I just came across this interesting bit of computing history.
Back in 1982, there was a peripheral that turned an Atari 2600 into an (incredibly simple, ZX-81 level) home computer, including a keyboard, BASIC, and cadette support.
But the addon is/was incredibly rare, and there's very little information about it online.
So it's interesting to see there's now a video up on YouTube profiling this device (known as a Spectravideo CompuMate) and how it works...
I've got one remark on this: the thing that this addon turned the 2600 into was way *below* 1982 #ZXSpectrum tech standards and specs in many ways. Just take a look and compare memory and screen resolution and you'll see. Not to mention the rich BASIC functionality of Sinclair BASIC.
Also, that addon came too late in many ways to be profitable as some of the real computers of the time (see above) were less costy and easier to get than this rather limited piece of addon hardware.
@Wintermute_BBS@ajsadauskas@technology@videogames@retrogaming but the developers of this extension definitly had some inspiration from the ZX81, as shown in the video with the Keyboard comparison etc. With this being released in 1982 i think it was just still to expensive to have success. Should have been way cheaper or much earlier.
Hypothetically, had they managed to get a price point at somewhere close to US$200-$250 for a version with a chiclet keyboard, tape connector and BASIC, that would have opened up an even lower lower-end market than the 400.
It very much would have been aiming for that ZX-81 end of the market.
Please don't misunderstand me: I don't say that you are wrong or that I disagree with you - but if Atari really thought this was a good idea at the time, they could as well have saved the resources and burn the money right away ...
@ajsadauskas@technology@videogames@retrogaming come to think of it: the same year that the addon was released, Tandy released the #CoCo2 for an initial retail price of $159 - to me this shows how quickly prices for components dropped and tech evolved while the fierce competition (at least in the US market) made prices drop every month.
... and yes, as we all know #JackTramiel played a big role in this effect ...