Home computer was a name for computers, common into the 1980er years, which were above all privately used. Although home computers corresponded to the definition of a personal computer as personal computers and were called of the manufacturers partly also such, they were particularly to the private user and cut to the use for maintenance purposes in price and equipment. The term home computer was predominantly used into the 1980er years therefore for the distinction by the more expensive, predominantly in business used personal computer.

The development of the home computers accompanied thereby with the development of the play consoles and computer games. To some home computer models there were even technically nearly identical devices as play console, to which only the keyboard was missing.

The beginnings

The first digital, programmable computer for the Heimgebrauch was that already 1949 of Edmund C. Berkeley, the founder of the ACM, presented relay computers Simon.Edmund Callis Berkeley: Giant Brains or Machines That Think, New York: John Wiley & Sons 1949 (7. Aufl. 1963), page 22-41 Simon consisted of only 50 relays. In the trade available Simon was only as structural drawing, by which in the first ten years of its availability over 400 copies were sold. http://www.blinkenlights.com/pc.shtml

The beginnings of the home computers in the modern sense lie into the 1970er year, when of some California companies kits for small computers at hobby electronics amateur handicraftsmen were driven out (for example for the old air 8800). The three first computers for home users and small firms, who not when kit were driven out, were the TRS-80 von Radio Shack, a chain of stores for radios and televisions in the USA, Apple II and the Commodore PET 2001. All three in April 1977 on the Consumer Electronics show, a commercial fair in read Vegas, presented. As one of the first home computers 1980 the ZX-80 von Sinclair came into the trade, 1981, the successor ZX-81, soon thereafter the ZX-Spectrum. All three were based on the Z80 processor of Zilog. Texas Instruments even already used 16-bit-Technik with its own processor and the computer TI-99. A further in former times home computer, but with the 6502-Prozessor of MOS Technologies, was the VC20 von Commodore.

In Germany the market situation looked somewhat differently: Apple required here enormously high prices, so that above all Commodore could dominate the market in this segment and in these years; Apple, Tandy, Sinclair and Texas Instruments followed with clear distance.

The technology of the first years

As mass storages outside of the USA above all commercial Compact cartridges (audio cartridges) was used, called partly with special simple Kassettenrekordern, in case of the C64 Datasette, partial over usual music Kassettenrekorder. tariff, there were floppy disk drives, usually in the format 5 usually as accessories, whereby these often reached or exceeded the price of the basic equipment. In the USA they were nevertheless more common than the slow and error-prone Datasetten. As screen usually the television served instead of a special computer monitor, why also from most home computer models easily different PAL and NTSC models existed, depending upon the television standard of sales sale. The home computers were usually with a diagram chip and a sound chip equipped and thus in a the position to represent simple diagrams as well as produce sounds. The first home computers used 8-bit processors, for example the Z80 or 6502-Derivate, against center until the end of the 80's these by 16/32-bit-Typen like Motorola 68000 were displaced. The sound abilities and diagram became more complex and the connection of non removable disks and other PC periphery became possible.

Operating system and BASIC as programming language were stored often in the ROM and formed a unit, did not have thus not when starting to be loaded, why most home computers are operational after switching on on within fewer seconds. With MSX by Microsoft and Sony the attempt was undertaken to standardize operating system and BASIC and to make a Programmaustausch possible between computers of different manufacturers. The MSX standard was among other things successful in South America and Japan, could not not become generally accepted in Germany however.

The 80's-years

In the years from 1977 to 1980 controlled Apple II and the illegal Apple clones the market of the microcomputers in such a way specified in the USA. Both in the office employment and and home computer was he the prominent "„personnel computer "“. Outside of the USA the market for microcomputers was at that time still very small, which was connected also with the many higher prices for such devices outside of the USA. In Germany Commodore was the clear market leader.

IBM against it controlled the market of the large computers and department computers; long time had considered and had neglected the management the new market "„the personnel computer not lucrative "“. 1981 changed this: Within shortest time IBM developed its own personnel a computer on basis of standard electronics elements and threw these on the market, the IBM-PC. After a contract with the offerer of microcomputer operating systems, leading at that time, had failed digitally Research, to an offer of Microsoft one fell back, the MS-DOS.

The market position of IBM ensured for the fact that the IBM-PC within the office range interspersed itself fast - many enterprises wanted to refer their computer systems from a hand and ordered its PCs therefore with the same offerer, from whom also their larger systems came.

At the end of of 1982 brought the C64 to Commodore as a successor of the VC20 on the market. Due to its in the comparison with "„the professional "“computers like Apple the II and IBM PC of substantially favourable price became this "„bread box "“fast the usually-sold home computer of all times.

Apple concentrated meanwhile after some failures with new models on the avant-garde Apple Macintosh and achieved with this within the High end range and in particular with the desktop publishing a prominent position.

1985 came with the Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST however already a new generation of home computers on the market, which along-played in the technological top class at that time. Both used processors from the Motorola-68xxx-Serie, which were used also in the Macintosh, and offered so far within the home range unknown graphic possibilities. Processor and Speicheraustattung could easily with the top model of the IBM PC series, who IBM RK, to keep up. New was also the graphic user surface. With the Atari ST the "“Look and Feel"” leaned strongly against the Apple Macintosh, the Amiga showed here more self-sufficiency. Windows against it at that time still was in the child shoes; no IBM PC user got along without DOS knowledge.

In particular the Atari ST achieved high sales figures due to these advantages in connection with the favourable price in Europe soon and also in the professional range was used (desktop publishing, bookkeeping, secretariat, cash computer). By the inserted MIDI interfaces it captured however above all a prominent position within the music range.

Approximately at the same time also the first Archimedes computer of the British manufacturer appeared Acorn, which was based on 32-Bit-RISC-Prozessoren and so that its time was technological far ahead. It achieved however never a sufficient market penetration, the software offer remained small. Already 1990 had to give up the manufacturer.

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