https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/ A weekly early-1980s computer newspaper rebuilt from the historical record — games, software, hardware, prices, charts, and culture, one week at a time. en-us Sun, 09 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-11-14 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-11-14 Sun, 09 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT A major retailer’s retreat exposes delivery and reliability doubts around the ambitious all-in-one home computer. Coleco’s bid to turn its video-game success into a home-computer empire suffered a conspicuous holiday setback this week. The New York Times reported November 15 that J.C. Penney had omitted the Adam computer from its holiday line, a damaging absence at the moment families were studying Christmas catalogs and retailers were committing scarce shelf space. Also this week: Microsoft Opens a Window on DOS · Video Games Enter Christmas Under a Cloud · Schools Add Ethics to Computer Literacy. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-11-07 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-11-07 Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Bill Gates unveils a mouse-driven graphical layer for MS-DOS machines, promising menus, tiled windows and a common face for the compatible-computer boom. NEW YORK, Nov. 10 — Microsoft this week unveiled Windows, a graphical operating environment intended to place menus, pictures and mouse control above the command-line face of MS-DOS. Bill Gates presented the product at the Helmsley Palace Hotel, giving the fast-growing world of IBM-compatible computers a glimpse of a more visual way to work. Also this week: A Self-Replicating Program Earns a New Name: Computer Virus · Computer Magazines Ride the Home-Micro Boom · IBM-Hitachi Settlement Reported Near $300 Million. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-10-31 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-10-31 Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT The world's largest computer maker formally entered the home-computer contest on November 1, aiming above low-cost rivals while extending IBM PC software compatibility. NEW YORK—After months of speculation about a machine code-named “Peanut,” International Business Machines formally unveiled the PCjr on November 1. The announcement puts the company that defined the business-PC standard directly into the crowded home-computer market, with deliveries planned for early 1984. Also this week: Apple II Gets an Arcade Board · Activision Moves River Raid and Kaboom! to Atari Computers · Touch-Sensitive PowerPad Offers a New Way to Control Home Computers. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-10-24 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-10-24 Thu, 06 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT The Atarisoft label carries arcade names beyond Atari hardware as the home-game business searches for software revenue. Atari is loosening the bond between its famous games and its own machines. A New York Times report on October 27 described new Atari titles made to fit competing home systems, turning the company’s arcade catalog into a software line that could reach players well beyond the Atari 2600 and Atari computers. Also this week: IBM Links the PC Desk to the Mainframe · DEC Shrinks 32-Bit VAX Power Into a Microcomputer · FBI Seizes Gear in Multicity Hacker Inquiry. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-10-17 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-10-17 Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT DEC combines word processing, personal computing and communications as software and small networks dominate the New York exposition. Software announcements dominated the 10th International Information Management Exposition & Conference in New York, but the larger story was integration. Machines once sold as dedicated word processors were being recast as connected personal workstations, able to prepare documents, exchange files and reach an office network from the same desk. Also this week: Coleco’s $700 Adam Enters the Holiday Computer Fight · Desktop Networks and Electronic Mail Move Downmarket · Portable and Multiuser Micros Crowd the Show. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-10-10 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-10-10 Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT A fallen portable pioneer turns to an industry giant to keep its machines working. Osborne Computer Corporation, once the most visible name in portable computing, announced October 11 that Xerox would service Osborne products while the manufacturer operated under federal bankruptcy protection. The pact offers owners a measure of continuity after the company’s swift reversal left the future of its machines and support network uncertain. Also this week: Xerox Sunrise Claims a Ten-Hour Workday · FBI Raids Bring Modem Intrusion Home · Electronic Arts Puts Designers in the Spotlight. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-10-03 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-10-03 Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Acorn aims its $995 package at U.S. classrooms, with teacher notes, networking ambitions, and a 50,000-machine production commitment. Acorn Computer brought one of Britain's best-known educational machines to the United States this week, formally unveiling an American BBC Micro package priced at $995. The October 7 debut placed the machine directly into the contest for school computer labs, where Apple and other established suppliers already had strong positions. Also this week: Issue 3 Spectrum Change Breaks Some Existing Programs · Sanyo's $2,100 Challenger Joins the IBM-Compatible Charge · Hewlett-Packard Puts 'Magic' at Your Fingertips. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-09-26 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-09-26 Sun, 02 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Cartridges and equipment from the El Paso plant are crushed and buried as the console market’s inventory crisis becomes impossible to hide. Truckloads of Atari material rolled into the Alamogordo, New Mexico, municipal landfill this week, where workers crushed and buried cartridges and equipment shipped from the company’s El Paso plant. A September 28 New York Times brief fixed the disposal to this week, turning a grim inventory operation into the sharpest picture yet of the videogame business’s retreat. Also this week: GNU Call Asks Programmers to Build a Free Unix-Compatible System · Apple Cuts Lisa to $6,995 and Points Dealers Toward Macintosh · IBM’s Unannounced ‘Peanut’ Has the Home Market Guessing. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-09-19 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-09-19 Sat, 01 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT A stripped-down $6,995 configuration aims to revive the pioneering graphical workstation while IBM seizes the middle of the personal-computer market. Apple Computer opened the week with a dramatic answer to sluggish Lisa sales: dealers were told that the $9,995 mouse-driven workstation would be offered in a stripped-down $6,995 configuration. The $3,000 cut followed new president John Sculley’s four-day tour addressing some 1,500 dealers in 25 cities, a public show of urgency from a company suddenly chasing IBM in the market it helped create. Also this week: FCC Clears Coleco’s Adam for the Holiday Computer Battle · Portable Computers Crowd the Road-Warrior Market · IBM’s Shadow Lengthens Across Personal Computing. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-09-12 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-09-12 Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT The portable pioneer seeks Chapter 11 protection after demand collapses and suppliers are left owed $45 million. SAN FRANCISCO — Osborne Computer sought bankruptcy protection September 13, a stunning reversal for the company that turned a suitcase-sized computer and a rich software bundle into one of personal computing’s first spectacular success stories. Also this week: Shakeout Reaches Computers and Cartridges · M.U.L.E. and Archon Turn Rivalry into Art · A Portable That Really Fits the Lap. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-09-05 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-09-05 Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT IBM compatibility redraws the personal-computer map as a booming market enters its first great shakeout. NEW YORK — The personal-computer business has reached the moment when a boom begins to choose its standard. TIME's September 5 survey reports that IBM, only two years after introducing its Personal Computer, has captured 26 percent of unit sales and displaced Apple from first place. Also this week: Games by Telephone Move Closer to Home · Draft-Aide Puts CAD on the Personal Computer · Young Computer Experts Teach the Teachers. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-08-29 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-08-29 Wed, 29 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT The two-year-old IBM PC has taken the sales lead, inspired a compatible-machine industry, and left once-hot independents scrambling for position. NEW YORK — The personal-computer trade has rarely moved so quickly from open field to established order. TIME reports this week that IBM's Personal Computer, introduced only in August 1981, now accounts for 26 percent of unit sales and has displaced Apple from first place. Also this week: Ultima III Makes the Quest a Team Affair · Portable Computers Crowd the Departure Gate · Cellular Service Moves Toward the Marketplace. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-08-22 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-08-22 Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT More than 800 new Clarkson students are to collect personal computers during orientation, turning a bold campus requirement into everyday academic equipment. POTSDAM, N.Y. — More than 800 Clarkson College freshmen arriving Thursday will receive an unusual addition to the standard orientation packet: their own personal desktop computers. United Press International reported the distribution on August 24, as the college prepared to put a machine directly into the hands of every member of the incoming class. Also this week: Christmas Computer War Crowds the Aisles · Dragon's Lair Turns the Arcade into a Cartoon · Atari Clears the Deck for XL. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-08-15 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-08-15 Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT At Apple's August gathering, independent programmers see faster unreleased software—but face difficult choices about how to build for the graphical machine. Apple's Lisa has made the graphical office a commercial proposition, but the machine's future now rests with people deciding what to make for it. At a week-long Independent Developers' Conference at the Dunfey Hotel in San Mateo, programmers gathered to compare methods, inspect works in progress and learn how Apple's unfamiliar visual environment might become a software market. Also this week: Computer Games Grow Up: M.U.L.E. and Suspended Lead the Summer · A $16.95 3-D Space Game Lands on Timex/Sinclair · IBM's ‘Peanut’ Rumor Keeps the Market Guessing. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-08-08 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-08-08 Sun, 26 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT At a week-long developers' conference, Apple works to turn Lisa's mouse-and-window interface into a platform outside programmers can build on. Apple spent this week trying to convince independent programmers that its expensive graphical computer, the Lisa, deserves their labor. At a week-long Independent Developers' Conference at the Dunfey Hotel in San Mateo, the company opened Thursday, August 11, as 'Lisa Day,' walking outside developers through the machine's unusual mouse-and-window way of working and the tools available to write for it. Also this week: Atari Erases the 1200XL and Bets on Four New Computers · Coleco's Adam Forces the Home-Computer Market to Scramble · Laserdisc Cartoon and a Colony Auction Headline the Summer Games. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-08-01 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-08-01 Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Ozark Softscape and Electronic Arts mix land development, arcade action, and a live commodity auction into one unusually social computer game. A new game from designer Dani Bunten and Ozark Softscape asks Atari owners to gather around one machine and build an economy together. M.U.L.E., published by Electronic Arts, supports as many as four players, with the computer taking any empty places, and makes unusually direct use of the Atari computer family's four controller ports. Also this week: Seventeen New Computers Crowd the Fall Starting Line · Atari Sweeps Away Its Old Line for Four XL Computers · C and Scientific Software Reach the Personal-Computer Desk. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-07-25 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-07-25 Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT A £116 British price cut puts a 64K color computer into the fiercest part of the home-micro market. Commodore has taken what Personal Computer News called a “scythe” to its British prices. Effective August 1, the recommended retail price of the Commodore 64 falls from £345 to £229, a £116 cut that moves the 64K color machine into direct contention with far less capable rivals. Also this week: Aquarius Finally Reaches Launch Day · Nintendo Brings the Arcade Home · KoalaPad Makes the Screen a Drawing Board. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-07-18 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-07-18 Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Six years after its debut, the expandable 6502 machine crosses a landmark that shows how far personal computing has moved beyond the hobby bench. Apple Computer sold its one-millionth Apple II on July 18, giving the personal-computer business a round-number milestone few could have imagined when the original machine appeared in 1977. The figure belongs to the whole Apple II family, whose color graphics, expansion slots, and accessible design carried it from enthusiasts’ rooms into schools, offices, and neighborhood computer shops. Also this week: Commodore Threatens to Halve Software Prices · Whole Earth Maps a 40,000-Program Jungle · More Memory for Less in the Home-Computer War. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-07-11 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-07-11 Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT At ¥14,800, Nintendo’s red-and-white Famicom arrives with two controllers and three arcade conversions. Nintendo launched its Family Computer in Japan on July 15, placing a compact red-and-white cartridge machine on shop counters for ¥14,800. The name was quickly shortened to Famicom, and the proposition was direct: swap a cartridge and bring the speed and familiarity of the arcade into the living room. Also this week: Sega Enters the Living Room With the SG-1000 · Electronic Arts' M.U.L.E. Turns Economics Into a Multiplayer Contest · Infocom's Suspended Puts Six Robots Between the Player and Disaster. https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-07-04 https://jez237.com/computer-chronicle/?date=1983-07-04 Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT The summer CES sensation combines game compatibility, high-capacity tape, word processing and a daisy-wheel printer in one mass-market package. The most talked-about personal computer of the summer is not merely a keyboard in a box. Coleco’s Adam, the lead item in the July 3 Arcade Express after its Consumer Electronics Show debut, is being pitched as a complete household system: computer, keyboard, high-capacity tape storage, word processing, joysticks and a daisy-wheel printer for a promised price below $600. Also this week: The $600 System Becomes the New Battleground · Dragon’s Lair Turns the Arcade into a Cartoon Theater · Electronic Arts Gives Designers Star Billing.