A history of the microcomputer industry in 300 adverts

The model of good business: Tuscan - the all-British microcomputer

Perhaps the chosen name - Tuscan - in the context of "all British" was meant to be ironic, but anyway this machine - an update of the regular Tuscan which had been launched the year before - maintains...

First time on Earth - Sharp MZ-80B

Perhaps unique in laying claim to some sort of extra-terrestrial origin, comes this advert for the Sharp MZ-80B. The "large" integrated screen had 320x300 pixel resolution and its processor was a Zilog...

The new Apple III - More computer power on your desk-top

This would seem to be the "missing link" Apple computer, as the world and popular culture seems not to register anything about it, and Apple's own history seems to skip from the Apple II to the Lisa or...

The DAI personal computer is here - High performance - High value

When Texas Instruments was developing its TI-99/2 and TI-99/4 computers, it knew that producing a PAL/SECAM version would be a hassle. Indeed, when the TI-99/4 finally launched in the UK it still couldn't...

Sinclair ZX81 Personal Computer - the heart of a system that grows with you

This advert for the ZX81 - which launched in the UK in March 1981 - was part of an impressive four-page spread which featured in several computer magazines of the day. The ZX81 was ultimately a successful...

The new micro from LSI - Putting Britain back in front

It's another random entry in the "who?" category, from paid-up flag-flying British company LSI - not to be confused with Lear Siegler Incorporated, a US terminal manufacturer - which claims in the advert...

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 led to the Commodore...

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 with a scattering of...

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 used the same 8088 CPU,...

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 48K RAM and a generous...

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" games console. They were...

New! Sinclair ZX81 Personal Computer

First appearing in May 1981, 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...

Outside of the garden you need a computer that can grow - Ithaca InterSystems DPS-1

This adverts shows one of many ageing Zilog Z80-based machines of this era running on an S-100 bus: the DPS-1, from Ithaca InterSystems, founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1977. The company was originally...

Commodore 64 - The Advanced Home Computer

This is a nice four-page gate-fold sales brochure for the computer that remains the best-selling computer of all time - the Commodore 64. The brochure, printed for the UK market - note the Royal seal...

VIC-20 Color Computer - What VIC-20 Can Do For You

This nice gate-fold sales material was made for the VIC-20 a few months after its UK launch. It's full of archetypal 80s people looking at screens, and the blurb contains information on how the VIC-20...