Very interesting. I was born in 1978, so this is really a bit before my time, although by the time I was 4 I was already programming the Atari 400 and Vic 20, as well as of course playing games on them such as River Raid, Radar Rat Race and Star Raiders. It seems to me that the landscape changed a heck of a lot in those 4 years!
Yes, I would say the period from 1976 - 1979 were truly the formative years for the personal computing industry in terms of establishing reasonable standards and shaking out the first batch of also-rans. There were some wonderful experiments in that time, though, and some truly forward-thinking designs. Too bad the relative costs were so high and the relative funding was lacking, because it would have been nice to see some of the designs outside of the Apple II, TRS-80, and Commodore PET make it into the next decade.
*************************** Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Very interesting. I was born in 1978, so this is really a bit before my time, although by the time I was 4 I was already programming the Atari 400 and Vic 20, as well as of course playing games on them such as River Raid, Radar Rat Race and Star Raiders. It seems to me that the landscape changed a heck of a lot in those 4 years!
Yes, I would say the period from 1976 - 1979 were truly the formative years for the personal computing industry in terms of establishing reasonable standards and shaking out the first batch of also-rans. There were some wonderful experiments in that time, though, and some truly forward-thinking designs. Too bad the relative costs were so high and the relative funding was lacking, because it would have been nice to see some of the designs outside of the Apple II, TRS-80, and Commodore PET make it into the next decade.
***************************
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.