18 Facts About Home computers

Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s.

Home computers were usually sold already manufactured in stylish metal or plastic enclosures.

However, some home computers came as commercial electronic kits like the Sinclair ZX80 which were both home and home-built computers since the purchaser could assemble the unit from a kit.

Advertisements in the popular press for early home computers were rife with possibilities for their practical use in the home, from cataloging recipes to personal finance to home automation, but these were seldom realized in practice.

Traditionally, microHome computers were obtained by mail order or were purchased in person at general electronics retailers like RadioShack.

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Almost universally, home computers had a BASIC interpreter combined with a line editor in permanent read-only memory which one could use to type in BASIC programs and execute them immediately or save them to tape or disk.

Some enthusiasts with Home computers equipped with large storage capacity and a dedicated phone line operated bulletin boards of their own.

In 1990 the company reportedly refused to support joysticks on its low-cost Macintosh LC and IIsi Home computers to prevent customers from considering them as "game machines".

Almost universally the floppy disk drives available for 8-bit home computers were housed in external cases with their own controller boards and power supplies contained within.

Only the later, advanced 8-bit home computers housed their drives within the main unit; these included the TRS-80 Model III, TRS-80 Model 4, Apple IIc, MSX2, and Commodore 128D.

Many home computers had a cartridge interface which accepted ROM-based software.

Furthermore, software and peripherals for PC style Home computers tended to cost more than those for 8-bit Home computers because of the anchoring effect caused by the pricey IBM PC.

From about 1985 the high end of the home computer market began to be dominated by "next generation" home computers using the 16-bit Motorola 68000 chip, which enabled the greatly increased abilities of the Amiga and Atari ST series .

Second generation of MSX Home computers achieved the performance of high-performance Home computers using a high-speed video processor capable of handling resolutions of 512424 pixels, and 256 simultaneous colors from a palette of 512.

MSX Home computers were built around the Zilog Z80 8-bit processor, assisted with dedicated video graphics and audio coprocessors supplied by Intel, Texas Instruments, and General Instrument.

MSX Home computers received a great deal of software support from the traditional Japanese publishers of game software.

The Home computers that were bought for use in the family room were either forgotten in closets or relegated to basements and children's bedrooms to be used exclusively for games and the occasional book report.

Likewise, the acceptance of Home computers into daily life today is a product of continuing refinement of both technology and perception.