In 1982 the Home
Computer Market was in full swing. Competition was heating up and Commodore was killing the
competition with it's low cost VIC-20 computer and in January at
the winter CES had just demonstrated their latest computer, the Commodore 64.
Atari management knew
that in order to survive in this hostile environment they would have to
replace the aging and expensive to produce 400/800 series computer
line.
Their answer was the sleek
modern looking 1200XL. A reduced cost single board computer that
would put Atari in a good position to compete with Commodore. It
featured 64K of RAM, 16K of ROM, a new Operating System complete with built in
diagnostic programs, a keyboard that is completely redefinable, and programmable function keys.
But in order to bring some
of these advanced features to the 1200XL, Atari engineers
had to make some sacrifices to the 1200XL. These sacrifices led to
compatibility problems with some programs written for the 400/800
computer platforms. For instance: The engineers felt that 2 joystick ports
were sufficient for a personal computer, so they eliminated ports 3 &
4 and used the hardware addresses to control OS functions such as
switching BASIC in and out of memory and adding the HELP key function of
self tests. This led to compatibility problems with programs that
require that these ports be available.
Other problems which probably led
to the early demise of the 1200XL was the omission of an expansion
port found on just about any other competing computer in this era. I think
the Atari management misjudged the Home Computer Market of 1982. I
believe they felt that consumers wanted a computer that was basically an
'appliance computer' in that you plug it in run an application or game
with no abilities beyond what comes out of the box.
But the market of 1982 was
still young and primarily driven by hobbyists who liked to tinker and
expand their computers. The market would not mature for another 2 years,
when in 1984 Apple Computers introduced the world to the Macintosh, an all in one non-expandable computer.
Then 4 months later
introduced their own version of the 'appliance computer' the Apple IIc.
This time the market was ready for it and the IIc became a very successful
computer for Apple.
But in 1982 the Atari
1200XL was a flop. It lasted less than a year before it was quietly dropped and replaced
by the 600XL/800XL line of computers which addressed the failings of the 1200XL.
The Atari 1200XL in this
exhibit was added to the museum on February 21, 2001 and was purchased on Ebay.
