Atari 800 in store demo

When I was in high school the Atari 800 had just come out. Back then this demo was the most inspiring thing ever! I would look at this demo and think computers were going to change the world. How I could imagine all that from this demo is hard to fathom I guess but I did.

It was one of the first Atari demos to show 128 colors on the screen (the beginning logo) and that was actually good music for a computer back then.

The Apple 2 could only display 16 colors in low-res and 6 in high and only had a click speaker. Other systems out at the time were the Tandy Radio Shack 80 (TRS-80) and the Commodore Pet. The Commodore 64 had not yet come out.

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[Stopmotionist]

The C64 had 16 colors and 3 8-bit sound channels. The Ataris had 128 colors and 4 8-bit sound channels, two 8-bit sound channels and a 16-bit sound channel, or two 16-bit sound channels. They had the same processor, the MOS Technologies 6502. The C64's only advantage was that it could do faster, more detailed graphics. And it was designed 4 years after the Ataris.

That said, I am a fan of both machines.

COMMODORE FOREVER.

ATARI FOREVER.

8-BIT FOREVER.

[daro2096]

What can you expect from your Atari Personal Home Computer?

Waiting 20 minutes or more for a cassette game to load and have an error message.

[reyguel]

i used to think this was the coolest computer music back then. i even learned it on the piano! lol

[ACNC1]

I remember seeing this for the first time in store back in the 80´s. Needless to say its changed my life forever

[LanIost]

@greatgnomex:

Yup, this is on the AtarlXLBox emulator for the original XBOX.

[UglySean]

@phreakincool Atari 800. Show off. I started with an Atari 400. FLAT KEYBOARD! A real b¡tch to type in BASIC programs with. And of course if it locks up.... {g} I started with a cassette as well. Dad used to say "why would you want a floppy disk?" - then, "why would you need a hard drive?" Worst of all, "why on earth would you ever want a modem?" Um, insight for things to come? I used to love this demo in the store. Always wanted one of my own.

[nicolunacba]

The music is addictive

[greatgnomex]

Virtual keyboard in 1:32 !!!!

[greatgnomex]

Opsss!!!! Alt Tab in 1:30

[Gary190tube]

The flying pencil is actually quite impressive for its time.

[AKJACKAL99709]

This was my first computer. I taught myself BASIC and made my own games when I was 8 years old on this system. I'll never forget that cassette tape drive! I also remember the Spanish lessons. A lot of folks wrote this off as a glorified game system, but I never once bought a game for it. Thanks for uploading this!

[vntr2006]

Shame this was so expensive to buy in the UK. An amazing machine.