In the 1980s, citizens of Central and Eastern Europe did not have access to computers. Computer games were reviewed in the niche press, however, almost no one had access to them. Computers stimulated the imagination and were the object of dreams of children, adolescents and adults. The leaders of the socialist countries knew that the future depends on computerization and understood that without computers, social and economic development would be difficult.
The VIC-20 was the first home computer produced by Commodore.
The history of the VIC-20 begins in 1977, when MOS Technologies, already part of Commodore, developed the 6560 graphics chip (the PAL-6561 version was sold in Europe) called VIC (short for video interface chip). Soon the design process began at Commodore, or rather the search for a design for their first home computer, which was to be presented at CES in 1980.
Even before the microcomputer boom in Europe, enthusiasts were using computer kits that they were assembling themselves. This avant-garde of eight-bit computing seemed primitive compared to popular home computers. However, it was little known computers such as the Sinclair MK-14 that inspired the first bedroom-coders. This post however is about a different computer, unknown on the West, forgotten on the East - MIK CA80, early Polish mikrocomputer.
The history of modern PCs begins in 1970 when an Italian engineer, Federico Faggin, becomes an employee of Intel.
The Commodore 64 is the most popular personal computer of all time to this day. In the 1980s, however, the world was divided by the Iron Curtain, and things were fundamentally different on the socialist side of Europe. The Commodore 64 was not available in the countries of the Eastern Bloc. Here market was dominated by the Soviet clones Sinclair machines and… Atari 65XE.
In 1984, after leaving Commodore, Jack Tramel bought Atari.
