Atari 400

Atari 400

Manufacturer

Atari, Inc.

Main developer

Jay Miner (lead, hardware), Joe Decuir ( ANTIC ), George McLeod (CTIA), Doug Neubauer ( POKEY ), Scott Shiffman (hardware), Alan Miller and Howard Bornstein (operating system), Kevin McKinsey and Hugh Lee (housing), Shepardson Microsystems, Inc. (Atari BASIC)

Sales start and new price

November 1979 for $ 549.99 August 1981 for £ 345 August 1981 for DM 1,495 Fall 1981 for ₤ 985,000

Cessation of production

August 1983

Main processor

MOS 6502 @ 1.79 MHz ( NTSC ) MOS 6502 @ 1.77 MHz ( PAL )

RAM ex works

8 KB DRAM (from November 1979) 16 KB DRAM (optional from early 1981)

Graphics output

Various text and graphic modes 8 monochrome sprites ("Player" and "Missiles") Color selection from a palette of 128 colors (CTIA) or 256 colors (GTIA)

Sound output

4 tone generators (output via TV), built-in loudspeaker for keyboard click and system beep

Scope of delivery (West Germany, 1981)

Computer, power supply unit, instructions, two styrofoam shells, packaging

The Atari 400 is a home computer based on the 6502 microprocessor from the US manufacturer Atari, Inc.

From the end of 1979 the Atari 400 was initially only offered by mail order in North America and was massively advertised as an inexpensive entry-level device for playing and learning. Through various collaborations initiated by Atari in the education sector, the publication of blockbuster games like Star Raiders and the expansion of the Atari dealer network, it was possible to continuously increase awareness. The expansion to Europe from mid-1981 onwards, which finally culminated in Atari's international market leadership until the end of 1982, also promoted sales.

Due to the failure of its Atari 1200XL , which was introduced in parallel at the beginning of 1983, and the culminating price war with other manufacturers, Atari lost many of its market shares again within a year, mainly to Commodore . At about the same time as the successor model Atari 600XL was announced, production of the Atari 400 was stopped in mid-1983. Including inventory sales up until about the beginning of 1985, a total of about two million units of the two Atari 400 and 800 computer models were sold.

Shortly after its market launch, the Atari 400 was already considered to be groundbreaking in home computer history: Thanks to its user-friendly design and robust workmanship, it gave even completely inexperienced users an easy entry into computer technology, which was previously reserved for specialists.

history

Atari's successful game console VCS 2600 with TIA special component

During the final development phase for the Atari 2600 video game console, Atari began planning a successor model in early 1977. The efforts of the engineers were mainly focused on expanding the graphics capabilities of the highly integrated specialty television interface adapter (TIA) built into the Atari 2600 . The improvements promised more complex and graphically more sophisticated games with simultaneously reduced development effort.

Development and prototypes

An early, hand-wired prototype of the Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) was presented to Atari management shortly afterwards. Subsequent feasibility studies on possible combinations of the new special module with other electronic assemblies quickly revealed potential that went beyond its use in a pure game console. An integrated keyboard for programming purposes and the control of external devices, for example for data transfer, seemed both technically and economically possible.

At that time, a modular structure and the ability to program were only reserved for the expensive computers from IBM or DEC used in business and research and, with clear cutbacks, the much cheaper home computers such as Altair 8800 , TRS-80 , PET 2001 and Apple II . The latter in particular suffered from the awkwardness of their operation, the unreliability of the technology and, compared to the latest generation of game consoles at the time, still from the level of acquisition costs. Technically savvy little, but electronic data processing towards open-minded interest groups on a budget so stayed on the sidelines. With this target group in mind, those responsible at Atari quickly rejected the original plans for a new game console based on the ANTIC in favor of their own, inexpensive and conceptually novel home computer. It had to be easy and safe to use, even for beginners, and it had to be possible to operate the device with standard televisions without the user having detailed technical knowledge. In addition, it should be possible to load games and application programs quickly and conveniently, similar to the plug-in modules known from game consoles .

In addition to the desired ease of use, particularly low manufacturing costs of the device to be developed played a major role; The initially required compatibility with games on the Atari VCS 2600 console was rejected by those responsible after a short time. The technical cornerstones of the new system then submitted by the main developers were found to be good by the company management in August 1977 and further financial means were made available to increase the development staff. Along with this, the home computer project was given the company's internal code name Colleen .

As the work progressed, those responsible decided to follow the development of two different expansion stages of the home computer: an application-oriented device with a typewriter keyboard and options for expansion and a heavily disarmed variant mainly for entertainment purposes. The development work for the second variant, the entertainment machine , was outsourced to a separate project called Candy in November .

Project Candy

Main processor of the Atari 400: MOS 6502 as a version with DIL housing

The first drafts limited the device's technology to the execution of plug-in module-based games with the help of joysticks , thus reviving the original idea of ​​a pure game console. A realization study from November 1977 did not provide any interfaces for peripheral devices or expansion options as in the Colleen project. Even the installation of a keyboard was initially questioned. Only when the last work on ANTIC had been completed by January 1978 and further efforts concentrated on the completion of the special modules Color Television Interface Adapter (CTIA) and Potentiometer and Keyboard Integrated Circuit (POKEY) , it was finally agreed on the integration of a serial interface for external peripherals and a keyboard. The installation of these components was due, among other things, to the usability of complex games and the additional area of ​​use that has since been targeted as a learning computer. With a view to the target group of children, in particular, the internal keyboard should be splash-proof and without keys that could be swallowed - an inexpensive flat membrane keyboard turned out to be the method of choice. The last work on the special components, the custom chips , and their coordination with the main processor 6502 from MOS , which had meanwhile been selected , dragged on until the end of March. The total development costs amounted to more than ten million US dollars.

At the same time as the work still remaining on the case, the exploration of the market for high-level programming languages ​​began . The people in charge opted for BASIC , an entry-level language with which the new computer system can be programmed and used by the user for his own purposes. An in-house development by Atari was ruled out due to a lack of capacity with only a short period of six months. After the use of the then dominant Microsoft BASIC had failed due to the Atari requirements for integration in a plug-in module with only 8 KB ROM, the external company Shepardson Microsystems was founded on October 6, 1978 with the creation of its own BASIC , specially tailored to the Atari computers -Dialects entrusted.

Renamed to Atari 400

After fixing the configuration of the main memory to the usual 4 KB, Atari changed the unofficial name Candy in November 1978 to the official product name Atari 400, which is based directly on the memory size . The double zero following the number 4 classifies the computer as the basic device of the peripheral devices belonging to it. Shortly afterwards, on December 6, 1978, the home computer project with its two devices Atari 400 and Atari 800 was announced to the public in an article in the high-circulation New York Times .

Presentation at the Winter CES 1979

Atari gave interested parties a first look at its new, partly still unfinished product line in January 1979 at the Winter CES in Las Vegas. The Atari 400 was shown as a prototype with a temporary housing together with the matching program recorder Atari 410. A series-ready Atari 400 was shortly afterwards available to a larger audience in May at the 4th West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco . Finally, at the Summer CES in Chicago , the suggested retail price of $ 550 was announced.

In June, the last technical work was completed and the acceptance test for electromagnetic compatibility by the US Federal Communications Commission was successfully completed - a key requirement for the device to be sold in North America. Shortly afterwards, the generally lower component costs made it possible to increase the factory-installed working memory from 4 to 8 KB, although this did not affect the product name of the device. The manufacture of the computers, the development of which had previously cost around 100 million US dollars, was transferred to Atari's factory in Sunnyvale, California. However, production could not start until October 1979, as the rapidly growing home computer industry suffered from a continuing shortage of parts from late summer 1979.

marketing

Well before the start of sales, the manufacturer praised its Atari 400 as an all-purpose device ("general purpose home computer"), especially for the young and financially less well-positioned entry-level generation, since no computer skills or other technical knowledge were required ("The affordable home computer that's easy to use even for people who've never used a computer before ").

Launch

First marketed by Sears

The first series of devices was offered from November 1979 as part of a test marketing both in the Christmas edition of the mail order catalog and in the photo departments of some shops of the Sears Roebuck retail chain . In addition to the computer with power supply unit, connection and instructions material, the buyer received the BASIC programming language in the form of a plug-in module and programming manual for US $ 549.99.

Shortly after the start of sales, Atari began to present its devices and associated entertainment software such as the Star Raiders game at trade fairs. In addition to general product advertising, it was also possible to open up new sales channels. From the second quarter of 1980, the presentations were accompanied by further extensive and long-term advertising campaigns. From mid-1980, Atari computers became so well known that third-party manufacturers also saw promising sales potential for both hardware and software and brought their products onto the market.

Development of the education sector

In addition to manufacturing and distributing entertainment software, Atari stepped up efforts to place its home computers in North American educational institutions, an area previously dominated by Apple II and Commodore PET. This was based on the assumption that schoolchildren and students would fall back on what was already known and familiar from school - an Atari computer - when making private purchases. In addition to special sales conditions for education, the Talk & Teach Cassette Courseware program series also included the right software at an early stage. In addition, from mid-1980 Atari relied increasingly on the collaboration with the organization Science Research Associates belonging to IBM , which had committed itself to promoting computer-aided teaching and which took over sales for Atari in the education sector. As part of this cooperation, IBM financed a discount that gave educational institutions from elementary schools to universities an additional free Atari 400 when purchasing an Atari 800 computer. A little later, Atari itself launched a similar price campaign for schools in the form of the 3 for 2 deal : When buying two Atari 800 or Atari 400 computers, the buyer received another Atari 400 free of charge.

The sales figures given for the years 1979 and 1980 for the Atari 400 and Atari 800 models together fluctuate between 50,000 and 300,000 units. Revenues for 1980 alone were approximately $ 20 million.

Mass marketing

After an interim price increase to US $ 629.95, Atari lowered the price for the Atari 400 with 8 KB RAM to US $ 499.95 as part of its now aggressively oriented marketing campaign in early 1981. In addition to the constant battle for market share with the direct competition models Apple II + (16 KB RAM, 1195 US dollars), Tandy Color Computer (versions with 4 and 16 KB RAM for 399 and 599 US dollars, respectively) and Texas Instruments TI-99 / 4 (16 KB RAM, 1150 US dollars), the emerging inexpensive Commodore VIC 20 (5 KB RAM, 299 US dollars) was responsible for this. At the same time, an expanded version of the Atari 400 with 16 KB of RAM ex works was included in the sales program for $ 630 in order to catch up with the higher-quality competing models in terms of RAM. Since the Atari 400, in contrast to the Atari 800, does not have any expansion slots accessible to the user and therefore has to be completely dismantled for subsequent upgrading, Atari enabled buyers of the old version to upgrade their devices in certified specialist workshops.

In the course of the first half of 1981, the Atari computers were able to establish themselves as permanent fixtures on the home computer market, which was previously dominated mainly by Tandy, Apple and Commodore, despite permanent delivery difficulties and some technical problems with accessories. Atari's computer division posted sales of $ 10 million in mid-1981, but the total losses from ongoing production were similarly high. In order to cope with the increasing demand and to quickly implement the planned worldwide marketing, Atari made personnel expansions in the company management in April and then changed its marketing strategy in May 1981: The Atari 400, which had previously only been sold together with BASIC and the instruction book, was now only available individually, but available at a significantly lower price of 399 US dollars. The basic device could be supplemented by the buyer, among other things, with Atari's newly introduced, individually selectable and specially tailored extension packages for technical laypeople. These “starter kits” each contain coordinated, ready-to-connect hardware and software for the areas of programming (Atari Programmer) , entertainment (Atari Entertainer) , education (Atari Educator) and remote data transmission (Atari Communicator) . By August 1981 it had succeeded in increasing sales to 13 million US dollars. The profit zone was thus achieved for the first time.

Atari Program Exchange

In addition to expanding the hardware sector, Atari also invested in the training of its customer service and dealerships, as well as in software support for home computers. This included the almost monthly releases of new in-house programs and games, the long-awaited publication of technical documentation from third-party manufacturers and the support of independent program authors. The latter included the organization of open programming competitions with correspondingly high prizes, technical training in Atari's Acquisition Centers and the establishment of the Atari Program Exchange (abbreviation APX ). By founding APX, Atari made it possible for software manufacturers, who were often completely inexperienced in business management, to sell their programs through the Atari dealer network, which is now fully developed in North America.

International sales

In the wake of the American sales successes, Atari started developing the lucrative European market in the summer of 1981. As in the USA, the publication in Great Britain ( £ 345  ), France, Italy ( ₤ 985,000  ) and the Benelux countries was accompanied by extensive advertising measures in the print sector and presentations at special exhibitions.

In western Germany, Atari Elektronik Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH, which had been responsible for the Atari 2600 marketing since 1980, took over sales and customer service in August 1981 . The marketing of "private computers", the official name of Atari Germany, required considerable investments, especially for advertising, sales training and service activities. In line with the promotional efforts in the video games sector, Atari placed corresponding advertising in the print media. In addition to being sold by mail order and in specialist shops, the computers were also available in larger department store chains such as Horten and Karstadt. The recommended retail price for the Atari 400 was 1495 DM, the Atari 410 data recorder cost 289 DM and the BASIC plug-in module was available for 272 DM.

During the international expansion phase, Atari reacted to the increasing competitive situation, especially in North America and the like. a. with technical revisions of his computers in the form of a revised operating system for new devices (OS version B) and a bug-fixed version of the BASIC programming language. According to its own information, Atari was able to sell around 300,000 home computers in the 1981 fiscal year, with the Atari 400 and 800 finally establishing themselves as mass-produced goods and making Atari the US market leader.

Price wars

The introduction of various cheap computers such as the Sinclair ZX81 also put Atari under pressure. The company first lowered the price of the Atari 400 by 50 US dollars in June 1982, and in July another discount on the non-binding retail price to 299 US dollars followed. In West Germany, too, Commodore's aggressive pricing policy led to an initial but drastic reduction in the non-binding sales price from DM 1495 to DM 995 by Atari Germany in August 1982.

In 1983 Atari Germany hired Dagmar Berghoff (here in April 2004) as a spokesperson for a programming course

From the early autumn of 1982 Atari refrained from further direct price reductions and instead switched to sales-accompanying discount campaigns: When purchasing Atari hardware and software, “software coupons” enabled buyers to save up to 60 US dollars on products from Atari's range of products. In addition, In the course of 1982 Atari massively expanded customer service, especially in North America. The Atari Service Centers , which were set up nationwide in the USA, took on consulting and repair services, but also upgraded older computers to the new GTIA graphics module and the revised operating system. They also enabled the profitable sales aimed at by Atari's company management through large retail chains such as JC Penney , Kmart and Toys “R” Us , which were unable to offer any advice or warranty services due to a lack of qualified staff. This sales policy, which is now mainly geared towards mass marketing, brought Atari approximately 600,000 home computer sales in the course of 1982, of which the Atari 400 alone accounted for around 400,000 units. With a total of around 1.2 million 400 and 800 models sold, Atari succeeded in defending its market leadership.

Despite Atari's dominant position in the world market, only around 6000 Atari 400 computers were sold in West Germany in the course of 1982 - Commodore sold around 10,000 VC-20 home computers in the same period . As a result, those responsible at Atari Germany launched a sales promotion in the form of the bundled Computer Compact Package from mid-1983 . In addition to the computer, the buyer thus acquired a BASIC module, the Atari 410 data recorder, a programming course recorded by Dagmar Berghoff, and a collection of games on cassette for a total of less than DM 1,000. However, due to the constant price pressure, Atari Germany's high investments only paid off slowly and slowly the home computer division gradually developed into the unloved stepchild of the national video game market leader.

Announcement of the successors and sales

In the second quarter of 1983 Atari presented a successor to the newly launched XL series with modern 64 KB RAM and a new case design. Due to a lack of compatibility with its predecessors, the Atari 1200XL was not a great success, so that it did not get beyond a very short release phase in the USA. Sales of the old models 400 and 800 soared all the more to unexpected heights, as these had been further reduced in price with the introduction of the new device through discount campaigns and, moreover, did not give rise to any fear of program incompatibilities. In May 1983, the sale of the Atari 400 was initiated with a recommended retail price of less than 200 US dollars, which accelerated even further with the announcement of the official successor Atari 600XL at the Summer CES in Chicago. In August 1983 production of the Atari 400 ceased and clearance sales in favor of the Atari 600XL were initiated. Atari's 400 and 800 models together sold around two million units.

Modern replicas

The manageable architecture of the system and extensive documentation by the manufacturer enable the miniaturized replica of the electronics of the Atari 400 and compatible models with today's technical means with at the same time manageable effort. Such a modern realization took place for the first time in 2014 - as with other home computer systems - as an implementation on a programmable logic circuit ( FPGA ) together with an embedding system . The replication using FPGA technology was initially only intended as a technical feasibility study, but later also demonstrated its practical benefit: Due to the miniaturization and the possibility of battery operation, it is an easily stowable, reliable and transportable alternative to the original, gentle technology.

Technical details

The housing of the Atari 400 contains a total of four circuit boards and a sturdy cast aluminum housing to shield the electromagnetic interference fields caused by the computer . The main components of the largest circuit board are the special POKEY module, the read-only memory ( ROM ) and the input / output modules and peripheral connections. As a component carrier, it also provides slots for the smaller circuit boards. These contain the processor module with 6502- CPU (English Central Processing Unit ) together with the special modules GTIA and ANTIC, the memory card with working memory (RAM) and the modules for voltage regulation and television signal generation . In addition to the computer, the basic equipment included an external power supply unit and the operating instructions for the device.

Main and secondary board of an Atari 400 computer (PAL version). To identify the individual components, hover over them with the mouse pointer and, if necessary, click on them for further information.

CPU and 16 KB RAM card of an Atari 400 (PAL version). To identify the individual components, hover over them with the mouse pointer and, if necessary, click on them for further information.

Main processor

→ Main article : 6502

The Atari 400 is based on the 8-bit - microprocessor MOS 6502 , which was often used in contemporary computers. The CPU can access an address space of 65536 bytes , which also defines the theoretically possible upper limit of the main memory of 64 kilobytes (KB). The system clock for PAL devices is 1.77  MHz , for those with NTSC output it is 1.79 MHz.

Special modules for generating graphics and sound

→ Main articles : ANTIC , CTIA / GTIA  and POKEY

The three special components developed by Atari, Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) , Graphic Television Interface Adapter (GTIA) with its predecessor Color Television Interface Adapter (CTIA) and Potentiometer And Keyboard Integrated Circuit (POKEY) are an essential part of the computer architecture . They are functionally designed in such a way that they can be used flexibly within their area of ​​responsibility and at the same time relieve the CPU.

Mixing of two different graphic modes (large and normal text) with the aid of a raster line interrupt .

The two graphic modules ANTIC and CTIA / GTIA generate the image displayed on the television or monitor. For this purpose, the operating system or the user must first store corresponding data in the main memory in the form of the "display list". The CTIA / GTIA allows, among other things, the integration of a maximum of eight independent but each monochrome graphic objects, the sprites. These objects, also called “players” and “missiles” in Atari jargon, are copied into the background image generated by the ANTIC according to user-definable overlapping rules and subjected to a collision check. It is determined whether the sprites touch each other or certain parts of the background image ("playfield"). These abilities were developed - as already indicated by the names "Playfield", "Player" and "Missiles" - for the simplified creation of games with interacting graphic objects and fast game play. The capabilities of the two special modules ANTIC and CTIA / GTIA combined give the display options of the Atari computers a flexibility unmatched by other home computers at the time. Further electronic components are combined in the third special module POKEY. These essentially concern the sound generation for each of the four sound channels, the keyboard query and the operation of the serial interface Serial Input Output (SIO) for the communication of the computer with the corresponding peripheral devices.

Thanks to the highly integrated design ( LSI ), the special modules combine many electronic components and thereby reduce the number of components required in the computer, which in turn results in significant cost and space savings. Not least because their construction plans were never published, they could not be copied economically with the technology of the time, which meant that the illegal replica of computers for the Atari 400, which was quite common in the home computer industry, could be excluded.

The screen standards PAL, NTSC and SECAM are supported by different external electronic circuits of the CPU, correspondingly modified special modules ANTIC (NTSC version with part number C012296, PAL version with C014887) and GTIA (NTSC version with part number C014805, PAL version with C014889, SECAM version with C020120) as well as different versions of the operating system adapted to it.

Overview of the graphics levels provided by the Atari 400 operating system

Graphics level	Display type	Resolution (pixels)	Colours	Memory requirement (bytes)
0	normal text	40 × 24	2	992
1	Large text	20 × 24	5	672
2		20 × 12	5	420
3	Dot graphics	40 × 24	4th	432
4th		80 × 48	2	696
5			4th	1176
6th		160 × 96	2	2184
7th			4th	8138
8th		320 × 192	2
9	GTIA modes	80 × 192	16
10			9
11			16

Storage and storage allocation

The address space that can be addressed by the CPU and ANTIC is segmented in the Atari 400 into different sections of different sizes. For practical reasons, it is common for their addresses instead of decimal notation , the hexadecimal to use. It is usually preceded by a $ symbol to make it easier to distinguish. The addresses from 0 to 65535 in decimal notation correspond to addresses $ 0000 to $ FFFF in the hexadecimal system.

The range from $ 0000 to $ 7FFF is intended for memory only. The range from $ 0000 to $ 3FFF, with its size of 16 KB, corresponds to the largest RAM configuration installed in the Atari 400 at the factory. In addition, however, expansions of up to 48 KB, for example, are also possible, whereby the occupied memory addresses then extend to $ BFFF. After inserting a plug-in module, the 8 KB area in the middle of the main memory segment from $ A000 to $ BFFF (left-hand cartridge slot) is switched off and the ROMs in the plug-in module are displayed there. This means that when plug-in module-based programs such as Atari-BASIC are used, about 8 KB of RAM are less available. The addresses of the special modules and other hardware components are located within a segment ranging from $ D000 to $ D7FF, immediately followed by the mathematical floating point routines ($ D800 to $ DFFF) and the operating system ($ E000 to $ FFFF). The range from $ C000 to $ CFFF is intended for system software to be supplemented later by Atari, but can also be used with main memory or alternative operating system components.

After switching on the computer, the CPU first reads out the contents of the ROM modules with the operating system, which initializes the Atari 400 and connected peripheral devices. If there are no plug-in modules or mass storage devices with executable content, the operating system starts the so-called Atari Memo Pad (also called OS Blackboard Mode ). It is a rudimentary text entry program without any further options such as saving.

Interfaces for input and output

As connections to the outside world, there are four controller sockets on the front of the housing, a coaxial HF antenna connection for the television, a slot for the exclusive use of ROM plug-in modules and a socket for the proprietary serial interface ( Serial Input Output , SIO for short ). The latter is used to operate appropriately equipped "intelligent" peripheral devices with identification numbers. A transmission protocol and connector system specially developed by Atari for this purpose is used. Printers, floppy drives and other devices with two SIO sockets can be connected in a " chain " manner with just one type of cable . One of the two sockets is used to communicate between the device and the computer (serial bus input) and the remaining socket is used to connect and manage another device (serial bus extender) . The standard RS-232C (serial) and Centronics (parallel) interfaces used in many other contemporary computer systems are provided by the Atari 850 interface unit, which can be purchased separately .

Inputs and outputs of the Atari 400. To identify the individual components, hover over them with the mouse pointer and click for further information if necessary.

Peripherals

In principle, the Atari 400 can be operated with all peripheral devices for the XL and XE series that were also published later by Atari and which do not require the system bus used in XL and XE computers for connection. In the following, only those available from the end of 1979 to the end of 1983 are discussed. At least 16 KB of RAM are required to use some peripheral devices, as memory-intensive control software is required for operation.

Mass storage

→ Main article : Atari mass storage devices for 400/800 , XL  and XE

In connection with mainly western home computers from the 1980s, cassette recorders and floppy disk drives were mainly used for data backup , while hard and removable disk drives were increasingly used in the professional environment for personal computers . The cheapest variant of data recording using compact cassettes generally has the disadvantage of lower data transfer rates and thus long loading times, whereas the much faster and more reliable floppy and disk drives were much more expensive to purchase. When the Atari 400 was released, cassette and, a little later, floppy disk systems were available as mass storage.

Cassette systems

• 

  Program recorder

• 

  Compact cassette with computer program

In contrast to other contemporary home computers such as the TRS-80 or the Sinclair ZX81, the Atari 400 cannot be operated with conventional cassette recorders to store data . Rather, it needs a device that is matched to its serial interface - the Atari 410 program recorder. The average data transfer rate is 600  bit / s; 50 KB of data can be stored on a 30-minute cassette . In addition, the Atari 410 still has the specificity of a stereo - the magnetic head , thus parallel to the read operation, the playing music or spoken instructions for use is also possible. In order to save costs and space, the device has no built-in loudspeaker, rather the audio signals are output via the SIO cable via POKEY on the television. There is also no SIO socket installed in the Atari 410 program recorder, so that it must always be connected as the last link in the chain of peripheral devices.

Floppy disk systems

Together with the Atari 410 program recorder, shortly after the Atari 400 and 800 were launched on the market, a floppy disk drive matched to Atari's SIO interface was also available, the Atari 810 floppy station. With the Atari 810 floppy disk drive, 5.25 ″ floppy disks can be stored on one side with single density 720 sectors of 128 bytes each can be written, which means that 90 KB of data can be stored on each disk side. The average data transfer rate is around 6000 bit / s, ten times what the Atari 410 data recorder is able to transfer in the same time. During the entire production period, the manufacturer made several changes to the drives. For example, there are versions with partially defective system software and those with different drive mechanisms.

Front and rear view of the Atari 810 floppy disk drive in the "garage door" version, d. H. with a drive mechanism from the manufacturer Tandon . To identify the individual components, hover over them with the mouse pointer and, if necessary, click on them for further information.

In addition to the 810 floppy disk station, another device was available for a short time in North America in the form of the much more powerful Atari 815 floppy disk drive. It has two drive mechanisms, each of which also operates with double the write density and so 180 KB of data can be stored per 5.25 ″ disk side. Due to the complicated construction involved, only manual production was possible. Due to the resulting high price of 1500 US dollars and at the same time high susceptibility to errors, the device was taken out of the range by Atari after delivery only in small quantities of around 60 copies.

From mid-1982 onwards, a large number of Atari-compatible floppy disk drives from various third-party manufacturers appeared. These include differently powerful devices from Percom, drives with additional data track display from Rana and also dual drives from Astra.

Output devices

→ Main article : Atari printers for 400/800 , XL  and XE

• 

  Thermal printer

• 

  Interface unit

In contrast to the Atari 800, the Atari 400 cannot output images to a monitor due to the lack of a standard connection socket; only a standard color or black and white television set can be controlled via the built-in HF modulator.

The Atari 822 thermal printer and the needle-based Atari 820 and Atari 825 models are used to fix text and graphics in writing . Third-party printers can only be operated using additional devices, as the Atari 400 does not have the corresponding standard interfaces. This can be remedied by connecting an Atari 850 interface module, which can be used to operate RS-232 and Centronics printers from Epson , Mannesmann and others.

In addition, there are a wealth of output options from third-party manufacturers: starting with The Voicebox by The Alien Group, which is intended for voice output, to 3D glasses that you can build yourself for viewing stereographic content on the television, to the programmable robot gripper, all areas of interest at the time are covered.

Input devices

→ Main article : Atari input devices

The keyboard of the Atari 400 consists of three plastic sheets glued on top of each other. On the upper and lower foil under the buttons there are metallic contacts that are interconnected according to a given scheme. The middle, thick and elastic film serves as an electrical separating layer and return spring. At the position of the keys it has holes, the dimensions of which are large enough to cause a current to flow between the upper and lower film when the key is pressed. Since the keys that work as closer are unergonomic and have no pressure point, it is almost impossible to work efficiently and for longer with the keyboard. It contains a total of 56 individual keys, one space and four function keys.

All other input devices are connected to one or more of the four controller sockets on the front of the computer housing. These include joysticks from various manufacturers, rotary controls, special small keyboards, the trackball controller from TG Products and graphics tablets from Kurta Corporation and Koala Technologies Corp.

Atari 400 (PAL version) with open module slot flap. To identify the individual components, hover over them with the mouse pointer and, if necessary, click on them for further information.

Extensions

The connection of external expansions not based on the SIO interface was not intended by the manufacturer from the start. The Atari 400 can still be expanded through internal modifications, for example by exchanging the 8 KB and 16 KB RAM cards installed ex works. To install the additional hardware, the computer must be opened and soldered connections must often be made inside, which is easy to do with a little technical skill, but at the time also resulted in the loss of warranty for the computer. The following explanations are limited exclusively to commercial products in the two most important expansion areas of the keyboard and the main memory.

keyboard

Atari 400 with replacement keyboard B Key 400

For use by the originally intended group of children and adolescents, the hard-wearing and splash-proof flat keyboard definitely fulfills its purpose - on the other hand, it was completely unsuitable for applications beyond games. The lack of ergonomic properties and a pressure point made it difficult to enter data efficiently. For this reason, a rapidly growing market for exchange keyboards with mechanical keys developed from 1982 onwards . Models such as B Key 400 from Inhome Software and KB 400 from Atto-Soft could be permanently installed in the computer instead of the membrane keyboard or, like the Joytyper 400 from Microtronics and the Sidewriter from Screen Sonics, could be attached or attached to the outside; In many cases, it was as comfortable as the Atari 800's typewriter keyboard.

Storage

With the initially built-in 8 KB RAM, hardly more than games was possible, because when using BASIC, the memory was not even enough for the integration of the highest resolution graphics level. Even the largest expansion stage of 16 KB offered by Atari quickly pushed the user to his limits. Especially if a floppy disk drive should be used to load and save the BASIC programs. The reason for this is the memory-intensive floppy disk operation system (DOS) which, in addition to the user's BASIC program, takes up a large part of the working memory. With the Atari 800, the easily accessible expansion slots and the cards available from Atari with a maximum of 16 KB RAM can be easily upgraded to a comfortable 48 KB RAM. With the Atari 400, on the other hand, there is only a single slot hidden deep inside the housing for a RAM card, which is why its upgrade inevitably requires plug-in cards with more than 16 KB of RAM. For this reason, third-party manufacturers such as Mosaic and Axlon brought the first 32 KB RAM cards onto the market in early 1981. Models were added later that provided up to 64 KB of RAM with the help of technical refinements such as memory bank switching. With these and other upgrades for the keyboard and with an additional monitor socket, the possible areas of application of the Atari 400 - except for the missing right module slot - no longer differed from those of the Atari 800. However, this blurring of the application limits in favor of the much cheaper Atari 400 resisted Atari's marketing concept for two complementary devices, which is why official product descriptions always specified the limit of 16 KB as the maximum expansion level of the Atari 400 and warned against installing more than 16 KB RAM, among other things with the expiry of the warranty for the computer. Higher upgrades by Atari itself with the Atari 400 Home Computer 48K RAM Expansion Kit were only offered after the end of production of the Atari 400 in autumn 1983.

software

As with other home computers of the 1980s, commercial software was distributed on various data carriers. The inexpensive compact cassettes, particularly popular with game manufacturers, were, however, very prone to errors due to the high mechanical stress on the magnetic tape, and their use was often associated with long loading times. In addition, certain operating modes, such as relative addressing, which is advantageous for operating databases, are not possible with datasettes. In the case of the plug-in modules, which are much more expensive to manufacture, the programs contained therein were available immediately after switching on the computer, which was a great advantage in particular for system software and frequently used applications. The best compromise between loading time, possible operating modes, reliability and storage capacity was achieved by the floppy disks, the use of which was supported by the 810 floppy disk drive when the Atari 400 was released.

The range of programs for the Atari 400 computer included the selection of commercial programs sold by Atari and APX as well as software ( listings ) developed by third-party manufacturers and published in magazines and books . The commercial programs were offered on cartridge, diskette and cassette.

Illegal copies ("pirated copies") always made up a large part of the software in circulation and often presented small software developers with existential economic difficulties. As a result, copy protection systems were increasingly used, especially in games, as the best-selling software.

System programs

After switching on, the operating system generates an editable screen if there are no plug-in modules or peripheral devices connected.

The configuration and initialization of the Atari 400 hardware after switching on or after a reset falls within the scope of the operating system stored in the read-only memory (English Operating System , OS for short ). After numerous bugs in the first OS version became known, Atari released OS-B in 1982, a bug-fixed version. The subroutines of the 10 KB operating system control various system processes that can also be initiated by the user. This includes the implementation of input and output operations such as keyboard and joystick queries, floating point calculations , the processing of system programs after interruptions and the provision of a screen driver for generating the various graphic modes. The start addresses of the individual subroutines are summarized in a jump table in order to maintain compatibility with later operating system revisions or new versions. To differentiate it from the operating system of the later XL and XE models, the OS of the Atari 400 is often referred to as the Oldrunner .

Programming languages ​​and application programs

Based on the system software, the user-specific use of the Atari 400 in a wide variety of application areas was of great importance. Was the processing of a task with z. For example, programs that can be purchased are not possible for technical or economic reasons, or if, for example, new types of entertainment software are to be produced, this had to be done independently with the help of the appropriate programming languages.

Assembly language

The creation of time-critical action games and applications in control engineering required optimal use of the hardware, especially the main memory, in the early 1980s. In the home computer sector, this was only possible through the use of assembly language with appropriate translation programs, the assemblers . In many cases assemblers were delivered with an associated editor for entering the program instructions (“source code”), often also as a program package with debugger and disassembler for error analysis. In the professional development environment, cross assemblers were often used. This made it possible to generate executable programs for home computers on more powerful and easy-to-use third-party computer platforms.

Shortly after the publication of the Atari computers, only the slow assembler editor from Atari, which was delivered on a cartridge, was available. It offered little comfort and could therefore only be used sensibly for smaller projects. In contrast to other assemblers, however, it allowed the created source files and executable programs to be saved on cassette, which was particularly advantageous for many Atari 400 users without a floppy disk station and made it easy for them to overlook the disadvantages. The assemblers required for professional program development were only available later with Synassembler ( Synapse Software ), Atari Macro Assembler (Atari), Macro Assembler Editor (Eastern Software House), Edit 6502 (LJK Enterprises) and the powerful MAC 65 ( Optimized Systems Software ) .

In many cases, programming beginners preferred the clear and easy-to-use, but less powerful, high-level programming languages.

Interpreter high-level languages

→ Main articles : Atari BASIC , BASIC A +  and Microsoft BASIC

Atari 400 with Atari BASIC plug-in module

Atari BASIC input screen with example program for a For-Next loop .

The BASIC published by Atari was supported by two more: Microsoft BASIC, which was the quasi-standard at the time (as an adaptation by Atari ) and a product called BASIC A + from Optimized System Software, which is downwardly compatible with Atari's BASIC . Both interpreters require at least 32 KB RAM and a floppy disk drive to operate. BASIC A + in particular contains extended editing options, simplifications in the command structure and it supplements many features not implemented in Atari and Microsoft BASIC. This includes, for example, the convenient use of the Atari sprites ("Player" and "Missiles") with specially provided command words.

The fundamental limitations inherent in the nature of the interpreter, such as the low execution speed and the large amount of memory required, had a disadvantageous effect on the usability of BASIC programs. These disadvantages can be mitigated by special programs, BASIC compilers . Executable machine programs are generated that can run without a BASIC interpreter and thus often allow faster execution. Various compilers are available for the Atari BASIC: ABC BASIC Compiler (Monarch Systems), Datasoft BASIC Compiler ( Datasoft ) and BASM (Computer Alliance).

In addition to the BASIC programming language in its various dialects, the logo interpreter language was available when the Atari 400 went on sale . Supported by elements such as turtle graphics ( turtle graphics ), a child-friendly and interactive introduction to the basics of programming is possible. The Atari PILOT programming language, which was later launched on the market, is similar in its properties . With QS-Forth (Quality Software), Extended fig-Forth (APX) and Data-Soft Lisp ( Datasoft ), further programming languages ​​join the product range for the Atari 400.

Compiler high-level languages

High-level interpreter languages ​​are slow to execute, but their source text is easy to read , making error analysis easy. The assembly language, on the other hand, is difficult to learn and master, but was indispensable in the early 1980s for generating faster and memory-efficient programs. As a middle ground, the high-level compiler languages ​​established themselves in the course of the 1980s in the home computer sector. The execution speed of the machine programs generated with it was much higher than that of interpreted programs such as the Atari BASIC, but it did not quite reach that achieved by assemblers. However, these speed disadvantages were often accepted in favor of an easier-to-maintain source code.

During the product lifecycle until the end of 1983, the only compiler language available to Atari 400 users with upgraded devices was APX Pascal.

Application software

In addition to the programming languages ​​for creating your own applications, the range of programs for Atari computers includes a small selection of ready-made commercial application software compared to its contemporary competitor Apple II. The best-known application programs include Visicalc (Visicorp, spreadsheet), The Home Accountant (Continental software, accounting), Atari Writer (Atari, word processing), Bank Street Writer ( Broderbund , word processing) and Letter Perfect (LJK Enterprises, word processing).

A further part of the applications are application programs created by users themselves for a wide variety of locations such as doctors' offices, photo studios, clothing stores and museums.

Tutorials

Corresponding to the orientation of the Atari 400 as a game and learning computer, there is a large number of programs that are used for the computer-aided transfer of teaching content and its subsequent interactive query. The knowledge to be conveyed is presented in a playful form with a constantly increasing level of difficulty in order to motivate the learner on a long-term basis. Great importance is attached to an age-appropriate presentation, which ranges from small children to students. For the youngest, animated stories with comic-like characters are often used as accompanying tutors, for young people the teaching content to be queried is dressed up in adventure games or action-packed space adventures, whereas in the higher-level teaching content for students and adults, lexically presented knowledge with subsequent query and success balance predominate. The learning areas covered by the software extend to reading and writing, foreign languages, mathematics, technology, music, geography, demography, typing schools and computer science. The best-known manufacturers include Atari, APX, Dorsett Educational Systems, Edufun, PDI and Spinnaker Software.

Games

Atari game Star Raiders as a plug-in module. The picture on the right shows the circuit board installed inside with two ROM modules that contain the program.

By far the largest part of the commercial and freely available Atari software are the games. The early shoot-'em-up games such as Star Raiders or the board game implementation 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe already came a year ago later more action games, adventures and arcade implementations were added. Both professional manufacturers and hobby programmers benefit from the publication of technical documentation by Atari, the programming instructions in the computer magazines and books as well as the powerful development tools that have meanwhile emerged. Among the published titles, however, there were also many bad ports of, for example, Apple II games without the unmistakable “Atari look”, namely a mixture of different “colorful” and softly shifted graphics, supplemented by typical POKEY music and sound effects.

Among the games released for the Atari computers are many that were considered video game classics as early as the early 1980s: Star Raiders (probably 1979), Asteroids (1981) and Pac-Man (1982). In particular, the 3D game Star Raiders was seen by many game designers at the time as a defining experience and a reason to opt for an Atari computer and not an Apple II or Commodore PET. Subsequent works such as Miner 2049er (Bill Hogue, Big Five Software, 1982), Eastern Front (1941) ( Chris Crawford , APX, 1982), Capture the Flag (Paul Edelstein, Sirius Software, 1983), Archon (John Freemann , Electronic Arts, 1983) and MULE ( Daniel Bunten , Electronic Arts, 1983) are among the outstanding titles of their time and enabled software houses such as MicroProse and Electronic Arts to quickly rise to become industry giants.

In addition to the Infocom adventures, the most popular games for Atari computers include mostly shoot-'em-up games such as Crossfire ( Sierra On-Line , 1981) and Blue Max (Synapse Software, 1983), and racing games such as Pole Position (Atari , 1983), war simulations such as Combat Leader ( SSI , 1983), but also graphic adventures such as Excalibur (APX, 1983) and Murder on the Zinderneuf (Electronic Arts, 1983).

Magazines

In the 1980s, along with specialist books, computer magazines played an important role for many home computer owners. The editions, which were often published monthly, contained test reports on innovations, programming instructions and software for typing. They also served as an advertising and information platform as well as for establishing contact with like-minded people.

The English-language magazines Antic , Analog Computing , Atari Connection and Atari Age dealt specifically with Atari home computers ; Occasional reports and programs for the Atari computers were published by the high-circulation Byte Magazine , Compute! and creative computing . While the Atari 400 was being sold in Germany, information and programs could be found in the magazines Chip , PM Computermagazin , Computer Personal and Mein Home-Computer .

emulation

After the end of the home computer era in the early 1990s and with the emergence of powerful and affordable computing technology in the late 1990s, dedicated enthusiasts increasingly developed programs for emulating home computers and their peripheral devices. To play old classics of various home computer systems, a single modern system with data images of the corresponding home computer programs was sufficient with the help of the emulators. The emergence of the emulators continued, among other things. a. an increased transfer of otherwise possibly lost software to modern storage media, which makes an important contribution to the preservation of digital culture.

The most powerful emulators for Windows and Linux systems are Atari ++ , Atari800Win Plus , Mess32 and Altirra .

reception

Contemporary

North America

The appearance of the Atari 400 and 800 was consistently well received. The high-circulation magazine Compute! wrote of a new generation of computers:

"With the introduction of the Atari line of computers we are seeing a third generation of microcomputer - not just from the hardware end but also from a marketing approach."

"With the Atari computers, a third generation of microcomputers will be introduced - and not only from a technical point of view, but also in terms of the marketing concept."

- John Victor: Atari Computers: The Ultimate Teaching Machines? In: Compute! November / December 1979

The same reviewers also state that the classification of the new devices can most likely be described as a hybrid between video game and computer. They contained the best of both worlds, which makes them a personal computer and home device alike. These properties predestined the Atari 400 for learning and entertainment purposes. Since the best hardware is useless without the appropriate software for its use, Atari has learned from the mistakes of the competition and provided the user with extremely easy access to the colorful graphic and sound properties of his devices with the programming language Atari BASIC. This marketing of coordinated hardware and software - also for the extremely popular Star Raiders game, which is tailored directly to the Atari 8-bit computers - is a novelty.

The lack of expandability of the Atari 400 was judged critically, in particular the originally delivered 8 KB RAM would by far not be sufficient for programming the highly acclaimed Atari BASIC. The modular concept would require more connection cables than, for example, with the compact Commodore PET, which can be a disadvantage under certain circumstances, as well as the non-validating storage of programs on the cassette. From the summer of 1980, delivery difficulties and the lack of application-oriented software were criticized, and Adam Osborne's computers were not predicted to have a great future.

When the Atari computers, contrary to Osborne's predictions, were able to establish themselves and even become market leaders, the specialist press continued to make recommendations mainly for price-conscious households:

"Atari has much better graphics, and just about everyone says that if you're only interested in games, that's the machine to get."

"Atari has better graphics and has a reputation for being the game machine par excellence."

- Jerry Pournelle: Computers for Humanity. In: Byte Magazine. July 1982

In line with the trade press, game designers such as David Fox (programmer at Lucasfilm-Games ) and Scott Adams (founder of Adventure International) saw the Ataris as the most graphically and sound-technically powerful devices in the entire home computer market:

“User-definable character sets, player-missile graphics, fine scrolling, vertical-blank interrupts, and display-list interrupts can be combined with color mapping to give the Atari a performance edge that will probably never be equaled (except by Atari). ”

"User-defined character sets, player missile graphics, fine shifting, raster interrupts and display list interrupts can be combined with the color settings and thus give the Atari a performance that can probably never be achieved (except by Atari itself)."

- David Fox, Mitchelle Waite : Computer Animation with Color Registers

“The Atari is my personal favorite. In my opinion it is the finest micro available. ... I like the capabilities of the machine. It is well engineered. The graphics and sound capabilities are excellent. The machine is fairly well thought out. It's well built. The Atari is the one I use at home. "

“The Atari is my personal favorite. In my opinion it is the best micro [computer] available today. ... I like the capabilities of this machine: sophisticated technology with excellent graphics and sound capabilities, which is very well thought out and structured. It's the Atari that I also use at home. "

- Scott Adams : Adventuring with the Atari

In the course of time, Atari's marketing concept also came under criticism because its capabilities as an application computer were not emphasized and supported clearly enough. Although the Atari computers have enjoyed a good reputation as high-performance personal computers since their introduction, when the high-performance Atari 815 floppy disk drive was discontinued at the latest, the focus of the devices was shifted to the home area, with a particular focus on the entertainment and education sector. In addition, there would be errors in the choice of distribution channels. The relocation of sales through large chain stores would have prompted smaller specialist shops with the corresponding expertise and services to take the Atari computers out of their range due to the lack of competitiveness. This would mean that another important mainstay for supplying the computers with high-performance application software would have been omitted, so that the Atari 400 was ultimately only perceived and bought as a pure game console. In addition, Atari itself did not do anything to change this fact and, for example, offer the Atari 400 with more than 16 KB RAM ex works.

German-speaking area

Shortly after its appearance in Germany, the Atari 400 was characterized by the high-circulation computer magazine Chip at the time as a beginner-friendly device for beginners. The stable device design, the graphic options, the color output, a detailed documentation, the already existing large program library together with various programming languages ​​such as Atari PILOT and Atari Assembler and, last but not least, the low price were positively highlighted . Shortly afterwards, the Atari 400 was voted "Computer of the Year 1981" by the same computer magazine by a long way ahead of the Commodore VC 20 and Sinclair ZX81:

“This device offers the variety of sounds and graphics that beginners want when they get their first experience programming games. If you want to develop professional programs, BASIC has the right tools. If programming is too cumbersome for you, there is a wide selection of programs, either on cassette or plug-in modules. The Atari 400 is therefore both a device for learning and for using. "

- The computer of the year. In: Chip. December 1981

In addition to the beginner-friendliness, which was also praised by other reviewers, the lack of expandability and the simple keyboard were the most frequent points of criticism:

“[The Atari 400] is an ideal entry-level device for beginners. However, the RAM area of ​​16 kilobytes can no longer be expanded, the keyboard is only equipped with sensors. "

- Gilbert Obermair, 1983

Retrospective

Shortly after the replacement by the technically hardly changed successor models 600XL and 800XL, the Atari 400 was certified as having an "excellent construction", which set a new standard on the home computer market. The “fantastic graphics” are mainly reflected in the good games, one of the strengths of the Atari 400. In the opinion of Michael S. Tomczyk and Dietmar Eirich, one of the few points of criticism was the price that was too high when it was introduced:

"Atari [...] brought the Atari 400 and Atari 800 home computers onto the market very early on, which were solid and excellent devices, but unfortunately too expensive in the early stages of home computers."

- Dietmar Eirich and Sabine Quinten-Eirich, 1984

In retrospect, According to Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton, Atari for the first time understood how to combine the properties of a pure game machine with the capabilities of home computers at the time while being easy to use. The two authors consider one of the main reasons for the success of this demanding task to be the experience of the Atari engineers who were already involved in the development of the successful VCS-2600 game console. As a result, special electronic components were used for the first time in a home computer to relieve the main processor. Their graphic refinements in the form of, for example, the player / missile graphics were groundbreaking for later devices. Thanks to the use of a special component, the sound properties also belonged to the top quality category at the time and the Atari 400 thus replaced the Apple II as the best gaming computer.

The authors of the Internet platform Gamasutra see the release of the game Star Raiders as a decisive reason for the popularity of Atari computers increasing in a very short time :

“Upon release, Star Raiders became the first 'killer app' of computer gaming. It was the first computer game that could be called a 'machine seller'. "

“Immediately after the start of sales, Star Raiders became the first killer application in the computer games sector . As the first game ever, it could also be described as the driving force behind computer sales. "

- Gamasutra, 2008

Tomczyk blames Atari's original and controversial practices regarding the publication of technical documentation for the permanent lack of powerful application software:

“Unfortunately, Atari neutralized their own advantage. To everyone's shock and dismay, they decided to keep secret vital technical information like memory maps and bus architectures which programmers needed to write software. They then tried to blackmail programmers by indicating that they could get technical information only if they signed up to write Atari-brand software. This alienated the fiercely independent hobbyist / programmer community, and as a result many serious programmers started writing software for other machines instead. "

“Unfortunately, Atari deprived itself of its own advantage. To the general lack of understanding and horror, Atari decided to withhold essential technical information about the memory allocation and the internal interaction of the electronic components. Instead, they tried to blackmail programmers into making this information accessible only in exchange for an assurance of marketing rights. This approach was not well received by the programmers who value independence, and many programmers turned to other computers. "

- Michael S. Tomczyk, 1985

A later change in the restrictive information policy would not have been able to make up for the backlog that has already arisen. As time went on, games for the Atari home computers were mainly released, which means that they are now perceived more and more as pure game machines:

“Many customers thought the Atari 400 and 800 were more expensive versions of the Atari 2600 videogame machine. Some people even doubted whether the Atari 400 and 800 were real computers. "

“Many buyers thought that the Atari 400 and 800 were just more expensive versions of the Atari 2600 game console. It was sometimes even doubted that Atari 400 and 800 were real computers at all. "

- Michael S. Tomczyk, 1985

Due to the competition that Atari created itself with the in-house game console VCS 2600 and mainly due to the emerging competition from Texas Instruments and Commodore with their extensive program libraries in the application area, the sales success could not have continued. From 1983 onwards, the Apple II and, above all, the newly released Commodore 64 would have gained decisive market shares.

The Atari 400 is a permanent exhibit in the Berlin Computer Games Museum .

literature

• Atari Inc .: Technical Reference Notes. 1982 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
• Atari Inc .: Field Service Manual. ( archive.org ).
• Jeffrey Stanton, Robert P. Wells, Sandra Rochowansky, Michael Mellin: Atari Software 1984. The Book Company, 1984, ISBN 0-201-16454-X
• Julian Reschke, Andreas Wiethoff: The Atari professional book. Sybex-Verlag GmbH, Düsseldorf, 1986, ISBN 3-88745-605-X .
• Eichler, Grohmann: Atari 600XL / 800XL Intern. Data Becker GmbH, 1984, ISBN 3-89011-053-3 .
• Marty Goldberg, Curt Vendel: Atari Inc. - Business is Fun. Syzygy Company Press, 2012, ISBN 978-0-9855974-0-5 .

Web links

Commons : Atari 8-bit computers  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Atari ++ emulator for UNIX / Linux systems (English)
• Altirra Emulator for Windows Systems
• Xformer 10 Emulator for Windows 10 (English)
• AtariAge International Forum for Atari 8-Bit Friends (English)
• Michael Currents website with many resources, including a. the frequently asked questions about Atari (FAQ, English)

Notes and individual references

1. ^ ^{A b} Marty Goldberg, Curt Vendel: Atari Inc. Business is Fun. Syzygy Company Press, 2012, p. 454.
2. ^ ^{A b} Marty Goldberg, Curt Vendel: Atari Inc. Business is Fun. Syzygy Company Press, 2012, p. 462.
3. ^ ^{A b c} Marty Goldberg, Curt Vendel: Atari Inc. Business is Fun. Syzygy Company Press, 2012, p. 446 f.
4. ^ Compute's First Book of Atari. Small System Services, Inc., 1981, p. 5.
5. ^ Bill Loguidice, Matt Barton: Vintage Game Consoles. Routledge Chapman & Hall, 2014, p. 56.
6. ^ Marty Goldberg, Curt Vendel: Atari Inc. Business is Fun. Syzygy Company Press, 2012, p. 452 f.
7. ^ Allan Lundell: Computer Animation. In: InfoWorld. August 17, 1981, p. 43.
8. ^ Bill Wilkinson, Kathleen O'Brien, Paul Laughton: The Atari BASIC Source Book. Compute! Books, 1983, p. 9 f.
9. ^ ^{A b c} Marty Goldberg, Curt Vendel: Atari Inc. Business is Fun. Syzygy Company Press, 2012, p. 460.
10. ^ Atari announces two new Personal Computer Systems. In: The Intelligent Machines Journal. February 7, 1979, p. 1.
11. ↑ Impressions of the Computer Faire. In: The Intelligent Machines Journal. June 11, 1979, p. 8.
12. ↑ David Ahl: Random Ramblings. In: Creative Computing. August 1979, p. 26 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
13. ↑ Byte News. In: Byte Magazine. November 1979, p. 82 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
14. ^ Scott Mace: Atari ranks number one at Electronic Fantasy. In: InfoWorld. July 26, 1982, p. 24.
15. ↑ Byte News. In: Byte Magazine. March 1980, p. 110 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
16. ^ ^{A b} Introducing Atari 400. Merchandising, ISSN  0362-3920 , January 1979, p. 54.
17. ↑ Put an electronic genius to work. Sears Catalog 1979, p. 654; Byte News. In: Byte Magazine. April 1980, p. 115 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
18. ↑ Sol Libes: TI, HP, and Atari. In: InfoWorld. February 18, 1980, p. 7.
19. ^ Introducing the Atari Personal Computer Systems. Atari Inc., 1979.
20. ^ Mark Garetz: According to Garetz… In: InfoWorld. October 13, 1980, p. 38; Robert Lock: The Consumer Electronics Show. In: Compute! March / April 1980, p. 4 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
21. ^ Michael M. Tomczyk: Atari's Marketing Vice President Profiles The Personal Computer Market. In: Compute! July / August 1980, p. 17 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
22. ^ Robert Lock: The Atari Gazette. In: Compute! July / August 1980, p. 58 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
    George Blank: Image Computer Products. In: Creative Computing. September 1980, p. 182 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
23. ^ Sol Libes: Battle in the Classroom. In: Byte Magazine. March 1983, p. 495 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
24. ↑ Brenda Laurel: The Renaissance Kid. In: Atari Connection. March 1981, p. 15 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
25. ↑ George Blank: Image Computer Products. In: Creative Computing. September 1980, p. 180 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
26. ^ David D. Thornburg, Betty J. Burr: Computers and Society. In: Compute! September / October 1980, p. 13 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
27. ↑ Sol Libes: Random Bits. In: Byte Magazine. September 1980, p. 168 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
28. ^ Educators take note. In: Byte Magazine. March 1981, p. 68 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
    Teddi Converse: A Small Country School Big On Computers. In: The Atari Connection. Autumn 1982, p. 3 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
29. ^ Thom Hogan: State of Microcomputing. In: InfoWorld. September 14, 1981, pp. 11, 12.
30. ↑ Jeremy Reimer: Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
31. ↑ Marketing pro will head Atari division. In: InfoWorld. September 20, 1982, p. 10.
32. ↑ Hardside: Advertisement. In: Byte Magazine. September 1980, p. 228 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
33. ^ Russ Adams: Take Stock in Personal Computing. In: InfoWorld. December 8, 1980, p. 4.
34. ^ Jean Yates: Electronics Show Focus on Consumer Computers. In: InfoWorld. February 16, 1981, p. 1.
35. ↑ Boisy G. Pitre, Bill Loguidice: CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer. CRC Press, ISBN 978-1-4665-9247-6 , pp. 32-34.
36. ^ Robert Lock: The Next Few Months. In: Compute! October 1981, p. 4 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
37. ^ ^{A b} Price Reductions, New Software Announced For Atari Computers. In: Compute! June 1981, p. 158 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
38. ^ Atari: Personal Computers Systems That Grow With You. In: Compute! March 1981, p. 5 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
39. ↑ ^{a b} Atari News. In: Analog Computing. Issue 4, 1981, p. 9. ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
    New Products - The Atari 400 Computer System. In: Atari Connection. September 1981, p. 2 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
40. ^ ^{A b} Jean Yates: Hot Lines and Holograms. In: InfoWorld. March 2, 1981, p. 29.
41. ↑ Thom Hogan: Today's Chaos. In: InfoWorld. August 31, 1981, p. 7.
42. ^ New VP Marketing At Atari's Computer Division. In: Compute! April 1981, p. 168 f. ( Text archive - Internet Archive ).
43. ^ Thom Hogan: State of Microcomputing. In: InfoWorld. September 14, 1981, pp. 11, 12.
44. ^ Richard Bills: Hardware Information. In: Compute! May 1981, p. 80 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
45. ^ Atari Launches Major Software Acquisition Program. In: Compute! May 1981, p. 150 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
46. ^ Robert DeWitt: APX - On top of the heap. In: Antic. June 1983, p. 11 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
47. ^ Ingersoll Electronics: The new Atari Personal Computers. In: Ingersoll's Atari Owners Club Bulletin. July 16, 1981, p. 5 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
48. ^ Atari: fissati i prezzi, mentre già arrivano le novità. (PDF) MC Microcomputer, Issue 2, October 1981.
49. ↑ The Computer of the Year. In: Chip. December 1981, p. 16 f.
50. ↑ Guido Frank: Press meets Atari - Memories from Renate Knüfer. ( Memento of April 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved June 12, 2018.
51. ^ Atari Germany: Atari specialist dealer. In: Chip. July 1982, p. 46.
52. ↑ Advertisement In: Chip. September, 1981, p. 101.
53. ^ Herb Moore: Upgrades Available. In: Antic. October / November 1982, p. 15 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
54. ↑ Steve Hanson: Documented Atari Bugs. In: Compute! October 1981, p. 94 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
55. ^ John C. Dvorak: Will the marketplace ruin itself? In: InfoWorld. June 14, 1982, p. 57.
56. ^ David Needle: 400% rise in home-computer sales predicted for 82. In: InfoWorld. September 20, 1982, p. 12.
57. ^ Atari announces price reductions and new software programs. In: InfoWorld. June 28, 1982, p. 12.
58. ↑ William Silverman: Hardware systems, new software suppliers crowd the market as games highlight CES. Merchandising, ISSN  0362-3920 , July 1982, p. 43.
59. ↑ Wolfgang Taschner: Cheaper than ever. In: Chip. January 1983, p. 62.
60. ^ Atari Announces Discount Fares To The Computer Age. In: Atari Connection. Autumn 1982, p. 2 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
61. ^ Robert DeWitt: Service System. In: Antic. November 1983, p. 21 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
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69. ↑ Guido Frank: Klaus Ollmann - memories of the German Atari manager. ( Memento of April 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved June 12, 2018.
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71. ↑ Atari 1200XL. In: Byte Magazine. April 1983, p. 486 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
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73. ↑ Prices continue dropping. In: Byte Magazine. May 1983, p. 495 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
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82. ↑ David Small, Sandy Small, George Bank (Eds.): The Creative Atari. Creative Computing Press, 1983, ISBN 0-916688-34-8 , p. 10.
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84. ↑ Julian Reschke, Andreas Wiethoff: The Atari professional book. Sybex Verlag, 2nd edition 1986, p. 130.
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88. ↑ Dietmar Eirich: Computer Periphery. Heyne, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-453-47058-3 , pp. 51-53.
89. ↑ User's Handbook to the Atari Computer. P. 14.
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91. ^ Atari, Inc .: Technical Reference Notes - Configurations. Sunnyvale, 1982, p. 27.
92. ↑ Atari 810 Disk Drive. In: Analog Computing. Supplement 1, 1981 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
93. ^ Marty Goldberg, Curt Vendel: Atari Inc. Business is Fun. Syzygy Company Press, 2012, p. 478.
94. ↑ Introducing the PERCOM Alternative to ATARI Disk Storage. In: Antic. August 1982, p. 5 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
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96. ^ Astra Systems: Look what we have for your Atari computer. In: Antic. July 1983, p. 39 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
97. ^ Robert DeWitt: Printer Survey. In: Antic. January 1984, p. 53 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
98. ^ Brian Moriarty: Hardware Review: The Voicebox. In: Analog Computing. Edition 8, 1982, p. 34 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
99. ^ Brian Moriarty: Stereo Graphics Tutorial. In: Analog Computing. Edition 7, p. 70 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
100. ^ Myotis Systems: The Apprentice. In: Antic. February / March 1983, p. 38 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
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102. ^ David Duberman: Antic Pix Controllers. In: Antic. December 1983, pp. 118-122 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
103. ↑ Lon Poole, Martin McNiff, Steven Cook: My ATARI Computer - The key to the ATARI private computer. Te-wi Verlag GmbH, 5th edition 1983, ISBN 3-921803-18-7 , pp. 1-9.
104. ↑ TG Products: Track Ball. In: Antic. February / March 1983, p. 32 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
105. ^ Kurta Corporation: A Perfect Match. In: Analog Computing. January / February 1981, p. 17 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
106. ↑ Clyde Spencer: Koalapad. In: Antic. November 1983, p. 112 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
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108. ^ Atto-Soft: KB 400. In: Analog Computing. Edition 13, p. 19 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
109. ^ Microtronics, Inc .: Our New Keyboard Beats The Other Flat. In: Antic. February / March 1983, p. 10 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
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111. ↑ George J. Adamson: 400 Upgrade. In: Antic. July 1983, pp. 28, 30 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
112. ↑ Mark Pelczarski: RAMCRAM memory modules for the Atari. In: Byte Magazine. June 1981, pp. 24, 26 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
113. ^ Late Breaking News. In: Compute! January 1981, p. 12 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
114. ↑ Hardware / Briefs. In: InfoWorld. February 16, 1981, p. 25.
115. ↑ George J. Adamson: 400 Upgrade. In: Antic. July 1983, p. 30 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
116. ↑ 32K Ram Expansion for Atari 400, 800 announced. In: Compute! March 1981, p. 160 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
117. ↑ George J. Adamson: 400 Upgrade. In: Antic. July 1983, p. 28 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
118. ^ Atari 400 expansion. In: Compute! September 1983, p. 285 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
119. ↑ Dietmar Eirich: Computer for reference. Compact Verlag, 1989, ISBN 3-8174-3564-9 , p. 212.
120. ↑ Julian Reschke, Andreas Wiethoff: The Atari professional book. Sybex Verlag, 2nd edition 1986, p. 125.
121. ↑ Julian Reschke: Bibomon - the wolf in sheep's clothing. In: Happy Computer. February 1987, p. 21 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
122. ↑ Jeffrey Stanton, Robert P. Wells, Sandra Rochowansky, Michael Mellin: Atari Software 1984. The Book Company, 1st edition 1984, pp. 353-359.
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124. ↑ Jeffrey Stanton, Robert P. Wells, Sandra Rochowansky, Michael Mellin: Atari Software 1984. The Book Company, 1st edition 1984, pp. 350-352.
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126. ^ Carl J. Patterson: Software Review: Data-Soft Lisp. In: Analog Computing. Edition 8, 1982, p. 39 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
127. ^ Raymond T. Tillman: Atari Pascal - A Good Product? In: Analog Computing. Issue 11, p. 42 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
128. ↑ Jeffrey Stanton, Robert P. Wells, Sandra Rochowansky, Michael Mellin: Atari Software 1984. The Book Company, 1st edition 1984, pp. 210-241.
129. ^ George Zucconi: A computer in the doctor's waiting room. In: Byte Magazine. May 1984, p. 108 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
130. ^ Teddi Converse: Home Computerized Photography. In: Atari Connection. Summer 1982, p. 17 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
131. ^ Brian Lee: Filling the GAP. In: Antic. June 1983, p. 14 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
132. ^ Julie Sickert: Computer Museum. In: Antic. September 1983, p. 22 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
133. ↑ Jeffrey Stanton, Robert P. Wells, Sandra Rochowansky, Michael Mellin: Atari Software 1984. The Book Company, 1st edition 1984, pp. 263-303.
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135. ^ Winnie Schäfer: Game consoles and home computers. Gameplan, 3rd expanded edition, 2009, p. 34.
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139. ↑ Gunnar Kanold: Basic Tenliners 2014. 2014, Preface.
140. ^ ^{A b} John Victor: Atari Computers: The Ultimate Teaching Machines? In: Compute! Autumn edition 1979, p. 62 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
141. ↑ Michael S. Tomczyk: Star Raiders: The Wizard Behind The Game. In: Compute! March / April 1980, p. 75 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
142. ↑ John Victor: Atari BASIC. In: Compute! January / February 1980, p. 76 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
143. ^ John Victor: Atari Computers: The Ultimate Teaching Machines? In: Compute! Autumn edition 1979, p. 64 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
144. ↑ Len Lindsay: Atari in Perspective. In: Creative Computing. April 1980, p. 22 ff. ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
145. ^ Adam Osborne: From the Fountainhead West Coast Computer Faire. In: InfoWorld. May 26, 1980, p. 7.
146. ^ Greggory S. Blundell: Personal Computers in the Eighties. In: Byte Magazine. January 1983, p. 171 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
147. ↑ Jerry Pournelle: Computers for Humanity. In: Byte Magazine. July 1982, p. 400 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
148. ^ David Fox, Mitchelle Waite: Computer Animation with Color Registers. In: Byte Magazine. November 1982, p. 214 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
149. ^ Ron Mitchell: Scott Adams: Adventuring with the Atari. In: Antic. July 1983, p. 14 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
150. ↑ Whither Atari. In: Analog Computing. Edition 9, p. 4 f. ( Text archive - Internet Archive ).
151. ↑ Jon Bell: Editorial. In: Analog Computing. Edition 11, p. 6 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
152. ^ Herbert Bernstein: Test: Atari 400 and 800. In: Chip. November 1981, pp. 114-121.
153. ↑ The Computer of the Year. In: Chip. December 1981, p. 20.
154. ^ Gilbert Obermair: Heimcomputer Report '84. Heyne, 1983, p. 82.
155. ^ Atari 400 & 800. In: Computer course. Book 2, p. 35.
156. ↑ ^{a b c} Michael S. Tomczyk: The Home Computer Wars. Compute !, January 1985, p. 104.
157. ^ The Heyne Computer Lexicon. Edited by Peter Herzberg, Heyne, 1984, p. 28.
158. ^ ^{A b} Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton: Vintage Games Consoles. Focal Press, 2015, p. 56.
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This article was added to the list of excellent articles on September 14, 2016 in this version .