VideoBrain Family Computer
Encyclopedia
The VideoBrain Family Computer (model 101) is an 8-bit
home computer
manufactured by the VideoBrain Computer Company, starting in 1977. It is based on the Fairchild Semiconductor
F8
CPU
and is notable for being the first fully programmable
cartridge-based home computer. It was not a large commercial success and was discontinued from the market less than three years after its initial release.
in 1977. It was not widely available, although Macy's
department store
briefly carried the computer on its shelves. It was sold in various configurations, and the price ranged from 500 to 1100 dollars
depending on the accessories chosen. New software for the VideoBrain was available on cartridge
, which was a first for home computer systems. (Later price reductions brought costs down to $300 for the computer by itself, and $350-900 for the packaged deals).
Available software ranged in price from $20-40 for video games and educational software
, and $70-150 for productivity
tools.
processor
from Fairchild Semiconductor
, and featured 1KiB
of RAM and a 4KiB ROM
. It was able to output 16-color graphics
and sound to a connected television
set through an RF connector
. By far its most striking feature was the 36-key keyboard
- though the keyboard of the VideoBrain was poorly designed and difficult to use, keyboards were not available on any of the more common video game consoles of the time
. The system also features four joystick
ports, a cartridge connector, and an expansion port
.
The system includes four built-in software
titles, available if the unit is powered on without a cartridge inserted - a simple text editor
, a clock
, a countdown timer
, and a Color Bar
generator.
Two additional hardware
modules were marketed that would extend the capabilities of the VideoBrain. The Expander 1 was an interface to various I/O
devices. It allowed users to connect a cassette
tape recorder
for saving or loading data, and included two RS-232
ports for attaching a printer
and the Expander 2. The Expander 2 was a 300 baud
acoustic
modem
used by a single program (Timeshare) that allowed the VideoBrain to act as a terminal
when dialed in to a compatible mainframe computer
.
Additional software was sold on cartridges measuring approximately the size of a Betamax
tape. The cartridge interface was unique: unlike most video game systems, VideoBrain cartridges have an exposed strip of conductive traces that simply lie flush against a set of pins on the computer itself. Cartridges could contain up to 12KiB of data
.
Patent 4232374 titled "Segment Ordering for Television Receiver Control Unit" describes the VideoBrain display hardware.
BASIC
, forcing users to instead to adopt APL/S - a far more obscure and difficult programming language. Finally, the VideoBrain software library had trouble reaching a key audience. Most available software was aimed at productivity or educational markets, and lacked any variety of entertainment titles.
Perhaps the largest contributor to the VideoBrain's failure was simply a lack of proper marketing
and hardware availability. Public understanding of computers
in 1977 was significantly lower than it is today, and many potential consumers
simply did not understand the benefits of owning a home computer. Additionally, the VideoBrain was mainly sold through mail-order outfits, and only made a brief retail showing at Macy's
Department Stores. (By contrast, video game consoles at the time were easily available in a number of department
and toy
chains, allowing them to far outsell the VideoBrain Computer System).
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
manufactured by the VideoBrain Computer Company, starting in 1977. It is based on the Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. is an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957, it was a pioneer in transistor and integrated circuit manufacturing...
F8
Fairchild F8
The Fairchild F8 was an 8-bit microprocessor created by Fairchild Semiconductor. It was introduced in 1975 and was "the world´s leading microprocessor in terms of CPU sales" in 1977.-Features:...
CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
and is notable for being the first fully programmable
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
cartridge-based home computer. It was not a large commercial success and was discontinued from the market less than three years after its initial release.
History
The VideoBrain Family Computer was designed and produced by the VideoBrain Computer Company of CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1977. It was not widely available, although Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
briefly carried the computer on its shelves. It was sold in various configurations, and the price ranged from 500 to 1100 dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
depending on the accessories chosen. New software for the VideoBrain was available on cartridge
ROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, sometimes referred to as a cart, is a removable enclosure containing read-only memory devices designed to be connected to a computer or games console....
, which was a first for home computer systems. (Later price reductions brought costs down to $300 for the computer by itself, and $350-900 for the packaged deals).
Available software ranged in price from $20-40 for video games and educational software
Educational software
Educational software is computer software, the primary purpose of which is teaching or self-learning.-Early History, 1940s - 1970s:The use of computer hardware and software in education and training dates to the early 1940s, when American researchers developed flight simulators which used analog...
, and $70-150 for productivity
Productivity
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...
tools.
Design
The VideoBrain Family Computer was built around the F8Fairchild F8
The Fairchild F8 was an 8-bit microprocessor created by Fairchild Semiconductor. It was introduced in 1975 and was "the world´s leading microprocessor in terms of CPU sales" in 1977.-Features:...
processor
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
from Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. is an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957, it was a pioneer in transistor and integrated circuit manufacturing...
, and featured 1KiB
Kibibyte
The kibibyte is a multiple of the unit byte for quantities of digital information. The binary prefix kibi means 1024; therefore, 1 kibibyte is . The unit symbol for the kibibyte is KiB. The unit was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 1999 and has been accepted for use...
of RAM and a 4KiB ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
. It was able to output 16-color graphics
Graphics
Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. Examples are photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings,or...
and sound to a connected television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
set through an RF connector
RF connector
A coaxial RF connector is an electrical connector designed to work at radio frequencies in the multi-megahertz range.RF connectors are typically used with coaxial cables and are designed to maintain the shielding that the coaxial design offers. Better models also minimize the change in transmission...
. By far its most striking feature was the 36-key keyboard
Keyboard (computing)
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
- though the keyboard of the VideoBrain was poorly designed and difficult to use, keyboards were not available on any of the more common video game consoles of the time
History of video game consoles (second generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the second generation began in 1976 with the release of the Fairchild Channel F and Radofin 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System....
. The system also features four joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
ports, a cartridge connector, and an expansion port
Computer port (hardware)
In computer hardware, a port serves as an interface between the computer and other computers or peripheral devices. Physically, a port is a specialized outlet on a piece of equipment to which a plug or cable connects...
.
The system includes four built-in software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
titles, available if the unit is powered on without a cartridge inserted - a simple text editor
Text editor
A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code....
, a clock
Clock
A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece...
, a countdown timer
Timer
A timer is a specialized type of clock. A timer can be used to control the sequence of an event or process. Whereas a stopwatch counts upwards from zero for measuring elapsed time, a timer counts down from a specified time interval, like an hourglass.Timers can be mechanical, electromechanical,...
, and a Color Bar
SMPTE color bars
The SMPTE color bars are a type of television test pattern, and is most commonly used in countries where the NTSC video standard is dominant, such as those in North America. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers refers to this test pattern as Engineering Guideline EG 1-1990...
generator.
Two additional hardware
Computer hardware
Personal computer hardware are component devices which are typically installed into or peripheral to a computer case to create a personal computer upon which system software is installed including a firmware interface such as a BIOS and an operating system which supports application software that...
modules were marketed that would extend the capabilities of the VideoBrain. The Expander 1 was an interface to various I/O
Input/output
In computing, input/output, or I/O, refers to the communication between an information processing system , and the outside world, possibly a human, or another information processing system. Inputs are the signals or data received by the system, and outputs are the signals or data sent from it...
devices. It allowed users to connect a cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
tape recorder
Tape recorder
An audio tape recorder, tape deck, reel-to-reel tape deck, cassette deck or tape machine is an audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage...
for saving or loading data, and included two RS-232
RS-232
In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports...
ports for attaching a printer
Computer printer
In computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a...
and the Expander 2. The Expander 2 was a 300 baud
Baud
In telecommunications and electronics, baud is synonymous to symbols per second or pulses per second. It is the unit of symbol rate, also known as baud rate or modulation rate; the number of distinct symbol changes made to the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal or a...
acoustic
Acoustic coupler
In telecommunications, the term acoustic coupler has the following meanings:# An interface device for coupling electrical signals by acoustical means—usually into and out of a telephone instrument....
modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
used by a single program (Timeshare) that allowed the VideoBrain to act as a terminal
Computer terminal
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system...
when dialed in to a compatible mainframe computer
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
.
Additional software was sold on cartridges measuring approximately the size of a Betamax
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
tape. The cartridge interface was unique: unlike most video game systems, VideoBrain cartridges have an exposed strip of conductive traces that simply lie flush against a set of pins on the computer itself. Cartridges could contain up to 12KiB of data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
.
Patent 4232374 titled "Segment Ordering for Television Receiver Control Unit" describes the VideoBrain display hardware.
Software
Because the VideoBrain computer was discontinued so quickly, fewer than 25 software titles were ever marketed for the system. The library comprises a handful of games, educational titles, and productivity software. Notable titles include:- Financier - this cartridge shipped with the VideoBrain, and could be used to solve financialFINANCIALFINANCIAL is the weekly English-language newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Published by Intelligence Group LLC, FINANCIAL is focused on opinion leaders and top business decision-makers; It's about world’s largest companies, investing, careers, and small business. It is...
equations. - APL/S - the only programming languageProgramming languageA programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
available for the VideoBrain. The tape connections of the Expander 1 could be used to load and save programs. - Timeshare - the only program to use the Expander 2. This would transform the VideoBrain into a timeshare terminalComputer terminalA computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system...
. - Demonstration - this cartridge was intended for store displays as a way to show off the VideoBrain's capabilities.
Reception
The VideoBrain largely failed to achieve commercial viability for a number of reasons. Poor design decisions hindered user acceptance; for example, the VideoBrain's confusing and user-unfriendly keyboard made even simple text entry a tedious process. Moreover, the computer did not offer the then-popular programming languageProgramming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
BASIC
BASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
, forcing users to instead to adopt APL/S - a far more obscure and difficult programming language. Finally, the VideoBrain software library had trouble reaching a key audience. Most available software was aimed at productivity or educational markets, and lacked any variety of entertainment titles.
Perhaps the largest contributor to the VideoBrain's failure was simply a lack of proper marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
and hardware availability. Public understanding of computers
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
in 1977 was significantly lower than it is today, and many potential consumers
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
simply did not understand the benefits of owning a home computer. Additionally, the VideoBrain was mainly sold through mail-order outfits, and only made a brief retail showing at Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
Department Stores. (By contrast, video game consoles at the time were easily available in a number of department
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
and toy
Toy store
A toy store or toy shop is a retail business specializing in selling toys. No longer held to the limitations of a physical outlet, many toy shops now do business over the Internet. Many department stores have toy sections.-External links:...
chains, allowing them to far outsell the VideoBrain Computer System).
See also
- Fairchild Channel FFairchild Channel FThe Fairchild Channel F is a game console released by Fairchild Semiconductor in August 1976 at the retail price of $169.95. It has the distinction of being the first programmable ROM cartridge-based video game console...
, a video game consoleVideo game consoleA video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
built on the same F8 CPU as the VideoBrain. - Exidy SorcererExidy SorcererThe Sorcerer was one of the early home computer systems, released in 1978 by the videogame company, Exidy. It was comparatively advanced when released, especially when compared to the contemporary more commercially-orientated Commodore PET and TRS-80, but due to a number of problems including a...
, a competing home computerHome computerHome computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
system at the time - Interact Home Computer System, another competing home computerHome computerHome computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
system
Further reading
- Ahl, David H.David H. AhlDavid H. Ahl is the founder of Creative Computing magazine. He is also the author of many how-to books, including BASIC Computer Games, the first million-selling computer book....
, "Where are they Now? Bally, Interact, and VideoBrain", Creative ComputingCreative ComputingCreative Computing was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from 1974 until December 1985, Creative Computing covered the whole spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format than the rather technically-oriented BYTE. The magazine...
magazine - "VideoBrain Family Computer", Popular SciencePopular SciencePopular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...
, November 1978, advertisement. - VideoBrain - Old Computer Museum
- VideoBrain Emulation - VideoBrain emulation info