Some very rare educational (and adult!) titles

[sydric]

Just wondering if anyone has ever heard of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada based "Econosoft"? I understand there was perhaps at least one other company with this name.

 

Econosoft was a registered Canadian trademark filed in 1983.

 

Here's our company page for them:

 

http://pcmuseum.ca/companyprofile.asp?id=611

 

We now have 4 cassette programs from this company, which I have not yet seen archived or even listed anywhere.

 

http://pcmuseum.ca/details.asp?id=39857&type=Software

http://pcmuseum.ca/details.asp?id=39858&type=Software

http://pcmuseum.ca/details.asp?id=39859&type=Software

http://pcmuseum.ca/details.asp?id=39860&type=Software

 

The titles are Multiplication & Division, Kiddie Key Finder, Addition & Subtraction (all educational obviously) and then the oddity - LITTLE BLACK BOOK, which is an adult title and I can't find any info about it on the net.

 

Has anyone else seen these titles? I don't mind making the effort to archive them but only if they aren't already out there. Interestingly, this company would have been located only a 20 minute drive from me.

[doomguy]

I live in Hamilton, Ontario. Any ideas on the names of any of the programmers? Someone or another from the old HBO club might now. I could ask around.

[www.atarimania.com]

Incredible, never ever heard of this publisher or seen these titles listed anywhere

 

Atari had an Econosoft branch for APX products distributed in Australia but, of course, this is a different company.

 

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Atari Frog

http://www.atarimania.com

[sydric]

From what I have dug up (you can see this in the company background page I posted) the owner/president (and probably chief programmer) is Henry Christopher Wade.

 

My Googling has led me to finding some photography that I believe he did and I am attempting to contact him through that site--but it has been a while since he has been on there so who knows.

[www.atarimania.com]

I often wonder where these small publishers advertized their products, if at all. The packaging looks a bit cheap but still looks professional.

 

Were there any specific Canadian computer magazines? Maybe the ads appeared in some particular educational software catalogs or publications?

 

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Atari Frog

http://www.atarimania.com

[BillC]

I often wonder where these small publishers advertized their products, if at all. The packaging looks a bit cheap but still looks professional.

 

Were there any specific Canadian computer magazines? Maybe the ads appeared in some particular educational software catalogs or publications?

 

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Atari Frog

http://www.atarimania.com

I don't know about Canadian computer magazines from the east, IIRC there was R.O.M. published in Maple Ridge, BC. I believe there were only 10 issues, content available at http://www.atarimagazines.com/

[jhd]

Were there any specific Canadian computer magazines? Maybe the ads appeared in some particular educational software catalogs or publications?

 

Good idea.

 

I cannot speak to Ontario or Quebec, but there was nothing published in the Maritimes until the short-lived Maritime Computer Connections magazine in the late-1990s. That did provide good coverage of local businesses and events, but only long after the 8-bit was dead.

[miker]

Any chances for making dumps from these tapes?

Edited June 21, 2012 by miker

[sydric]

Miker - to my first post "I don't mind making the effort to archive them but only if they aren't already out there" --- from what I am seeing, it sounds like these are not out there so yes, we will do it!

[R4ngerM4n]

Edited.

Edited June 22, 2012 by R4ngerM4n

[Fletch]

I have both of those math cassettes. I have no idea where I got them from, but I have those.

[www.atarimania.com]

I know this is a very old thread but were these tapes ever dumped?

 

Thanks!

 

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Atari Frog

http://www.atarimania.com

[_The Doctor__]

They should get dumped, I think it' a case where they both thought the other would do it, and of course that never works

[Mclaneinc]

I think it' a case where they both thought the other would do it, and of course that never works

 

Yeah, I remember having sex like that as a younger man...

[+davidcalgary29]

Econosoft must have had an incredibly limited distribution! I frequented all of the Atari shops in the Toronto area, and was a regular TAF attendee — and, heck, read every issue of R.O.M. — but never, ever saw any of these until this thread. Even that other local obscurity, InHome Software, had a larger footprint: I bought my boxed Captain Beeble (two bucks) at a downtown store in ‘87.

[+Allan]

Did these ever get dumped?

[jhd]

 

Given that the Personal Computer Museum is now long closed, I doubt that these tapes will ever be dumped.