High School Horror / Attack of the killer Atari 400's

[deadmeow]

When I was in high school, a long time ago, in 11th grade back in.... 1987, I had a basic computing class. At home I had a nice 16 bit Apple IIgs system, with 1.5 megs of ram, a 3.5 inch 800k drive, and a USR 9600 Courier HST Moden (which had been the standard in the Apple Pirating world for the past few years while others used 1200/2400 baud).

 

I arrive in my computer class the first day, and omg, we had Atari 400's! These were old tyme 400's with 8k of ram! If I remember correctly we had to plug in a memory cartridge, so we could use a disk drive, so we could load the DOS and basic language.

 

And we didn't have enough computers, for say 40 students, so we had to pair up. While across the hall, they had some newer IBM or IBM PC clones as they were called in the day. The class was such joke, I slept everyday in that class. Even back then almost 20 years ago, these computer were obsolete. They of course wouldn't be collectibles for years to come.

 

What a crappy school, huh? I went to a new highschool for 12th grade, and we had Apple IIe's and I think a few Apple IIgs's, but I didn't have a computer class.

 

Anyway I never heard of a school having Atari computers in the first place? I think Apple II's were the most common computers in schools in the 80's. Until the evil PC clones took over.

 

Just imagine if there were no crappy IBM clones. IBM PC CLONES, which we still have today, have no personality. The old computers of the 80's excluding pc clones, had personality. Even the early Macs had their own personality. Just imagine if we had the same wars going on today with Atari/Commodore/Apple II.

 

In a perfect world there would be no PC's or MACS!!!

 

[Urchlay]

I arrive in my computer class the first day, and omg, we had Atari 400's! These were old tyme 400's with 8k of ram! If I remember correctly we had to plug in a memory cartridge, so we could use a disk drive, so we could load the DOS and basic language.

 

Ugh, the idea of being forced to type on a membrane keyboard to get a passing grade gives me the crawling horrors...

 

If I'd had that class, I probably would have brought my 800XL from home

 

Though I wish I still had a working 400. I'd park it and a small collection of cartridge games at the parents' house. I wonder if Dad could still beat me at Pac-Man or Qix...

 

Just imagine if there were no crappy IBM clones. IBM PC CLONES, which we still have today, have no personality. The old computers of the 80's excluding pc clones, had personality. Even the early Macs had their own personality. Just imagine if we had the same wars going on today with Atari/Commodore/Apple II.

 

I read somewhere that IBM actually considered licensing the Atari computer technology, when they first considered making a PC [*]. Imagine if that had happened... an Atari 800-like machine, with a proper expansion bus, detachable keyboard, and the ability to drive an RGB monitor... whatever IBM decided on was destined to become the industry standard... by the late 80s, hard disks would have been standard (I wonder if MS would have developed MS-DOS for the 6502, or if we'd have gotten something like DOS XL as the standard). We could be using PCs based on a 64-bit, 3GHz descendent of the 6502 right now (probably by AMD)

 

[*] This was probably just a rumor or an urban legend. I doubt they seriously considered it, since they were more interested in competing with serious business machines (CP/M based ones, in the microcomputer world back then). Still, alternate history is fun and doesn't hurt anyone...

[Bryan]

Atari managed to get computers in a few classrooms. When I was in high school, a company called CCC came up with a remote training system that used the 1040ST, so we had a lab full of those.

 

They didn't install mice because they were afraid they'd get stolen, so I used the ALT-arrow method of moving the pointer and got in trouble since they'd instructed us to type all the answers in insted of clicking on them.

 

-Bry

[Clint Thompson]

While I agree the membrane keyboard sucks ass.... Apple IIgs better than an Atari ? Not a chance in hell.

 

(Much love to my Atari computer) I was still shocked out how much better (at least, to me, personally) the Atari computer was compared to the Apple computers graphics, sound and gamewise all-around.

 

Instead of sleeping you could have been learning how to program and get the most out of the sucker.... pitty. I grew up with Apples in the class (for games only) and 1 grading application which the teacher made me use to punch in all the grades. IBM PCs were next and only a few times did I ever spot an Atari system. (Once an Atari 800XL in the closet in Jr. High and a 1040ST in High School in science class (in the closet as well, tucked away unused).

[oesii]

You have to give the Apple IIc/e and IIgs credit for being good all-around classroom computer. The sheer volume of educational software published for the platform was impressive. I'm sure there still some poor schools chugging along on Apple IIs.

 

I think I'm the same age as the original poster because I was in 11th grade in '87 too. But my first experience was in a computer class learning Basic back in 6th grade, maybe 1981. We wrote lines of code on punch cards and then fed them into the card reader and ran them on some mini-mainframe computer, don't remember which one.

 

I would have loved to have an Atari 400 at that school, at least I had a 800 at home so I wasn't scarred for life

[Clint Thompson]

The Apple computer line is definately what got me really interested in computers, that's for sure. Maybe that's why deep down inside I'm secretly a Mac user to this day.

 

(nah,,, who am I kidding... OSX is amazing!)

[deadmeow]

As a former Apple II user, I don't like IBM PC clones, or Apple Macs.

 

IBM PC clones have on character. Even in the 80's IBM PC's and PC clones had no style or character, and had the worst OS in the world.

 

So unfortunately I have a "PC". If Atari or Amiga's were still around I would rather have one of those than a PC or Mac.

 

The IBM PC/clones were the last computer to have a desktop GUI based OS, yet they became the standard. You can thank IBM for building their PC with cheap over the counter parts.

[ataridano]

I guess I see things a little differently that most everyone else who're replied. I think if the IBM PC hadn't taken hold, we'd have some other type of business machine instead, probably a CP/M machine, maybe a Kaypro or something similar. Remember that most home computers of the day (Apple, Atari, TI99, etc) had CP/M add-ons. I have a few old IBMs and think they do have a fair amount of style, they did cost quite a bit more but the amount of expansion is really impressive.... I can add VGA, SCSI drives, 1.44 meg floppies, and ethernet to my 1981 PC with no problem. I even use an XT with a packet driver and TCP/IP on the 'net. The origional AT can run OS/2, it didn't catch on like IBM wanted but remember this is a GUI based OS on a computer older than the Amiga and ST, and unlike the Mac it had color and more than one button on the mouse Still, it would be neat if the Atari had been pushed a little further, maybe a 65816 based machine, or one that combined the XEGS's detached keyboard with a machine having PBI and S-video or RGB out, even some PBI devices would have been nice. Oh well, maybe there wasn't a market for that sort of thing at the time anyway.

[Retro Rogue]

A chunk of the Atari equipment I just rescued was stamped from a high school in the area. Atari had a large educational promotion project at one time.

[Atari Smeghead]

Well, I graduated in 1985, DeWitt, Michigan, so my experience predates some of you.

 

My first classroom computer (and I'm surprised no one's brought it up yet) was the TRS-80 Model II. My school was so cheap that for our first year, we only had 2 or 3 of them and we had to take turns. But the TRaSh-80 was, in my mind, the quintessential school computer.

 

After that, we got a lab full of Apple IIs. They were decent enough, but the green-screens left something to be desired. I was a bit, er, rambunctious back then. I remember taking one of them apart. There was so much spare room inside that I used to store my lunch in there. (j/k)

One thing I liked about the Apple IIs was that you had up to 40 characters for file names, instead of the 8 + 3 of the IBM. I'd usually try my best to use all 40. "THISISAPROGRAMTHETEACHERMADEMEDO"

 

From there, it became the attack of the PC clones. My senior year, my friend Mark and I convinced the science teacher to let us do an independent study class in the Apple II lab, writing some sort of chemistry programs, tests or something. Since the PCs were the modern machines, the Apple lab was completely ignored. We spent most of the semester playing Aztec.

 

One other side note, a sign of the times I reckon (or our school's lack of proper teachers?) when I had a Pascal class in my junior year (I think) we found out that the teacher was actually taking a class at the local community college to LEARN PASCAL, while he was teaching us. He was only a couple lessons ahead of us, so my friend John and I went out of our way to come up with questions that we knew he hadn't learned yet, to watch him squirm. (That same friend, concidentially, had an Atari 800 with the 810 drive and is the reason I begged my parents for my first Atari, the 400, 410 and BASIC. It began my lifelong Atari addiction.)

 

Ah, the good ol' days.

 

Cheers,

Smeg

[Warriorisabouttodie]

I went to "computer camp" for a couple weeks in the early 80's it is was at a private high school campus, but I was about 10/11 at the time. They had 2 Atari 800's, a 400, a CoCo, a commodore vic 20, 4 or 5 Apple ]['s (e's and +'s) and a Hero robot in their computer lab. Back then they had one of the most state of the art computer labs around.

 

Don't feel bad. At least you guys had Atari 400's and Apple II's!! By the time I made it to my local high school our computer lab in the late 80's was still chugging away on TRS80 Model 3's and cassette drives!!!!!

 

 

 

Kev

[S1500]

I graudated in '94, and we were still using Apple // computers. Pathetic, really. I was doing well in the Pascal class, so I got use the "classic" Macintosh.

[Atari Smeghead]

Don't feel bad. At least you guys had Atari 400's and Apple II's!! By the time I made it to my local high school our computer lab in the late 80's was still chugging away on TRS80 Model 3's and cassette drives!!!!!

Kev

 

Oh yes, that's right. You jogged my memory. We had 2 TRaSh 80s (even the teacher called it that), one with a cassette drive and one with a built-in drive. There was always a battle to get the "good" machine.

 

Funny, I don't remember much if what we learned, but I do remember playing Typo Attack, where the cannon spit out letters as ammo to thwart the evil alien ships.

 

Cheers,

Smeg

[andylama]

I graudated in '94, and we were still using Apple // computers. Pathetic, really. I was doing well in the Pascal class, so I got use the "classic" Macintosh.

 

Apple ][ still used in 94?! Holy squack! PaleoTech!

 

I graduated HS in 85 (Los Angeles suburbs), and our computer lab was full of Atari 800s with disk drives. Luxuriant!

[yorgle]

I can still remember my first "school" computer- a Commodore PET! Of course, that was 8th grade. In high school, we had the customary "lab" full of Apples. I can still remember feeling lucky to go home and play on my older brother's C64- it seemed light years ahead of the Apples we had at school. I also remember how mad our computer teacher got when my older brother would turn in his assignments written in 6502 assembly rather than BASIC. Instead of giving credit for learning assembly, the idiot gave him D's for all those assignments. Teachers like that should be fired on the spot.

[phaxda]

PETs were also my first high school computer. Later we had Apple //e machines. This was in or around 1990-1994.

 

I loved playing on the PETs with basic, and later playing games on the //e.

 

 

I can still remember my first "school" computer- a Commodore PET! Of course, that was 8th grade. In high school, we had the customary "lab" full of Apples. I can still remember feeling lucky to go home and play on my older brother's C64- it seemed light years ahead of the Apples we had at school. I also remember how mad our computer teacher got when my older brother would turn in his assignments written in 6502 assembly rather than BASIC. Instead of giving credit for learning assembly, the idiot gave him D's for all those assignments. Teachers like that should be fired on the spot.

[mimo]

We had a research machines 380z ( I think the school only had one!), later we had a whole suite of BBC B's, Luckily I had a 48K Atari 400 in my bedroom

[peteym5]

A long time ago in a school far away, our school had a special computer class. It was the early 80s and micro computers were a new and exciting technology. If I remember correctly that computer had a trs-80, ti-99, a zx81, maybe an apple. Not sure if it had a commodore, atari, or pc. Think the class was going on when the Vic-20 first hit the market at around $300.

 

I agree the Atari 800 technology was indeed very powerful around 1980 and IBM could have easily have teamed to use the technology. Problems with Atari, it would have been difficult to get them to license out their computer technology. The other thing is the Atari 8-bit graphics technology would have to be upgraded on top of the Antic/GTIA chipset to support 80 columns for professional business applications. Like have have noted many times, those chips had a lot of room to support more registers to do more things. The 6502 was also very limited, could only add or subract. IBM probably made a wise choice to go with the 8088. What if Atari decided to go with a 8088 with their next generation of computers?

[Tickled_Pink]

And we didn't have enough computers, for say 40 students, so we had to pair up.

You were lucky. When we had to choose our subjects halfway through high school, I chose computer science. However, they only allowed those in the top class in Maths to take the subject due to lack of computers (probably BBC Micros). As I was in the middle class (my maths was actually very good, but my exam marks weren't as good as they should have been) I was told that I couldn't do it, so in the end had to choose Rural bloody Science ... FARMING!!! I did well in it but it was a complete waste of time as I've never ever used what I learned in it.

 

I wouldn't start picking up programming seriously until I got my 800XL three years later.

 

I really hated that school and still do.

[Almost Rice]

I had to learn Basic and Fortran on a VAX using terminals in HS. I guess it gave me some experience for my job at the University.

We also had PC lab for CAD and later the VAX was replaced by 2 Mac labs.

 

I had use of a TI99 in Elementary and an Apple 2 lab in Middle school.

[JokerCPoC]

Don't feel bad. At least you guys had Atari 400's and Apple II's!! By the time I made it to my local high school our computer lab in the late 80's was still chugging away on TRS80 Model 3's and cassette drives!!!!!

Kev

 

Oh yes, that's right. You jogged my memory. We had 2 TRaSh 80s (even the teacher called it that), one with a cassette drive and one with a built-in drive. There was always a battle to get the "good" machine.

 

Funny, I don't remember much if what we learned, but I do remember playing Typo Attack, where the cannon spit out letters as ammo to thwart the evil alien ships.

 

Cheers,

Smeg

Oh wow, We had in My 1st computer class a TRS-80 Model 1, It kinda looked like an Atari 800 in Black and Grey. It was neat looking, But I'd already seen an Atari 800 and so I was infected, I later got My mother to get an Atari 400 and a 410, Later I got a Keyboard & a 48k upgrade, Then a used 810 fdd, a Rana 1000 and an Indus GT, After that I'd owned an 800XL and a 600XL that I modified to 64k, Later on a 1450XL motherboard(Early model) w/a 1200XL Keyboard, 1200XL psu brick & case(I had to modify the 1200XL case for the 1450XL pbi bus and yeah the 1450 did work, If Best had one more I'd buy It), Now I've bought a 1200XL that I intend to modify and It will probably be My last Atari computer I'd think.

[ataridano]

I agree the Atari 800 technology was indeed very powerful around 1980 and IBM could have easily have teamed to use the technology. Problems with Atari, it would have been difficult to get them to license out their computer technology. The other thing is the Atari 8-bit graphics technology would have to be upgraded on top of the Antic/GTIA chipset to support 80 columns for professional business applications. Like have have noted many times, those chips had a lot of room to support more registers to do more things. The 6502 was also very limited, could only add or subract. IBM probably made a wise choice to go with the 8088. What if Atari decided to go with a 8088 with their next generation of computers?

 

I think you're right, IBM's biggest market was business so having 80 columns and a CPU with more address space was a huge plus. What if Atari decided to go with a 8088 with their next generation of computers? Well, in a way they did, take a look at the PC-1. I could never figure out why Atari offered both the PC series and ST series at the same time, really. You'd think they'd have done better just picking one platform and going with it.