1982 adverts

That's it! The VisiSeries from VisiCorp

Any history of the early microcomputer industry would not be complete without a mention of VisiCalc - the first ever "killer app". Not only did VisiCalc create an entirely new ca...

To become the leader in terminals, Televideo had to give you more

TeleVideo was one of several companies - like Intertec - that had started out as terminal manufacturers, in its case in 1975. However unlike most other manufacturers from the 197...

The Atari Video Computer System from Ingersoll

This advert for the Granddaddy of the modern video game - The Atari VCS (Video Computer System), or 2600 - comes in the form of a gate-fold brochure containing a colourful list of...

You can't get a home computer from Texas Instruments under 16K RAM

Here is an advert from the company that did quite a bit to shake up the 1970s calculator market, and in doing so caused Commodore to buy MOS Technology and with it the 6502, which...

Over forty of the world's leading software houses have one thing in common - Transam Microsystems

It's another advert from Transam Microsystems Limited, showing a generic Transam box, that might be a Tuscan, in the "PET on steroids" style that Transam seemed to like, together ...

The IBM Personal Computer, from £2,890

This is a third-party advert for the original Intel 8088-based 5150 IBM PC, the computer which defined the "PC" for a generation or two. In Europe, the Sirius/Victor 9000, which...

When you outgrow your personal computer, that's the time you'll wish you-d bought a DAI

Rather than being the name of a computer made by a staunchly Welsh computer company, the curiously-shaped DAI comes from Belgian company Data Applications International. It had ...

The graphic difference between Atari computers and all the others

The Atari 800 and its cheaper membrane-keyboard sibling the Atari 400 were the result of a project that was kicked off soon after the launch of the legendary Atari 2600 "Woody" ga...

New! Sinclair ZX81 Personal Computer

This is another common advert for Sinclair's ZX81 - the home computer which shipped with only 1K RAM, although Sinclair's BASIC was heavily tokenised and so it wasn't quite as bad...

North Star's Advantage is easy to see

The North Star advantage was launched in 1982 and came with dual 360K 5.25" floppies (for a total storage of 720K), an optional 5Mb Winchester and hi-res graphics. It contained ...

Newbrain: No other micro has this much power in this much size for this much money

This machine is possibly best known as the computer that might have been the BBC Micro, as chosen by the BBC for its influential Computer Literacy project, if its owners had only ...

Vector 4: The Versatile Computer with the features you need for Today and Tomorrow

This advert is for the curious-looking Vector 4, from Vector Graphics of the US, as distributed by long-time UK distributor Almarc Data Systems. Contrary to the company's name, ...

Think ahead! ITT 3030 Programmed for Growth

When Apple had been a "new struggling company with few resources and was a big consumer group with manufacturing and marketing ability in Europe", ITT had secured the gig to manu...

Informex Wicat Multi-User System 150

WICAT had been founded in 1980 as a division of the World Institute for Computer-Assisted Teaching, and concentrated on multi-user systems for educational institutions. The multi...

"Franklin's Baker's Dozen!"

The Franklin 1200 was an update of Franklin's earlier 1000 model, and both were unofficial Apple II clones. The company always referred to its machines with the acronym ACE, which...