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Wow I remember wanting one of these back in the day... never got to see one but this article covers everything you ever wanted to know about the product. At th

Wow I remember wanting one of these back in the day... never got to see one but this article covers everything you ever wanted to know about the product. At the time it seemed that Atari had their hands in everything. There was the AtariTel video phone, Mindlink brain interface, AtariLab, and many other oddities that nearly/barely made it into production. They even had a device that connected their 8bit computers to Atari coin-ops to add up the quarters in the cash boxes and print reports (I think it was called the Coin Executive or something). There was something magical about that era, it seemed the future was right around the corner.

classichasclass 3y ago
(author) Thanks! Yes, Atari had a lot of irons in the fire back then. I have to give Warner credit for trying.
seanmcdirmid 3y ago
Atari transputers still blow my mind.
- cmrdporcupine 3y ago
  That was Atari Corp (Tramiel, ex-Commodore), not Atari Inc (Warner). Diff company.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    Oof, I wasn't familiar with the distinction. Still, that it came out under the Atari brand at all is still notable.
  - lordfrito 3y ago
    At least it's the same R&D team from Bushnell/Warner, just under new management. On the consumer side, there's a lot of continuity between the Warner and Tramiel eras. The Tramiel era was a much leaner/meaner Atari, trying to shed dead weight to avoid bankruptcy. After Tramiel "merged" with JTS the company was liquidated. The consumer side of Atari no longer exists as an R&D house, all that's left is a brand name and some IP. The "fun" era was under Bushnell/Warner when they were flush with cash, lots (likely too much) of R&D spend. The Tramiel era had not quite as much innovation as Tramiel famously refused to spend money on development R&D or marketing. A lot of cool stuff was done that went nowhere, their tech failed to impact the market.

classichasclass 3y ago

(author) Thanks! Yes, Atari had a lot of irons in the fire back then. I have to give Warner credit for trying.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago

Atari transputers still blow my mind.

cmrdporcupine 3y ago
That was Atari Corp (Tramiel, ex-Commodore), not Atari Inc (Warner). Diff company.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  Oof, I wasn't familiar with the distinction. Still, that it came out under the Atari brand at all is still notable.
- lordfrito 3y ago
  At least it's the same R&D team from Bushnell/Warner, just under new management. On the consumer side, there's a lot of continuity between the Warner and Tramiel eras. The Tramiel era was a much leaner/meaner Atari, trying to shed dead weight to avoid bankruptcy. After Tramiel "merged" with JTS the company was liquidated. The consumer side of Atari no longer exists as an R&D house, all that's left is a brand name and some IP. The "fun" era was under Bushnell/Warner when they were flush with cash, lots (likely too much) of R&D spend. The Tramiel era had not quite as much innovation as Tramiel famously refused to spend money on development R&D or marketing. A lot of cool stuff was done that went nowhere, their tech failed to impact the market.