety of 8-bit home computers were designed and marketed during the early to mid-1980s. These were then gradually supplanted by the PC (mostly the PC compatibles—clones—costing significantly less than the IBM PC) and the PC's competing Motorola 68000-based home/personal computers appearing from 1984 onwards. Some vendors attempted to prolong the market life of their 8-bit computers by price cuts and other means (see, for example, GEOS), but their era had ended. See the list of home computers by category for a comprehensive listing of most well-known home computers, divided by wordlength (8, 16-bit) and CPU architecture. ==Notable home computers== The list below shows the more popular and/or historically significant home computers (and computer ranges) of the 1980s and their initial year of release. A plethora of home computers came out during this period, but most failed to have a significant impact on the market or the history of home computing and as such are not mentioned. Different models in a line of compatible computers are listed as a whole, such as the TRS-80 and Apple II families. ===North America=== * Apple II family (June 1977) (color graphics, eight expansion slots) * TRS-80 (August 1977) (first home computer for less than US$600) * Commodore PET (December 1977) (first all-in-one computer: keyboard/screen/tape storage) * Atari_8-bit_family#Original_400/800_series (1979) (custom chip set with Sprite (computer graphics), etc) * Commodore VIC-20 (1980) (under US$300; first computer in the world to pass the one million sold mark) * TRS-80 Color Computer (1980) (Motorola 6809, OS-9 multi-user multi-tasking) * Texas Instruments TI-99/4A (June 1981) (Texas Instruments TMS9900) * Sinclair ZX81 (1981) (under US$100 in kit form) * Commodore 64 (September 1982) (best-selling computer model of all time: > 20 million sold) * Coleco Adam (1983) (low-cost bundle including printer, also compatible with Colecovision game console) * Apple Macintosh (1984) (first fully graphical user interface-based home/personal computer; first 16/32-bit) * IBM PCjr (March 1984) (IBM PC-compatible home computer; failed in marketplace) * Atari ST (1985) (first with built-in Musical Instrument Digital Interface interface; also 512 kilobyte random-access memory for less than US$1000) * Commodore Amiga (July 1985) (Original Amiga chipset for graphics and sound; multitasking AmigaOS) ===Europe=== * BBC Micro (1981) (premier educational computer in the UK for a decade; advanced BBC BASIC programming language) * Sinclair ZX81 (1981) (under £to be confirmed in kit form; also available pre-built) * ZX Spectrum (April 1982) (best-selling British home computer; "made" the UK software industry) * Amstrad/Schneider Amstrad CPC & Amstrad PCW ranges (British std. prior to IBM PC; German sales next to Commodore 64) * Acorn Archimedes (1987) (successor to the BBC Micro; the first home computer to come with a 32-bit RISC Central processing unit) ===Japan=== * NEC PC-8801 (1979) * MSX (late 1984) (major home computer standard in Japan; conceived at Microsoft Japan) ==Notable game consoles== The list below includes the most popular and/or significant video game consoles of the home computer era. Though not general purpose computers, many consoles competed for consumer money in the same market as the more low-end home computers (and used ~similar hardware). This market was also flooded with several oddball or badly marketed systems that never achieved much success; accordingly, those systems are not mentioned here. *Magnavox Odyssey (1972) (first home video game console, and the only one without sound; B/W graphics) *Fairchild Channel F (1976) (first microprocessor-based console, first one with sound, and color) *Atari 2600 (1977) (aka Atari VCS) (first very successful console, largest video game library) *Magnavox Odyssey² (1978) (aka Philips Videopac G7000) (first with full QWERTY membrane keyboard) *Mattel Intellivision (1980) (most direct competitor against Atari 2600; first 8/16-bit console) *Vectrex (1982) (only console with built-in display screen, only one with real vector graphics) *Colecovision (1982) (most advanced 2nd-gen. 8-bit console, first with arcade game-quality graphics) *Nintendo Entertainment System (1983/1985) (most popular 3rd-gen. 8-bit console in the U.S.) *Sega Master System (1985) (outselling the Nintendo Entertainment System in parts of Europe and South America) *Sega Mega Drive (1988) (aka Sega Genesis (1989)) (first 16-bit console; victor of 16-bit console war) *Game Boy (1989) (first successful, and bestselling, handheld video game console) *Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1990) (arguably most advanced 16-bit console, top U.S. 16-bit seller) == See also == *History of computing hardware (1960s-present) *List of home computers *List of home computers by category *List of video game consoles == External links == *[http://pc-museum.com/ Rune's PC Museum] *[http://www.retromadness.com/ Computer History Museum] - Museum of home computing and gaming. Home computers
Home computer
==IBM PC really no home computer== ''"The list below shows the more popular and/or historically significant home/personal computers (and computer ranges) of the 1980s and their initial year of release."'' and you've removed the IBM PC. WTF? -User:Tagishsimon :The original PC (incl PC-XT, PC-AT) was no home computer; for that its price point was set far too high for the absolute majority of consumers. And the PCjr was a flop, so neither does that machine warrant a mention in this article. I therefore removed the PC image (misleading for illustrating the category 'home computers') as well as its list entry in ==Notable home computers==. Not until the advent of consumer-friendly priced PC clones in the (mid-to-)late 1980s were PCs particularly relevant as home computers. BTW, another illustration should be found. --User:Wernher 00:15, 8 May 2004 (UTC) ::Is that evidence-based or your POV? --User:Tagishsimon :::Thanks for your trust in my seriousness. ;-\ :-) It is quite evident from historical sources that the PC was priced to be, and indeed intended as, a business tool; the word 'Personal' was more an indicator of IBM's perceived market segment in the business world (i.e. single business employees/executives wanting to have the advantage of their own local spreadsheet/word processing tool) rather than the sense of ordinary people using it at home. And lo and behold, because IBM wanted in on the home market, they launched the PCjr. :::That said, one should perhaps write something in the article about the distinction between ''home'' computers and business-oriented ''personal'' computers... --User:Wernher 00:27, 8 May 2004 (UTC) ::::In fact, such an indication was already in place in the intro text, but I tacked on a mild disclaimer regarding the PC and its many offspring, just in case. --User:Wernher 01:22, 8 May 2004 (UTC) :::::You know what the old IBM PCs are good at these days? Being boat anchors. --User:Robo-Jesus ==Computer list needs to be concise== Just to give a rationale for my revert of Special:Contributions/65.87.129.55's recent modifications to the "Notable home computers" list: the list is meant as a quick reference to the most common/notable home computers, and, as such, does not need to give more that a bare essence of characteristics of each machine. The interested reader will get the details by visiting the articles. --User:Wernher 00:48, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
H
HA | HB | HC | HD | HE | HF | HG | HI | HJ | HK | HL | HM | HN | HO | HP | HR | HS | HT | HU | HW | HX | HY | HZ |Words begining with Home_computer:
Home_computer
Home_computer
Home_Computers
Home_computers
Home_computers
Home_computer_games
Home_computer_hardware_companies
Home_Computer_Initiative
Home_computer_magazines
Home_computer_peripherals
Home_computer_software
Home_computer_software_companies
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