I freely admit to having a particular soft spot for 32bit Acorn computers. But one of my favourite things about being a confirmed retro computer nerd is discovering the foibles of old computers, especially systems new to me. With that in mind I've had a crazy hankering for a Coleco ADAM for a long time as it ticks all the boxes for me: I only have a vague knowledge of the system. There's much to like, both cool and these days charmingly silly. Also the system was such a glorious failure it saw off the company that made it.
So I thought it might be interesting to start a thread about my impressions and adventures with this machine.
I give you the Coleco ADAM:
You think Sinclair had a reputation for poor reliability and overenthusiastic release schedules? The Spectrum initially "only" had a failure rate of about 1/10, was cheep, and was made by a recognised computer manufacturer. Coleco made Cabbage Patch Kids, games consoles, and was going for Apple's market. In other words the system had a lot to live up to and had a disastrously bad start. Oh, and this was shortly before the infamous games console crash.
As I understand it Coleco had the sensible idea to follow up their excellent and very successful Colecovision games console with a compatible computer that would come in at a good price but still be a full set up. At the time every other manufacturer was selling pretty much only the computer itself for a headline price knowing punters would have to buy a bunch of other stuff when they got home and found their new toy couldn't do anything.
A well priced complete system is exactly what Amstrad later marketed to such effect:
So I thought it might be interesting to start a thread about my impressions and adventures with this machine.
I give you the Coleco ADAM:
A Huge Pile of Awesome
I bought mine as a complete, boxed, system expecting it to be broken as the seller advertised it as "untested". It didn't disappoint as it was so big it was shipped in a wardrobe box, was complete, and didn't work.
The Box is MUCH Bigger Than You Think
It's genuinely quite exciting to get this much computer, and back in the day I can see how this huge and heavy box containing lots more goodies than any rival system would appeal to punters. I bet that was Coleco's intention but store managers must have cursed them, especially with a returns rate of about 4/5.
You think Sinclair had a reputation for poor reliability and overenthusiastic release schedules? The Spectrum initially "only" had a failure rate of about 1/10, was cheep, and was made by a recognised computer manufacturer. Coleco made Cabbage Patch Kids, games consoles, and was going for Apple's market. In other words the system had a lot to live up to and had a disastrously bad start. Oh, and this was shortly before the infamous games console crash.
As I understand it Coleco had the sensible idea to follow up their excellent and very successful Colecovision games console with a compatible computer that would come in at a good price but still be a full set up. At the time every other manufacturer was selling pretty much only the computer itself for a headline price knowing punters would have to buy a bunch of other stuff when they got home and found their new toy couldn't do anything.
A well priced complete system is exactly what Amstrad later marketed to such effect:
Amstrad CPC 464
So how did Coleco get it so wrong? Well, finding that out for myself is one of the reasons I wanted to get an ADAM. I also wanted to see for myself why the system is viewed with such affection.
Last edited: