[continued from previous message]
in that drive. As long as you follow that rule, you can utilize the
backward compatible 360KiB modes that most 1200KiB drives offer. ===============================================================
AnaDisk + DeAna
===============
While the above mentioned utilities work with SS/DD 180KiB Atari-format disks or SS/DD 180KiB SpartaDOS disks, the following combination of utilities has been used successfully to read SS/SD 90KiB Atari-format disks. So if you only have standard Atari 810 and/or Atari 1050 drives, you could look into:
AnaDisk, created by Chuck Guzis at Sydex, Inc. in 1987
- "Scan, edit, repair and copy just about any kind of diskette"
- Version 2.01, November, 1989
- One source for AnaDisk 2.06 (1992):
http://www.retroarchive.org/cpm/cdrom/UTILS/22DISK/ANAD206.ZIP
- Some have reported more luck with this than 2.07
- One source for AnaDisk 2.07 26-Aug-92:
http://www.retrocomputing.org/cgi-bin/sitewise.pl?act=det&p=776&id=retroorg
- Last free version, readily available, but sometimes described as buggy
- Sold to New Technologies Inc. (NTI) by Sydex in March 2000.
- More information:
http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/sydex.html
DeAna by Nate Monson
Available:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/mo7e9xa
- Converts AnaDisk dump files from Atari format
See
http://preview.tinyurl.com/kpnqcjp for tips on using this combination of utilities.
OmniFlop (as of 2007)
========
- By Sherlock Consulting (Jason Watton)
- A 'universal' floppy disk reader, writer, and tester for the IBM PC or
compatible which can handle alien floppy disk formats not normally
supported by DOS, Windows and Linux.
- OmniFlop on its own transfers disks between systems. If you want to access
files, for example, on these disks then you need more - you will need to
use OmniFlop to image the disk, then other software to interpret the
filing system. OmniFlop alone only handles whole disks.
- Features include, as of 2nd Sep 2007 v2.01m Release:
- Read, write, and format Atari 8-bit format (90KiB). (Charles Doty)
- Available:
http://www.shlock.co.uk/
===============================================================
The following more recent solutions involve connecting a standard "internal"
PC floppy disk drive to a modern personal computer via USB port.
KyroFlux (2009)
========
- By KryoFlux Products & Services Limited
- A USB-based floppy controller "designed specifically for reliability,
precision, and getting low-level reads suitable for software preservation"
- Compatible with USB 2.0 (high-speed).
- Shugart (with extensions) drive interface. 34-pin dual-row header
connector.
- Works with all major 3.5" and 5.25" drives
- Connection of two drives supported using a dual floppy cable, one can be
accessed at a time.
- Host software is currently Windows (XP and up, 32 and 64-bit flavours),
Mac OS X and Linux.
- Graphical User Interface (including raw data visualisation)
- Output formats include .0.raw track streams and Atari XFD disk image format
- Available:
http://www.kryoflux.com/
FC5025 USB 5.25" floppy controller (2010)
==================================
- By Device Side Data
- Plugs into any computer's USB port and enables you to read data
from a 5.25" floppy drive.
- Sold as a controller board only without a drive mechanism.
It has been tested to work well with the TEAC FD-55GFR drive and should
also work with most other 5.25" drives.
- The FC5025 is read-only. It cannot write to floppies.
- The FC5025 may be unable to read disks that are damaged or copy-protected.
- The FC5025 is intended for 5.25" disks only, not 3.5" or 8" disks.
- The FC5025 may be unable to read the second side of "flippy" disks,
depending on the drive it is attached to.
- The included software works on: Linux, Mac OS X, Windows
- The included software supports types of disk including: Atari 810
- Available:
http://www.deviceside.com/
SuperCard Pro by Jim Drew (2013)
=============
- USB device for PC.
- Can automatically duplicate any disk that was written with the data
starting and ending at the index pulse. "99% of Atari 400/800 commercial
disks were created this way."
- Device includes a standard 34 pin (17 x 2, .100" x .100") floppy drive
interface.
- Make backup copies of 5.25" or 3.5" floppy disks (including any Atari disk)
directly to another disk, or store the data as a flux image file (.scp)
- Available:
http://www.cbmstuff.com/
------------------------------
Subject: 10.2) How can my other computer utilize my Atari disk drive?
1050-2-PC function of SIO2PC 4.x, by Nick Kennedy
Allows a PC to communicate directly with an Atari disk drive. Requires "1050-2-PC" cable which is very similar to the SIO2PC cable but configured differently. Software allows direct sector I/O with the Atari drive and can
be used to create disk images which will emulate copy protection schemes when run on SIO2PC. Supports the .ATR disk image format.
More 1050-2-PC information:
http://pages.suddenlink.net/wa5bdu/1050.txt
SIO2PC home page:
http://pages.suddenlink.net/wa5bdu/sio2pc.htm
Additional cable/interface designs and sources:
-
http://www.asselheim.de/atari/1050-pc.htm (Frank Heuser)
- SIO2PC/10502PC Dual-USB (Ray Ataergin)
http://www.atari8warez.com/
APE ProSystem, by Steven Tucker
- The ProSystem hardware is a cable designed to allow connection of a stock
1050 disk drive directly to a PC's serial port for use by the companion
ProSystem software. Latest version:
Atarimax Universal SIO2PC/ProSystem interface, USB or RS-232/Serial versions
http://www.atarimax.com/sio2pc/documentation/
- The ProSystem software program is used to create (protected or unprotected)
.PRO format disk images. These disk images can then be accessed by the
Atari using Steven Tucker's Atari Peripheral Emulator (APE) cable/software.
http://www.atarimax.com/
atarixfer module of AtariSIO package, by Matthias Reichl, 2002-
Used to read/write disk images from/to a Atari drive connected to your Linux box with an 1050-2-PC cable or an APE ProSystem cable. Requires a 2.2, 2.4, 2.6 or 3.x series Linux kernel (with enabled module support) and a serial port with a 16550 or 16C950 compatible chip. Supports the .ATR disk image format.
http://www.horus.com/~hias/atari/
------------------------------
Subject: 11.1) What is the history of Atari's 8-bit computers platform?
Information presented here is derived as directly as possible from sources published or produced in the original time period. While also consulted extensively, modern historical retrospectives (including books, oral
histories, and especially websites) are utilized chiefly as pathways to
primary sources.
Key sources for 1977-1978:
https://archive.org/details/JoeDecuirEngineeringNotebook1977 https://archive.org/details/JoeDecuirEngineeringNotebook1978
Credit to Tomasz Krasuski for finding sales figures in Polish periodicals:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/kdydwv8
For a broader Atari history:
https://mcurrent.name/atarihistory/
1975
July: MOS Technology announced the MCS6502 microprocessor, samples to ship September 1975, and announced that the 6502 and other MCS6500 family microprocessors would be second sourced by Synertek.
September 16-19: MOS Technology introduced the MCS6502 MPU at WESCON (Western Electronic Show and Convention) in San Francisco.
1976
July: MOS Technology announced a series of new chips in the 6500 family, including the MCS6520 PIA.
1977
April 16: The introduction of the Apple II by Apple Computer would spur Atari to ramp up nascent efforts to develop new machines based upon the Atari Stella project platform. (Antic podcast interview 65 with Steve Mayer)
June 5-8: At the 11th annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Atari introduced the Video Computer System (VCS; previously: Stella project).
July 25: John Vurich, previously National Semiconductor product marketing manager, had joined Atari (Consumer) as new product manager (personal computer). (TVDigest 7/25/77 p11)
August 9: As the followup project to the Atari VCS, Atari "Colleen" broad specifications as proposed by Cyan Engineering senior engineer Steven T. Mayer and Atari (Consumer) microelectronics engineer Joseph C. Decuir were accepted by Atari decision makers including Synertek/Atari LSI chip designer Jay G. Miner, Atari (Consumer) director of microelectronics Bob Brown, Atari VP Consumer engineering M. John Ellis, Atari (Consumer) new product manager (personal computer) John Vurich, and Atari VP research and development Al Alcorn (head of the Consumer Division). (Decuir 1977 engineering notes p65- 74) Synertek/Atari LSI chip designer Jay Miner would be Colleen project manager.
October?: Steve Smith joined Atari (Consumer) as a chip enginering technician. He had been interviewed by Craig Hansen. (mc suspects the interviewer's
correct name to be Craig Nelson)
Fall: Douglas G. Neubauer joined Atari (Consumer) as a chip design engineer.
Fall: At Atari (Consumer), John Hayashi would be promoted to director of Consumer graphics (industrial design/design services), replacing Fred Thompson who departed the company. Doug Hardy, previously VCS project industrial designer (reporting directly to VP Consumer engineering John Ellis), would now report to Hayashi.
Fall?: Engineer Richard Simone joined Atari as LSI Design Manager. He was previously with National Semiconductor. Simone was to head large-scale integration chip design for Atari dedicated game consoles, while Synertek's
Jay Miner was to head Atari's LSI chip design for cartridge-based game
consoles (and computers). (Atari User #4)
Fall?: Electronics technician Steve Wright, with prior experience at IBM, joined Atari (Consumer) as Manager of LSI Test.
Fall?: Atari and Dorsett Educational Systems reached a licensing agreement
that would bring Dorsett's Talk & Teach Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) System to Atari personal computer systems.
November 29: Upon considering updated pricing estimates for the Atari Colleen system, Atari engineers considered targeting products at three consumer price points: Colleen would be the complete computer system, "Candy" would use the Colleen chipset but would be a non-expandable game player (no keyboard, no interface, potentially Atari VCS compatible), and "Elizabeth" would be the
same as Colleen but with a 13-inch color monitor. (Decuir 1977 engineering notes p106-110)
December: "Several other new personal computers, in the PET/TRS-80 price
range,
are coming soon...Atari (another video game manufacturer), and a European and Japenese [sic] company are also expected to enter the competition."
(Micro #2 Dec77 p18; reprinted from "Northwest Computer Club News" Oct77)
December 21: Design reviews of the Colleen system and ANTIC/CTIA/POKEY chips were held, fixing most of the specifications of the three chips that Atari
was gearing to develop. (Decuir 1978 engineering notes p5)
1978
January 6: Howard Bornstein would be the first person to work on the Colleen system monitor/resident firmware. (Decuir 1978 engineering notes p5)
January: "Other manufacturers are also looking at TV games as the way to enter the home-computing market. Atari is said to be working on a programmable unit featuring color graphics; it will use either custom chips or a 6502 micro." (ROM v1n7 Jan78 p60)
Winter: Atari acquired the right to port Microsoft BASIC M6502 8K Version to the upcoming Atari personal computers. See:
http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102722318
February?: David Gjerdrum joined Atari (Consumer) as a software engineer. He would be assigned to the project to port Microsoft BASIC M6502 for the Atari Colleen project.
February 17: Internally-suggested demo software for Colleen for the system's intended January 1979 debut included: chess, BASIC, resident operating system, 2 action games (examples: 4 Player Tank, Super Bug), income tax preparation / personal finance, menu planning, demonstration cartridge (point of sale), support of: printer, floppy disk, cassette, Dorsett system (Larry Kaplan memo summary in Decuir 1978 engineering notes p39)
April 20: Educational technology consultant Liza Loop of the LO*OP Center ("Learning Options Open Portal") gave an invited presentation to the Atari Colleen project engineering team. (Decuir 1978 engineering notes p71) Atari would proceed to hire Loop to write user manuals for the upcoming Atari personal computer systems. She interviewed with Atari director of consumer engineering Wade Tuma.
Month?: Atari (Consumer) hired Peter N. Rosenthal as a market research associate (personal computers).
August: Carol Shaw joined Atari (Consumer) as a game designer.
August: Atari (Consumer) hired NEOTERIC consultant Harry B. Stewart to oversee and document "Colleen" project systems software development. Stewart was
hired by director of software development George Simcock.
September: At Atari (Consumer), "Colleen" project systems software development efforts were essentially re-started, reassigned to several of the division's top VCS game programmers (and replacing Howard Bornstein in the role).
October 6: Atari contracted with Shepardson Microsystems, Inc. (SMI, headed by Bob Shepardson) to create both a version of BASIC and a File Management Subsystem (FMS) for the upcoming Atari personal computers. The contract
called for delivery by April 6, 1979.
November: The Atari "Colleen" computer was named the 800 and the "Candy" machine was named the 400, named after their target price points of $800 and $400. The 400, which did not yet have a final case design, would not have a keyboard, but would support an external keyboard connected through controller ports 3-4. (Atari Inc.: Business is Fun, p. 460)
November/December: As reflected in the preliminary Atari 800 Operators Manual printed for the January 1979 CES, Atari expected to ship the 800 with:
internal 8KiB OS ROM Module, internal 4KiB RAM Module, TV Switch Box, AC power adapter, 410 program recorder, 4 joystick controllers, Basketball cartridge, Atari BASIC cartridge, Atari 800 Operators Manual, Atari BASIC Programming Guide
December 6: "Last week Atari...disclosed that it was on the verge of introducing its first home computers." (NYT p.D4)
December 14: Warner Communications introduced the Atari 400 ($500) and Atari 800 ($1000) personal computers at a New York news conference. The computers would each ship with 8K RAM, and support "optional Atari-designed floppy disc
& printer units. Atari plans over 25 cartridges, including games, home financial management, mini-courses, etc. User can record own programs on
audio cassettes with BASIC & FORTRAN cartridges." According to Atari, the 400/800 were expected to ship August 1, 1979; they had been in development for 18 months; they were designed to pass FCC tests for use with home TV, unlike computers from other companies. Atari said it was studying connecting the 400/800 with the Warner Amex QUBE two-way interactive cable television system in Columbus OH. (TVDigest 12/4/78 p11; 12/18/78 p11)
December: SMI delivered working versions of BASIC and a disk FMS to Atari.
1979
January 6-9: At the Winter CES in Las Vegas, Atari featured the new Atari-400 Personal Computer and the Atari-800 Personal Computer. The 400 would come
with 8KiB of RAM and was expected to retail for approximately $500. The 800 would ship with 8KiB of RAM, expandable to 48KiB, and would sell for approximately $1,000. Peripherals announced/previewed: custom tape cassette recorder (410), high speed floppy disc (810), 40-column printer (820).
Software applications promised: "personal financial management, income tax preparation, household and office record keeping, computer aided instruction
in over 20 subject areas including math, English, history, literature, economics, psychology, auto mechanics, and many others." Games promised: Basketball, Chess (would ship as: Computer Chess), Life (would ship as: Video Easel), Kingdom, Lemonade Stand (would ship from APX as: Lemonade), Fur Trader (never shipped), Stock Market (never shipped). Programming language promised: BASIC. Availability dates were not announced. Atari (Consumer) software manager Larry Kaplan and chip engineering technician Steve Smith led the live demonstrations of the 400/800 at the show. Don Kingsborough was Atari (Consumer) Director of Sales & Marketing. Emanuel Gerard represented the Office of the President, WCI. Coverage of the introduction of the Atari
400/800 from Creative Computing magazine:
https://mcurrent.name/atari1979/
(see also The Intelligent Machines Journal Issue 2, 79 Jan 17; Merch 1/79)
January: Atari ran an advertisement for the 400/800 on pp. 54-55 of Merchandising, vol. 4, no. 1, January 1979.
January: Stephen N. Davis would join Atari (Consumer) as Product Marketing Manager (personal computers), replacing John Vurich who departed the company. Peter Rosenthal, previously hired by Atari (Consumer) as a marketing research associate (personal computers), would join the company as Atari (Consumer) Manager of Software Planning (personal computers).
Winter?: Atari committed to shipping the 400/800 with the BASIC developed for Atari by SMI, abandoned efforts to port Microsoft BASIC to the 400/800, and Atari (Consumer) senior software engineer (personal computers) David Gjerdrum departed the company.
February: Synertek/Atari engineer Jay Miner departed the companies (Atari
Inc.: Business is Fun, p. 386) (to Custom MOS, Inc.).
February: Atari (Consumer) hired Ted M. Kahn, previously member of the
Learning Research Group at Xerox PARC, as a personal computers educational marketing strategy consultant, essentially replacing consultant Liza Loop who would depart the company.
March 26: Atari had asked the U.S. FCC to extend the comments deadline on
Texas Instruments' petition for a waiver of Class I rules on RF modulators, in what was seen as an attempt to delay market introduction of the TI home computer. (TVDigest 3/26/79)
April 9: In joining others including Apple, Interact, Mattel, and Radio Shack, Atari formally opposed Texas Instruments' RF devices waiver request from the
US FCC by submitting a 60-page report accompanied by technical data showing that TI standards could cause massive interference in urban areas, and
claiming that "TI simply presented the Commission with its self-serving appraisal of what it considered 'reasonable standards' for home computer manufacturers, and asked for authority to produce & market a computer line satisfying its own standards." (TVDigest 4/9/79 p11)
April: Atari chip engineering technician Steve Smith departed the company (to Custom MOS, Inc.).
April 16-June 30: Direct-mail "refund" promotion to all known (US) Atari VCS owners. Each of "hundreds of thousands" of owners would receive a blank check good for $2 on purchase of any of 28 VCS game programs. In addition,
consumers were asked to answer 3 questions about Atari's new personal computers. Winners drawn from correct responses would receive Atari 400 & 800 computers and $100 computer merchandise certificates. (TVDigest 3/12/79p12; Merch 4/79)
May 11-13: At the 4th West Coast Computer Faire, held in San Francisco's Civic Auditorium & Brooks Hall, in a booth as elaborate as those seen at Consumer Electronics Shows, Atari demonstrated its new 400 and 800 series computers. This was Atari's first public display of their new computer product lines. (Intelligent Machines Journal 79 Jun 11 p8) In addition to business & household management software, educational applications promised: Algebra (would ship as: Basic Algebra), Economics (would ship as: Principles of Economics), Auto Mechanics (never shipped), Sociology (would ship as: Basic Sociology), U.S. History, Zoology (never shipped), Counseling Procedures, Vocabulary Builder (never shipped), Basic Psychology, Spelling, Spanish (never shipped), Accounting (would ship as: Principles of Accounting), Carpentry (never shipped), Great Classics, Statistics (never shipped), Basic
Electricity, World History. Entertainment applications promised: Chess (would ship as: Computer Chess), Backgammon (never shipped), business simulations, Stock Market Simulation (never shipped), space adventure, strategy games, Four-Player Basketball (would ship as: Basketball), Superbug Driving Game (never shipped), Game of Life (would ship as: Video Easel), Super Breakout. Also promised: Atari BASIC
May 21: In response to Texas Instruments' technical reply to the U.S. FCC regarding its Class I waiver request, which said its interference standards exceeded Computer & Business Equipent Manufacturers Association (CBEMA) standards, Atari had filed a followup noting that CBEMA standards were for commercial computers up to 30 meters from a TV, enclsing photos of broken-up
TV pictures reportedly caused by a home computer with TI standards. (TVDigest 5/21/79 p13)
June 3-6: At the Summer CES in Chicago Atari promised that the 400/800 base units would ship fall 1979, and featured a firmed 400/800 product line including suggested retail prices. 400 system with BASIC cartridge and Atari BASIC (Wiley Self-Teaching Guide): $549.99; 800 system with BASIC cartridge, Education System Master Cartridge, Atari BASIC (Wiley Self-Teaching Guide),
410 Program Recorder, and Guide to BASIC Programming cassette: $999.99; 810 Disc Drive: $749.99; 820 Printer: $599.99; 410 Program Recorder: $89.99; 8K
RAM Memory Module: $124.99; 16K RAM Memory Module: $249.99; Driving Controller Pair: $19.95; Paddle Controller Pair: $19.95; Joystick Controller Pair:
$19.95; ROM cartridges: Education System Master Cartridge (would ship as: Educational System Master Cartridge), Basketball, Life (would ship as: Video Easel), Super Breakout, Super Bug (never shipped), Atari BASIC, Assembler
Debug (would ship as: Assembler Editor), Music Composer, Computer Chess, Home Finance (earlier: Checkbook; later: Personal Finance; never shipped); Educational System cassette programs: U.S. History, U.S. Government, Supervisory Skills, World History (Western), Basic Sociology, Counseling Procedures, Principles of Accounting, Physics, Great Classics (English), Business Communications, Basic Psychology, Effective Writing, Auto Mechanics (never shipped), Principles of Economics, Spelling, Basic Electricity, Basic Algebra; BASIC game and program cassettes: Guide to BASIC Programming (would ship as: An Invitation to Programming 1: Fundamentals of BASIC Programming), BASIC Game Programs (never shipped); diskettes: Blank Diskettes (would ship
as: 5 Diskettes), Disk File Manager (would ship as: Master Diskette). Don Kingsborough remained director of sales and marketing for Atari (Consumer).
June 15: Atari announced U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Type I approval for the Atari 400 and Atari 800 personal computer systems, along with the Atari Program Recorder (410).
June: Atari microcomputer systems engineer Joe Decuir departed the company. (Fun p387)
June: Completion date for the Atari 400/800 Operating System Rev.A.
Month?: Bill Carris joined Atari (Consumer) as manager of technical services (personal computers).
Month?: Steve Wright, previously Atari manager of LSI test, would become an Atari (Consumer) training manager. Carl J. Nielsen would join Atari as director of LSI design and test, replacing Wright as well as LSI design
manager Richard Simone who departed the company (to Maruman Integrated Circuits).
July 2: Atari personal computers were in the Penny fall-winter catalog at $550 & $995. (TVDigest 7/2/79)
July: Robert A. Hovee, previously of Questor, joined Atari (Consumer) as personal computers sales & marketing VP, in part replacing Donald Kingsborough who departed the company (to rejoin D.K. Marketing).
August: Atari (Consumer) software manager Larry Kaplan departed the company
(to work with Atari (Consumer) programmers Alan Miller, David Crane, and Bob Whitehead on a business plan for a new company. Kaplan would join the others at Activision in December 1979.)
August: Atari (Consumer) chip design engineer Doug Neubauer departed the company (to Hewlett-Packard). (Compute! #3 Mar/Apr 80 p75)
August?: On pages 654-655 of the Wish Book for the 1979 Holiday Season Sears featured the Atari 400 personal computer system ($549) and accessories.
Summer/Fall: The Atari plant at 1173 Borregas Ave., Sunnyvale CA, previously Atari's pinball manufacturing plant, was repurposed for 400/800 computer line manufacturing.
September 4: The New York Times reported on p. D7, "Atari Inc., the maker of home video games, will introduce two new personal computer systems in the
fall. The inaugural ad campaign, created by Doyle Dane Bernbach, will break
in October in 12 national publications. TV commercials will also be aired in Los Angeles in November and December."
September: Atari (Consumer) senior programmers / game designers Alan Miller
and David Crane, and then Bob Whitehead, departed the company. (Activision, Inc. would be established by Miller/Crane/Whitehead together with former GRT Corp. VP Music Tapes division Jim Levy on 10/1/79.)
September 19: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a new set of "Technical Standards for Computing Equipment" (FCC 79-555, 79 FCC 2d. 28). The new Class A (commercial) and Class B (residential) digital device standards were both less stringent than the earlier Type I standard which, among home computers released and announced to date, only the Atari 400/800
had succeeded in complying with. Atari, among others, would formally protest the new standards.
September 24: Shepardson Microsystems, Inc. (staff engineer Paul Laughton for SMI) completed the File Management System (FMS) for the Atari personal computers.
September/October: Atari (Consumer) programmer Dennis Koble, previously of the division's Electronic Toys & Games group, became (Consumer) software manager, replacing the departed Larry Kaplan. Koble would report to Atari (Consumer) director of software development George Simcock.
October: Steve Bristow, previously Atari VP Engineering and Plant Manager Pinball Production, became Atari VP Engineering, Consumer and Home Computer Division, replacing John Ellis who departed the company. Engineer Niles
Strohl would be promoted to director of Consumer engineering, replacing Wade Tuma who departed the company. (Ellis and Tuma would together establish Compower Corp. on 5/19/80).
October: "Atari's production lines were stalled for about a week in October
due to yield problems at one of its chip suppliers, Synertek. The low yields at the semiconductor manufacturer resulted in significantly reduced delivery
of the MPU to Atari, resulting in about a 3-week delay in getting the
computers into the marketplace." Electronic News, December 10, 1979, p. 83.
November 9: Dale Yocum, previously of Telesensory, had joined Atari (Consumer) to establish and manage a 400/800 programmers group as Applications Software Manager (personal computers). Yocum had been hired by software manager Dennis Koble, but (like Koble) would report to director of software development
George Simcock.
November: Conrad C. Jutson, previously Texas Instruments marketing manager for personal computers, was hired by Atari (Consumer) as a consultant. (Compute!s 1st Book p2)
November: Atari shipped the 400 personal computer system (NTSC; 8KiB RAM) and, shortly thereafter, the 800 personal computer system (NTSC; 8KiB RAM), each boxed with the BASIC Computing Language cartridge (Atari BASIC by SMI) and the Atari BASIC (Wiley Self-Teaching Guide) book; the 800 additionally shipped
with the 410 program recorder and the Educational System Master Cartridge (Dorsett Educational Systems), which each also shipped separately.
"The first "real" consumer units were shipped in Nov. of '79 and were 400s
to Sears followed very shortly by 800s." --Jerry Jessop
November 26: On procedural grounds, the U.S. FCC had denied Atari's motion for a stay of the waiver given to Texas Instruments to sell an independent RF modulator for home comptuers & video games, saying Atari hadn't presented any new evidence. (TVDigest 11/26/79) (Atari would try again.)
November/December?: Programmer Lane Winner, previously of Versatec, joined Atari (Consumer) as an applications programmer (personal computers). Winner would report to application programmers group manager Dale Yocum.
November/December?: For the 400/800 Atari shipped: Basketball, Video Easel (previously: Life), Super Breakout, and the Talk and Teach Courseware cassettes: U.S. History, U.S. Government, Supervisory Skills, World History (Western), Basic Sociology, Counseling Procedures, Principles of Accounting, Physics, Great Classics, Business Communications, Basic Psychology, Effective Writing, Principles of Economics, Spelling, Basic Electricity, Basic Algebra
December: "Atari is funneling large quantities of its 400 and 800 personal computers and software to Sears, Roebuck, while retail computer stores have been faced with late hardware deliveries and received very little, if any, software. Sears is offering the Atari 400, priced at $549, through its
catalog [1979 Wish Book pages 654-655], and is spot-marketing the machine in its retail stores throughout California and the Chicago area. In addition,
the firm is selling the Atari 800, priced at $999.99, in its California
stores, but not through the catalog, a Sears spokesman said." Electronic
News, December 10, 1979, p. 83.
1980
January 5-8: At the Winter CES in Las Vegas, for the 400/800
($549.99/$999.99), Atari introduced the 825 printer, 830 modem, and 850 interface, introduced 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe, Star Raiders, and Calculator, and again promised Music Composer, Assembler Editor (previously: Assembler Debug), and Personal Finance (previously: Home Finance; never shipped). Atari announced a license agreement to market 8 investment-application programs designed by Control Data Corp. from CDC's Cyberware library, including: bond yield, bond price and interest, bond switch, stock rate of return, stock dividend
analysis, stock charting, mortgage analysis, portfolio analysis. (WSJ Jan8p37; TVDigest 1/14/80p13)
January?: Atari shipped: Computer Chess, 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe, Star Raiders
January: Conrad C. Jutson, formerly Texas Instruments marketing manager for personal computers, and consultant to Atari since November 1979, joined Atari (Consumer) as VP Sales & Marketing, Personal Computers, replacing Robert Hovee who departed the company. (TVDigest 1/21/80p14)
January: Chris Crawford, previously an Atari (Consumer) game designer, transferred to the personal computer application programmers group (reporting to group manager Dale Yocum).
January 21: Atari and Control Data announced an agreement whereby Atari computer systems could be repaired through the nationwide network of Control Data repair centers. Approximately 20 centers throughout the country were open; more were scheduled. (Dr. Dobb's Journal)
Winter: Atari shipped the 810 disk drive with Master Diskette (DOS I developed by SMI), and shipped the 820 printer. (US$449.95).
Winter: William (Bill) Kaiser, previously of Xerox, joined Atari (Consumer) in finance.
February 11: The Sears spring-summer catalog featured the Atari 400 at $549, and the Atari 800 at $999. (TVDigest 2/11/80p10)
March?: Atari shipped Music Composer.
March: Science Research Associates (SRA) and Atari announced that SRA would develop educational computer courseware in reading, language arts,
mathematics, science, and social studies, intended for Atari personal
computers used in the home; Atari would have the right to market this
software. Additionally, SRA would have primary responsibility for the sale of Atari personal computers and services to the educational community (public and private, pre-school through university level).
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