Coleco Adam

The Coleco Adam is a home computer by American toy and video game manufacturer Coleco. It was released in October 1983 with the initial price of $700, complete with 64 KB of memory, a tape drive for a proprietary medium called Digital Data Packs, a daisy wheel printer, and productivity applications, along with two DDPs for SmartBASIC and Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom Super Game.

The Adam was an attempt to follow on the success of the company's ColecoVision video game console, using the ColecoVision hardware as its basis and adding new features for the computer role. It was sold both as a stand-alone system as well as Expansion Module #3 for the ColecoVision, turning existing machines into an Adam. This had the benefit of being entirely compatible with all ColecoVision games and peripherals, while both versions offered good word processing support and produced good looking output with its letter-quality printer.

Although the system concept and presentation were positively received, the Adam was heavily criticized upon launch for numerous hardware defects in early units, with some potentially rendering the device unusable. The Adam also suffered from store availability issues, with Coleco having shipped only 95,000 units rather than the goal of 500,000 by the end of 1983. The Adam was discontinued in January 1985, with Coleco never recovering from the losses incurred. The company discontinued its ColecoVision shortly afterward and finally declared itself bankrupt in 1988.

Despite its failures, it has gained a following among enthusiasts, who continue to develop hardware and software for it.