While clearing out your cupboards searching for old IT equipment for recycling, please spare a thought for old and long forgotten equipment of our past, top favourites a brief history:

The Atari 2600, released in 1977, is the first successful video game console to use plug-in cartridges instead of having one or more games built in.   Originally known as the Atari VCS—for Video Computer System—the machine’s name was changed to “Atari 2600″ (from the unit’s Atari part number, CX2600) in 1982, after the release of the more advanced Atari 5200. It was wildly successful, and during the 1980s, “Atari” was a synonym for this model in mainstream media.  By 1979, the 2600 was the best selling Christmas present (and console), mainly because of its exclusive content, and a million were sold that year.  Atari then licensed the smash arcade hit Space Invaders by Taito, which greatly increased the unit’s popularity when it was released in May 1980, doubling sales again to over 2 million units. The 2600 and its cartridges were the main factor behind Atari grossing more than $2 billion in profits in 1980. Sales then doubled again for the next two years, with almost 8 million units selling in 1982.

The Commodore 64 personal computer, released in August 1982, became the best selling single computer model of all time, according to the Guinness Book of WorldRecords. The Commodore 64 is commonly referred to as the C64; . It is also affectionately nicknamed the “breadbin” due to its shape.  During the Commodore 64’s lifetime (between 1982 and 1993), sales totaled around 17 million units.  Unlike computers that were distributed only through authorized dealers, Commodore also targeted department stores and toy stores. The unit could be plugged directly into a television set to play games, giving it much of the appeal of dedicated video game consoles like the Atari 2600.  Approximately 10,000 software titles were made for the Commodore 64 including development tools, office applications, and games.

 

The Amstrad CPC was a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad during the 1980s and early 1990s. CPC stood for ‘Colour Personal Computer’, although it was possible to purchase a CPC with a green screen as well as with the standard colour screen.The first machine, the CPC 464 was introduced in 1984. It was designed to be a direct competitor to the Commodore 64. The CPC range was very successful, and over 3 million were sold during the machine’s lifespan.  Outwardly, the most distinguishing features of Amstrad’s offering were the matte black console case with sharp corners and narrowly rectangular form factor (the latter due to the built-in cassette tape deck or floppy disk drive the keyboard’s distinctly coloured special keys (all the non-typewriter-standard keys)

Gosh RACH, that was so not FUN, will escape the geekdom next week

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