Adam send your kids to college

[Ranger03]

this is what Coleco promised with the Adam

 

wikipedia btw

 

A $500 college scholarship along with each unit for use by a young child (with $125 paid for each completed year of college)

 

tuition costs more than that nowadays

 

it was also in most Compute! magazines

 

anyone remember?

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

 

The Coleco ADAM scholarship.

https://colecoadam.wordpress.com/2013/06/02/the-coleco-adam-scholarship/

[Hannacek]

I think the basic idea was like a mail in rebate where they assume most people won't fill out the forms and save their receipts, but the offer helps them make the sale. And then they have a bunch of terms and conditions they use to disqualify people, so they don't have to pay the rebate.

 

Except with this scholarship, even less people would get the money then with rebates. One would have to wait longer to collect, and there were more terms and conditions, ensuring the fewest people possible were able to get the money.

Edited July 11, 2018 by Hannacek

[Ranger03]

which is why i think the offer was a scam. shame they were never sued

[Hannacek]

It's not a scam if they require you to save the receipt and fill out forms, and send in the transcript after you finished a year of college. It's a scam if they violate the terms and conditions of the offer, or if some of the terms and conditions of the offer they can not legally make.

[Ranger03]

I think the basic idea was like a mail in rebate where they assume most people won't fill out the forms and save their receipts, but the offer helps them make the sale. And then they have a bunch of terms and conditions they use to disqualify people, so they don't have to pay the rebate.

 

Except with this scholarship, even less people would get the money then with rebates. One would have to wait longer to collect, and there were more terms and conditions, ensuring the fewest people possible were able to get the money.

what other restrictions?

[Hannacek]

what other restrictions?

 

 

What do you mean by "restrictions"? I think my original post clearly lays out the burdens companies place to limit the amount of people who successfully redeem these kinds of offers. I am not familiar with this specific offer, so I was commenting on similar offers I am familiar with.

Edited July 13, 2018 by Hannacek

[Swami]

what other restrictions?

 

For instance, they show a nine year old kid...implying he could get the scholarship, even though he probably couldn't redeem it for ten years, until after a year of college.

[NIAD]

Remember this well and have come across A LOT of the forms to mail back to Coleco that were never used. There was no scam here on Coleco's part, just another means used by them (and numerous other companies) to try to make the ADAM an even more attractive item to purchase. All one has to do to collect is follows the rules that were laid out... well, until things started to go south for Coleco and they eventually filed for protection under bankruptcy laws a couple years later.

 

As I said, numerous companies used this method to sell their products including Parker Bros. I followed the rules they laid out and always received what was offered.

[NIAD]

 

For instance, they show a nine year old kid...implying he could get the scholarship, even though he probably couldn't redeem it for ten years, until after a year of college.

And ????

 

So I guess Coleco knew they would be filing for bankruptcy protection a couple years later and would never have to pay up.

[HDTV1080P]

Also after the bad October 1983 ADAM computer launch with technical issues, in 1984 I believe Coleco doubled the warranty on all new ADAM computers to 6 months instead of 90 days. That was a good ideal to try and gain back consumer confidence. There was a big sticker placed on the ADAM boxes mentioning the new 6 month warranty.

Edited July 13, 2018 by HDTV1080P

[Swami]

And ????

 

So I guess Coleco knew they would be filing for bankruptcy protection a couple years later and would never have to pay up.

 

No, but I'm figuring they were hoping buyers would assume you could get it within the year rather than waiting ten years and Coleco was hoping the family wouldn't be organized enough or remember to cash in after ten years...or something like that. Who expects to wait ten years to cash in on something like this?

[NIAD]

That holds true for most, if not all companies that offer rebates.

[FmrAdamuser]

I know this is an old thread, but I will add in my experience.  I bought my Adam in 1984, I was 13 at the time, and filled out the form and sent it in immediately along with all of the required documentation (if that was a copy of the receipt, UPC label off the box, etc. it was sent, I don't remember, that was a long time ago someone who bought a NOS in the box with all the documentation probably knows what was needed).  That was back as soon as I bought my Adam (actually the 3rd one since I had to return 2 before finding a good one).  The idea was that you would contact Coleco when you were accepted to a college or started college to be able to collect the scholarship, I believe they sent a certificate of some kind back that we kept in a lockbox along with our other important papers (by "we" I mean me and my parents).  I think that certificate was supposed to be sent back to Coleco at the time you were accepted/started college. You did not need to keep the receipt until you started college, since that should have already been on file when you registered your Adam. 

 

When Coleco went belly up, though, they paid out, unfortunately not the full $500.  I think I only received $125 (again, that was a long time ago, I don't remember the details only the general surprise they actually paid out and my gratefulness they actually did), which I was grateful for that, I had pretty much written off getting anything from Coleco.  They paid earlier because of the Chapter 11 (or whatever Chapter used for their bankruptcy) proceedings and I was still in the middle of HS when the check came.  I can't remember if I had to send in my certificate or not, regardless, it is long gone.  Either thrown away or sent wherever the Bankruptcy needed it to be sent to collect.

[mozartpc27]

Interesting.  What was the upper age that someone could redeem the offer, anyone know?  Like, did the parents of any 17 year olds who were about to graduate buy the computer and get the scholarship?  I figure the only way it could work financially (had Coleco made it) would be that they were counting on putting $X amount money per kid or expected kid in some kind of interest-bearing account, much less than Y kids time $500, and so they could make an offer that would cost them nothing today, that had a value of $500 to a parent on paper, but would require them to place $350 in an account for a kid who was 13 assuming a 7% interest rate (not unreasonable at the time) compounded monthly over 5 years.  It would be a liability but would also count as cash on hand for accounting purposes.

Edited May 9, 2021 by mozartpc27
Additional info

[HDTV1080P]

I used my Coleco ADAM in middle school, high school, and college (I used the Smartwriter word processor with letter quality daisy wheel printer). Many people at the time were writing things by hand and sometimes turning their papers in on low quality Dot Matrix printers that sometimes were near letter quality. While the ADAM printer back in 1983 was noisy and slow, it had very good true letter quality characters (The first Laser printer came out in 1976 from IBM, Laser printers were very expensive and did not start replacing daisy wheel and Dot Matrix printers until the late 1980’s and early 90’s in the home). In high school I used the ADAM computer with SmartBasic for one of my projects in an electronics class.  However, I forgot about the $500 scholarship that Coleco was offering for College. Also I purchased my Expansion Module #3 ADAM computer in October of 1983 before the small window for the college scholarship. In later years I did purchase a standalone ADAM computer which had the advantage of having a native composite video output that the ColecoVision lacks. However the standalone ADAM is only 99% compatible with ColecoVision cartridges and there is no storage area to hold both controllers. Back in October 1983 the ADAM computer was around $800 for the standalone model and $600 for the Expansion Module #3 ADAM that got added to the $200 ColecoVision. The prices slowly came down after the release date. However after January 1985 when Coleco left the computer and videogame business the prices went way down. At one point the ColecoVision videogame console went from $199.99 to $99.99, and then around 1988 was as low as $49.99 for a brand new console. Then around 1988 a standalone ADAM cost under $200 for a brand new one which was $600 cheaper in price when compared to 1983. People were buying the latest and best version of the ADAM with all or most the bugs fixed in late 1984, for under $200 in 1988 as inventory was being cleared out. I wish I would have picked up a few extra at that price. They had the latest motherboard, latest printer, and latest Digital Data Drive. However Disk Drives were rare and were hard to get and the original Coleco Disk Drives were selling new and used in the 80’s for around $200+ and very rarely could one get a ADAM disk drive below that price. Thanks to companies like Micro Innovations there was 1.44MB 3.5 inch ADAMNET disk drives being made that were better quality when compared to the original 1984 single sided 160K floppy disk drive by Coleco.    

Edited May 9, 2021 by HDTV1080P

[NIAD]

2 hours ago, HDTV1080P said:

I used my Coleco ADAM in middle school, high school, and college...

Hmm.

 

[FmrAdamuser]

On 5/9/2021 at 9:54 AM, mozartpc27 said:

Interesting.  What was the upper age that someone could redeem the offer, anyone know?  Like, did the parents of any 17 year olds who were about to graduate buy the computer and get the scholarship?  I figure the only way it could work financially (had Coleco made it) would be that they were counting on putting $X amount money per kid or expected kid in some kind of interest-bearing account, much less than Y kids time $500, and so they could make an offer that would cost them nothing today, that had a value of $500 to a parent on paper, but would require them to place $350 in an account for a kid who was 13 assuming a 7% interest rate (not unreasonable at the time) compounded monthly over 5 years.  It would be a liability but would also count as cash on hand for accounting purposes.

I do not know the answer, very likely someone who has a NOS unit or kept all their paperwork with their Adam may have the original scholarship flyer and requirements and I am sure the restrictions are mentioned there.  I want to say that 15 came to my mind after writing that last sentence, but that is likely wrong. 

 

Honestly, I don't think they planned on having the program last more than a year, so that limits the number of people, not to mention that not everyone who bought one would be eligible or would remember to fill out the paperwork to register (I can't remember for sure, but I would imagine you had to register your computer within 30 to 90 days or some other limited timeframe and were not given an unlimited timeframe).  I highly doubt they planned on having a "savings" account, they likely figured that they'd make enough profit on Cabbage Patch kids, CV and Adam to be able to payback the promised scholarship.  It was to be paid in installments and not one lump sum as mentioned earlier in this thread, or perhaps another that I had responded on, and not all of those collecting would be collecting all at once.  There may have been a couple to few years where there was a "peak" number of people collecting (say if the majority of Adam bought during the program were by/for 12 year olds, likely they would be going to college at around the same time, making those 4 years the "peak" years of payouts).  By the time the "peak" happened, Coleco was banking on having other great selling products, such as Adam 2, CV 2, etc. 

[FmrAdamuser]

19 hours ago, HDTV1080P said:

I used my Coleco ADAM in middle school, high school, and college

I used mine in MS, HS but not college.  My college provided computers for students when they started their freshmen year.  Since I only had room for one computer desk and only room for one computer on that desk, the Adam had to go into boxes and stored away.  I had put away my CV because the Adam was able to play all the games I had for the CV and A2600 (I had the Exp. Mod #1), so after putting away the Adam, the CV came back out until I moved away from home.  I definitely liked the print from the Adam better than the pretty decent dot-matrix printer I bought through my college, but the Adam printer was definitely noisy (I would never have been able to print out my papers while pulling all-nighters like I did in college).  Laser printers only came down to my price range when I was about a junior in college.  We had one in our HS computer lab, but that was the only one for the entire HS. 

 

I am probably one of the few, but I actually used the electric typewriter mode to fill in forms for job and college applications.  It was such a pain my parents eventually got me an electric typewriter that I used for that task as well as for small papers (one to two pages) that needed to be typed in HS. 

[NIAD]

25 minutes ago, FmrAdamuser said:

I am probably one of the few, but I actually used the electric typewriter mode to fill in forms for job and college applications.  It was such a pain my parents eventually got me an electric typewriter that I used for that task as well as for small papers (one to two pages) that needed to be typed in HS. 

The secret to filling out forms like you mention using the Electronic Typewriter mode was to break off an unused symbol from the print wheel  and then type that symbol on the keyboard to get yourself / the print head lined up in the right spot on the form. Still a PITA, but could be done.

 

Breaking off an unused symbol from the print wheel was also a workaround to the 1 1/2 line feed bug in SmartWriter. For any blank line, you would just type that symbol and press the RETURN key.

[HDTV1080P]

13 hours ago, FmrAdamuser said:

I used mine in MS, HS but not college. 

Over my lifetime I have attended many different colleges and Universities. To clarify when I was at home, I used my ADAM computer when I first went to college. However, after around 10 years of using the ADAM computer, sometime around the year 1993 I had to leave the ADAM at home (sell a few items), and while attending a college for around 2 years away from home, I purchased a small Notebook computer that used Windows with a monochrome screen and a 80 column word processor that underlined spelling errors. Plus I had a Laser printer that I hooked up to my Notebook computer. I prefer desktop computers but I needed the ability to be portable so the computer could be used in the Library, etc. The 1993 Microsoft Word program was a much better word processor when compared to the 1983 Smartwriter program.

 

However around the mid 90’s I sold my Notebook computer and that ended up being my last and only portable computer that I have every owned (some of my family members own portable computers). Then starting around 1995+ I built my first desktop computer. For around 25 years I have always built my own custom desktop computers for myself and family members. In fact I have never owned a name brand desktop computer that was already built, I have always built the computers myself since I like choosing the motherboard, power supply, etc.  Since 2015 I have been using my 6 year old X99 motherboard with 128GB of DDR4 memory running under the Windows 10 Professional 64 bit operating system. I am happy with my current setup, but since my first computer was the Coleco ADAM in October 1983 and since I used it for 10 years without a upgrade, I still like using the ADAM for classic exclusive supergames that cannot be found on any other system. Buck Rogers the Supergame and many other games are still the best of the best when compared to any other system. While its true that in late 1985 the Amiga was a more powerful computer system, the problem is many of my favorite ColecoVision/ADAM games were never made for the Amiga computer or even modern Windows systems. One of the main reasons I kept using the ADAM exclsuiving between 1983-1993 was because of its awesome exclusive quality games that many other more powerful systems did not offer and for some games are still not offered. Every videogame and computer system has its pluses and minuses with every console having some exclusive games and programs that are not offered on other systems.    

Edited May 11, 2021 by HDTV1080P