Camila and Ana discover the infamous story of the 1983 failed Coleco Adam home computer and uncover the 1985 home computer crash, Ana learns the difference between Cabbage Patch Kids and Sour Patch Kids, and we all lose a $500 college scholarship voucher.
Follow us on Twitter @OurFriendComp
And Instagram @ourfriendthecomputer
Main research for the episode was done by Camila. Ana audio edited.
Music by Nelson Guay (SoundCloud: fluxlinkages)
OFtC is a sister project of the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
References:
- “Adam Coleco Vision Family Computer System (Boxed)” Nightfall Crew June 22 2015. https://www.nightfallcrew.com/22/06/2015/adam-coleco-vision-family-computer-system-boxed/
- Anderson, John J. “Coleco.” Creative Computing vol 10 no 3, March 1984 https://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n3/65_Coleco.php
- Atwood, Jeff. “The Cult of Coleco Adam.” Coding Horror Blog, March 6 2006. https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-cult-of-coleco-adam/
- Bishop, Liz. “Cabbage Patch Dolls, ColecoVision: The rise & fall of a toy company with local ties” CBS 6 Rewind, September 28 2022. https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/cabbage-patch-dolls-colecovision-the-rise-fall-of-a-toy-company-with-local-connections-cbs6-rewind-jobs-unemployment-electronics-video-games-amsterdam
- “Coleco ADAM Adventures.” Youtube, uploaded by Vintage Geek, November 12 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msI9HrQ1izY
- “Coleco ADAM, the Computer That Could Have Been - First Look.” Youtube, uploaded by Newsmakers Tech December 3 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQHUSjsRvMs
- King, Andrew. “Joystick: The Untold Story of Ottawa’s Coke-Fueled 1980’s Video Game Industry” Ottawa Rewind, December 2018. https://ottawarewind.com/2018/12/02/joystick-the-untold-story-of-ottawas-coke-fueled-1980s-video-game-industry
- Noble, David. “The home computer is dead, we said in 1985. Oops.” Australian Financial Review Classic, March 21 1985, reposted January 18 2022. https://www.afr.com/technology/how-the-afr-called-the-death-of-the-home-computer-in-1985-we-were-wrong-20220117-p59oyn
- Potts, Mark. “Coleco Pulls Plug On Adam.” The Washinton Post, January 3 1985. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1985/01/03/coleco-pulls-plug-on-adam/e6ecdba7-a479-4b5d-a67e-e92e12341ece/
- Sanger, David E. “Coleco Gives up on the Adam.” The New York Times, January 3 1985. https://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/03/business/coleco-gives-up-on-the-adam.html
- Schrage, Michael. “Computer Industry Slump is Broad, Deep.” The Washington Post, June 30 1985. https://www.washingtonpos
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.