Pearcom Advert - September 1981
From Computing Today
Pear II - we proudly announce the arrival of the computer you have been waiting for
This advert is a brazen attempt to sell an Apple II clone machine, but unlike Franklin's Ace 1200, had the extra "beyond the call of duty" feature of even naming the machine and company after another not altogether dissimilar fruit, as well as giving it the same "II" model number, and a stripey-fruit logo.
At the time, before Apple clamped down on them, there were several rip-offs as well as legitimate licensed clones on the market. Certainly, the specification of the Pear II seems to support this, with a 6502 processor and a Z80 on an add-in card, just like the Apple II.
It came with 32K RAM, expandable to 96K, had 40 columns x 24 rows on-screen display and had 14 expansion slots.
It was supplied with BASIC (also like the Apple II) but could also run COBOL if a Z80 card was installed[1].
Not surprisingly, the Netherlands-based Pearcom company was soon "persuaded" to change the name of its machine.
And quite what an oil lamp had to do with selling computers is not clear, but it retailed for £1,100 - about £5,680 in 2024 money.
Date created: 01 July 2012
Sources
Text and otherwise-uncredited photos © nosher.net 2024. Dollar/GBP conversions, where used, assume $1.50 to £1. "Now" prices are calculated dynamically using average RPI per year.