The Coleco Adam Computer

The Coleco Adam computer was a 1983 attempt by toy and game console maker Coleco to enter the growing home computer market. Critics and consumers looked forward to the computer after Coleco unveiled it June 5, 1983, but it never lived up to that anticipation. Coleco discontinued the Adam in 1985. Nevertheless, the Adam remains an interesting might-have-been. Who was Coleco? Coleco was a leading maker of toys, particularly electronic toys. In the 1970s, it competed with Atari, releasing Pong-like consoles as part of its Telstar product line. In 1982, it introduced its very successful Coleco Vision game console, which teamed a Z-80 CPU with sound and graphics chips from Texas Instruments. With a computer-grade CPU, graphics and sound chips, the Coleco Vision provided advanced capabilities for its day, much closer to those of the Nintendo NES than the Atari 2600. Coleco also sold an Atari 2600 clone. Enter the Coleco Adam computer In 1983, the home computer industry was far from deci ... Read full article.